5 Important People to Have on Your Real Estate Support Team

Though the IRS may classify realtors as “independent contractors,” being a real estate agent is far from an independent job. In fact, all real estate transactions rely on a network of individuals doing their jobs properly to ensure the transaction goes smoothly.

Take sports, for example. There are a lot of sports out there that are independent - like swimming, tennis, or boxing. However, when you look at the sports, are the players really so independent, or do they have a crew of people behind them helping them?

They all have coaches, and a boxer will have the people wiping blood and tears from his face during the matches to ensure that he can go the next round at 100%. A real estate agent is not so different. Though you might be out there cold-calling or door-knocking alone, it’s really the team of professionals you’ve built that will ensure your leads turn into clients, and clients into satisfied customers with smooth transactions!

We have compiled a list of important people to include on your ‘support team’ once you’re a Real Estate Agent:

Sales Assistant

A sales assistant helps convert leads into genuine prospects. This person can assist the agent and make sure all leads are followed up on. Though this only applies to agents who are advanced in the process and who are receiving lots of leads, it’s an important one to mention first.

Escrow Officer

As we explained in 4 Challenges That Can Arise During Escrow, the escrow process can have many hiccups, and escrows have a way of falling through when you least expect it. Therefore, a good escrow officer can foresee any problems you might run into, and let you know ahead of time of any issues so you’re prepared!

Title Representative

Title representatives are also a crucial part of a good real estate agent’s support team, and there’s a reason that most real estate agents have their preferred title representatives. Title searches are only scratching the surface of an issue that can arise with title transferring, and a good title rep will know what to look for when issuing a title insurance policy. Ask around the brokerage when you’re hired who their favorite title rep is and why, and consider using them as well.

Home Inspector

A good home inspector (and Natural Hazard Disclosure inspector) is also a good card to have in your hand. Especially if you are a buyer’s agent, you want a home inspector that will catch even the tiniest flaw, so that you know you are not proceeding with a bad home. You have a fiduciary duty to your clients, so you must keep their best interests in mind at all time. Just because the house looks good to the untrained eye, does NOT mean that a good inspector cannot spot current or future issues that will cost your clients thousands of dollars down the line - and possibly your reputation.

Transaction Coordinator (TC)

A good transaction coordinator (TC) can be an enormous help to high volume agents. He or she will ensure all transactions go smoothly by working with all of the people mentioned above on behalf of the agent. This enables the agent to really focus on their brand, or on gaining more business - maybe even leads that their sales assistant has vetted!

The TC tends to be a crucial position for a strong agent who has many ongoing deals at a time. The agent can focus on some of the more difficult or personal deals, and the TC can help focus on the other deals. By working with buyers, sellers, loan officers, title reps, and escrow officers, a good TC can be worth their weight in gold to a good agent!

Now that we’ve explained the different players who must work together to get the real estate “match” finished, tell us in the comments below - is real estate a team sport or is it an independent sport?

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