Kopa Real Estate Blog

If you were taking a friend out for the best hamburger in Austin would you bring him to McDonalds?

One of the biggest misconceptions about real estate is that a real estate agent who works for a large brokerage will be able to represent someone selling their home better than an agent who works for a smaller, independent broker. I spent over 11 years working with larger brokerages and based on that experience let’s talk about some of those misconceptions.

Networking among agents

What happens inside a large real estate brokerage is probably the most misunderstood aspect of real estate. As an outsider you may be under the impression that each brokerage has large office meetings where the best agents attend and exchange information about their listings. This does not happen.

What you have to realize is real estate agents are independent contractors. Attending office meetings is optional. If your office meetings were optional and you had more important work to do would you attend the meetings?

In reality, between local Realtor Facebook groups and targeted email lists we are able to advertise your home to far more Realtors than I could when I worked with a large brokerage.

In addition, with a large brokerage you want to make sure the listing agent doesn’t have a financial incentive to sell your home to an agent from the same brokerage. Some brokerages have been known to offer a better commission split to their agents if both agents involved in the sale are from their brokerage. As a seller you want to make sure your home is advertised to all Realtors and not only a select few from one office because the agents will make more money.

Advertising

The advertising support agents receive from the large brokerages is also limited. The marketing I received was always done in a way to help the brokerage and not the property seller.

Because agents have to pay large fees to the brokerage it leaves little money available to advertise their listings. What this means is an agent at a large brokerage may not be able to pay for professional photography, advertise an open house or purchase featured listing advertising on websites like Zillow or Realtor.com. These are all things we do for every listing.

The truth is as a small broker we are able to advertise our listings much more effectively than I could when I worked with a large brokerage.

Technology

You might expect the largest brokerages would provide their agents with the best technology. Because the brokerages have to keep everyone happy their technology is dumbed down for everyone to be able to use. Just like the mass produced McDonalds hamburger doesn’t have the best quality or taste, neither do the large brokerages have the best technology.

Throughout my career I never used the technology provided by the brokerage. I always sought out the most cutting edge technology to help my clients in the best possible way even though it cost me additional money.

The reason we started Kopa Real Estate is I believed we could help our clients better as a small brokerage. If you are planning to sell  your home and considering hiring an agent with a large brokerage please give us 15 minutes of your time to go over our marketing plan and I am confident you will believe we are the best option to get your home sold.

To schedule a complimentary, no obligation appointment to talk about your home and our marketing plan please call/text me at (512) 791-7473 or send an email to eric@koparealestate.com.