When you own your own real estate brokerage company in Texas, you need to know how to hire real estate agents to sponsor under your brokerage. Knowing what to look for in the agents you sponsor is key to knowing if they will be a good fit for your Texas real estate company. Below are some tips on how to hire real estate agents to sponsor that will help you grow your Texas real estate brokerage.
With about two million licensed real estate agents working in the U.S., you might find yourself interviewing a large pool of candidates. Asking the right questions in a real estate agent interview helps you narrow it down and choose the best person for the job.
In this guide, we’re giving you our top real estate agent interview questions to ask candidates. From the expected to the surprising, this will give you a comprehensive idea of whether the candidate is a good fit for the job.
Make sure you read this before you schedule your next interview!
Why it matters which agents you sponsor under your brokerage
Traditionally, interview questions have focused on simple, straightforward things. You might want to find out more about a real estate agent’s experience, or figure out if they’ll fit in well at your real estate brokerage firm. Interview questions can do all that, and much more if you approach them in a strategic way.
Many of the best questions in an interview tend to be unusual, or at least unexpected. These questions help you test how the candidate will perform when they’re no longer in their comfort zone. It’s not always about the questions – it’s about how the conversation goes after they ask it.
In the world of real estate, you can expect that prospective home buyers will ask some difficult or surprising questions. The agents you sponsor need to be poised to answer those in a confident, professional way.
If they freeze up when you ask them a question they weren’t expecting, it doesn’t bode well for their ability to sell. Of course, asking about their experience is important. But pay attention to not only the content but how your interviewee approaches the answer.
This will let you see what they can do. Let’s take a look at eight important interview questions to ask.
1. As A Real Estate Agent, How Do You Find Leads?
The agent you interview should have strategies for finding both buyer and seller leads.
Their answer might be similar to what you’re already doing for lead generation. If so, they’ll be easy to train since they’re already familiar with the processes you use.
But, it’s even better if they use new real estate lead generation that your other agents haven’t tried yet. They’ll be able to train your team members on these new methods.
2. Would You Like To Own A Real Estate Brokerage?
Passion is important in all industries, and real estate is no exception. Your interviewee should have a dream job that involves real estate, even if it’s not the exact job they’re interviewing for. If their life goals are in a completely different field, they might not fully apply themselves to real estate. Sponsoring real estate agents who one day want to own their own real estate brokerage is one way to make sure you are getting the best agents to come and work for you.
3. How Have You Handled Real Estate-Related Conflicts in the Past?
Of course, every employer wants to keep conflicts on the job to a minimum. Still, an agent might encounter a conflict with another agent or their boss at any point. What matters is how they approach these conflicts.
The more specific they can get when describing their approach, the better. Phrase your question so you’re asking for a specific example, not a generalized concept. This will give you the most information about the candidate.
In fact, you can learn a lot from what they see as a conflict. Some people will have definitions of “conflict” that may surprise you – in both a good and bad way.
4. How Have You Handled a Difficult Client in the Past?
Similarly, this question should look at specifics so you can see exactly how your interviewee responded to the situation. And you’ll also learn a lot about who you may offer broker sponsorship to from what they define as a “difficult” client.
They should be able to clearly define what made the client difficult and have a reasonable perspective on the situation. In their answer, they should also tell you what they did to make things work better with the client, and how the situation helped them learn new skills for the future. Using this technique will help you filter through how to hire real estate agents who will handle your brokerage clients with care.
5. What Kind of Feedback From Your Sponsoring Broker Are You Looking For?
A great real estate agent to sponsor will be interested in receiving feedback from their sponsoring broker. If they’re open to feedback, they likely expect to learn on the job and be challenged. If they aren’t, they might be looking for an easy role with nothing new to learn.
This can also help you see how they’ll fit into the culture at your brokerage. If they want a different type and frequency of feedback from what you offer, they may not be a good fit.
6. How Do You Approach Real Estate Marketing?
Before you sponsor a new agent, you need to know what they’ll do to build up their clientele. Asking them about their approach to marketing will help you see how prepared they are.
If they can’t outline the ways they’ve done marketing in the past, they might not be ready for the job. Look for a mix of traditional and innovative ideas. Hopefully, they’ll bring something new to the table.
7. What’s Your Ideal Place to Live?
Real estate is a location-specific business. If they don’t name the city where they’ll be working, they might not be the best candidate for the job. An agent who’s passionate about the area they serve is more likely to be knowledgeable.
8. What Sets You Apart from Other Agents?
Real estate is ultimately sales. If the potential agent can’t sell themselves when you ask this question, how can they sell a home to a client? Look for a combination of confidence and concrete examples in this answer. When you own your own brokerage, you need to hire real estate agents that have that special characteristic that people like. This will help you determine if you are getting the next great agent to sponsor for your brokerage.
Are You Ready To Sponsor Another Texas Real Estate Agent?
In interviews, the pressure is usually on the interviewee to be prepared, more than the interviewer. But if you’ve been asking the same real estate agent interview questions for years, it might be time to change your approach. Don’t forget to look for candidates that have questions for you, as well.
Growing your own real estate brokerage takes time and effort. Part of that is knowing which real estate agents to sponsor and which ones to pass on. If you want to skip some of the steps, Broker Breakup has LLC Broker Sponsor plans that can allow you to own your brokerage without actually becoming a broker. Then, you can decide who to hire and sponsor. You can choose the commission split you negotiate with your agents.