Helping Real Estate Agents Podcast 2/17/22
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Hello. This is Tanya Eldert, and I want to thank you for joining me today. We’re going to do something a little bit different with the Helping Real Estate Agent Podcast. And we’re going to be looking at a community referral program that I have created to be able to help those real estate agents who really cannot be in the field right now.
And for those of you who know a little bit about me, I was in real estate full time about seven years ago. And then my daughter got sick and chronically ill. She still battles it today. But I had to step back from being in the field and showing houses and I really couldn’t be out there for buyers and sellers because my family took priority.
So I had to do a lot of things from home, and I was able to keep going and build something. However, many of the people that I know in real estate, if they get some family conflicts in there, or things become overwhelming, it becomes more and more difficult for them to be able to make money from home. And so when I got cancer last year and spent most of the year basically recovering on the couch. I had to have chemo treatments every three weeks for a year, so I had to be able to step back.
Now, I was blessed enough to already have a real estate school and to be a licensed instructor. So a lot of the ways I was able to help was through coaching and mentoring and helping other agents. But I kept thinking, I know so many other people who have been in these circumstances and they did not have a really good plan B. And there’s also a lot of people who would love to be able to work from home, have the flexibility and/or have a good side hustle.
And that is what the community referral agents program was started. I have the website up, it’s CommunityReferralAgents.com. It talks a little bit about a community referral agent as somebody who is a licensed agent, getting paid a commission for giving a referral for buyers or sellers to active agents.
They don’t have to show houses, they don’t have to do paperwork, or go to appointments. They literally turn over a buyer or seller that they might know personally, or they may get a lead on social media, or maybe they’re an influencer. There are many ways that they can do this. But when they turn over that lead to someone else, they are able to get paid a commission. In the state of Florida, it is illegal for us to pay a commission to somebody, who gives us a referral, unless they are a licensed real estate agent.
Now they don’t have to be a licensed REALTOR. They don’t have to join an association. They don’t have to pay those thousands in fees to be able to be a REALTOR and to have access to the MLS. They also do not have E&O insurance, so they are not, like I said, insured or active in the field. However, they get a commission at close.
And what are those splits? Well, it can vary. But in general, it’ll be 25 to 35% of what the other agent brings in. So I have a very easy way for you to get started on community referral agents. But I’m going to go over the frequently asked question area real quick, and I’m going to add it to the podcast this week.
So let’s talk about the FAQ that I have on here. For example when do you work? Well, I mean, that’s completely up to you. You’re an independent contractor. It is your own business. You’re going to be networking in your community. You’re going to be meeting friends. You’re going to be at the kids’ sports games.
There’s are a lot of things you could be doing to be out in your community, so when you meet people, you have a business card saying you’re a community referral agent. You can let them know that you will screen and find them a great agent to help them buy or sell their house. Would they allow you to be involved and help them with that?
So again, you’re not doing the actual work, you’re passing along their information. Now, if you want to make some decent money at this, I would personally suggest working 10 to 20 hours a week, but it depends how you’re going to be doing it and what you’re going to be doing, as far as driving in those leads.
And that’s one thing I want to put in there. So anybody who connects with me and joins with me, there’s going to be training involved. We’re not just throwing you out there to the wolves and saying, ‘Hey, now you have the title of a community referral agent. Figure it out.’ Now, you know, anyone who knows me knows that marketing is my background.
I’ve been marketing for 30 plus years and have had a marketing agency since Sianna was born 19 years ago. So I’m going to be helping with, help driving those leads and bringing people. So we’ll go over that a little bit more. So how do you get paid? Well, again, let’s talk about the 25% of the agent’s commission.
Let’s just say that the agent sold a house for $300,000. And because I like round numbers, there was a 3% commission on that. Well, that’s $9,000. So 25% of that would be $2,250. That would be what you would get paid on just one referral. Think about it, and if you’re trying to work from home 10-20 hours a week as a side hustle, and you’re getting $10 an hour?
You’d have to work 225 hours to make what you would get paid on just one commission. Now, again, they have to close. This isn’t easy money. This is commission-based money.
So anybody who thinks that they’re going to sign up tomorrow and get paid the next day, I’m going to tell you right now that is not this position to don’t even do it. But if you would like to start building referrals and learn how to do that, and get involved, and be able to make commissions on something that is one of the highest commissions out there.
I mean, that’s what real estate is. So for a long time, I loved cruising. I used to sell cabins on cruises. Guess what? We would get like $30 commission on a cabin and I would work with those people for one, one and a half years. Don’t get me wrong, I love helping people, but for 30 bucks in a year and a half worth of work, just didn’t seem worth it.
And I had helped so many other agents with my marketing firm to market their real estate companies that I really understood that and decided that I was going to become a real estate agent, because if I was going to get paid on commissions, why not be somewhere that I got a decent commission rate anyway.
So what does it cost to be a CRA? It is free to sign up with the community referral agent program and with the brokerage, and you park your license for free. So there are no monthly fees, there’s no transaction fees, there’s no signup fees. All of that is free. The only thing you need to be is a licensed real estate agent.
And so one of the things that will cost you. It’s going to be about $250 to probably $300 to get your real estate license with the state of Florida and pass the test, and get your fingerprints, and your background check. So between the classes you’re required to take and all of that, it’s going to cost a little bit. But in the long run, you will have your real estate license and you can possibly someday go into the field, if it’s something you decide you like.
So this is a great way to get started in the business, or retire in the business. If it’s getting a little frustrating going out there in the field and you want to take a step back, this might work for agents who are already licensed.
So that’s the community referral agent program that I am launching out, and I’m really looking forward to helping those people whose schedules just can’t accommodate buyers and sellers, and working in the field right now, but they want to have their foot in the door.
Thank you and I hope you have a wonderful day.
