We are with a large company - 50 agents, but the Broker is really good at keeping the smaller feel.

I work on my own.  It was a decision I struggled with for a while, and finally took the plunge about 18 months ago.  My revenues have never been better, and I tripled my income my first year.  Of course, there was a great deal of upfront administration, and the ongoing can be cumbersome at times, but the payday for me is worth it.  I have absolutely no regrets.  Having worked at a large company, I thought their marketing department would really free up time for me, but at the end of the day, it was my own marketing efforts that were bringing me business, not theirs.  Do your homework, take a hard look at what services you will be losing, and ask yourself if you are committed to doing more on your own (I find it very empowering).

My husband, a commercial broker, has struggled with the decision for 3 years.  He gets a great deal of services from his company so his cash outlays will be much more significant.  Still, I think he's almost there.

Best of luck, whatever you decide!

I work for a company with offices nationwide. I think it is great. It gives me the availability to referr clients to agents in other states without sending them to a different company. This also gives me the knowledge that they will be in good hands on the other side.

I am a small indenpendent company with three agents. I am very comfortable with it and do my own thing. I think a large company is attractive because some clients feel they have more tools.

as someone who spent about 3 years with a big company (about 11 offices in Chicago and the suburbs), then went on my own, first being by myself, later hiring two agents (and looking to hire more) ... my vote goes to "small and independent" .(that however doesn't mean that there aren't agents who will benefit more from the big and traditional rather than small and "unknown").

It is certainly a judgement call. I went out on my own for several reasons. Our main office was in Wichita, Ks. and I live 6o mi away. I liked my Broker so it was hard, but I am in a small town and everyone knew where my office was but not having a Broker's license I of course, couldn't put out a sign and people didn't understand why. It was like I didn't have any credibility. I had done so much on my own it just seemed like I was ready. But, I have been in or around family business all my life so it was just natural. My husband has a machine shop, I had a gift shop for 9 years-I am a one woman show. Lots of advantages ($). Disadvantage is I miss having another person in RE to talk to-this is why I am on this site.... If you are asking, you are ready, DO IT! I have no regrets. You might have to get a one man band outfit like on Mary Poppins!

I am a one person independent company, work from home, and enjoy it immensely.  

I am with a smaller company as well and to tell you the truth I have at times thought about the move to a larger office. But the reality of it is this. If you have taken the time and extra effort to become good at what you do and set your goals were you want them and then strive to make those goals, I really don't think it makes or breaks the person.

It may have advantages in the nationwide chains as far as referrals and advertising but my Pizza tastes better to me from my local pizzeria than it does from domino's.

Of course this is not a great comparison in our business but I think you get the point.

Go with your own feelings as you can always go back if forward doesn't work out.

Like the old saying goes nothing ventured nothing gained.

If you are trying to decide from a small company or large, how about getting the best of both?  You should explore your options with the new real estate company EXIT.  They offer 70/30 split until $100,000 gross commission then 90/10.  But the biggest benefit is that they offer 10% sponsoring bonus, 7% retirement and 5% beneficiary in case of death.  And you can sponsor into ANY Exit office in the country!

I know this sounds to good to be true.  But it isn’t, this company was made for agents and to solve the problems of the real estate industry.  One of the biggest problems in real estates is turnover of agents.  However, sponsoring solves this problem.  You can mentor people and as they grow your income grows.  This does NOT come from the agents split, it comes from the international company.  Imagine having 5 people just like you that you brought into the company and you receive a check every time they have a closing from exit international.  Can you see the possibilities, they are limitless.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me.  

I started for a large company. Was talking to a friend and was put in touch with broker across town. A Small company 5 agents. After talking for some time, made the switch and never regreted it for a minute. The small company was for me. A lot more family feel. Everyone knew each other, went out to lunch had dinner at the others houses. And actually talked about how each grew their business. Nothing was hidden, it was a very growing experience.

I then left that company after a year to go to another small company with 10 agents between 2 offices. The decission was a difficult one, but some of the things I did scared my previous principle broker. I was the new breed of agent. I used a cell phone, website, 1-800 call capture and the internet. I was the youngest agent by 33 years. I needed the change if only to grow. The office had dial up, a termal fax machine and this was only a year and half ago. I am still friends with all the agents in that office and they call me for advise on things and I the same with them. Their knowledge of Real Estate was amazing, but I surpassed them, because I was up with the times. But what I learned in negotiating skills and am still learning from them is priceless.

Todd

I've worked for an affilitate of Christie's Great Estates, Realty Executives and Keller Williams.  I am now on my own.

Kudos to KW for showing me that reinventing a real estate company is as simple as adding profit sharing;  to Christie's Great Estates who allowed me to sell homes I couldn't buy if I won the lottery, and to Realty Executives for the 100% commissions.

The flip side is they were all franchises.   Franchise fees, franchise reporting, and a 'this is how we do business" stance. The other downside to a franchise is your reputation is only as good as the neighboring office, or the person sitting next to you.   Franchises enrich the owners, not the agents, I don't think anyone would dispute that.

A big plus to franchises is the obviously name recognition factor.

To me, real estate is the quintessential entrepreneurial business.  You have to read the markets, make constant adjustments, put yourself out into the community, manage your finances carefully, continue your education, be a walking public relations expert, a top notch administrator, and a savvy businessperson overall.

It's my belief if you have all the above qualities then a franchise slows you down, and you have to tip them anywhere from $30K a year to 6% or 8% of your total commissions.  That's pricey.

I comment about money because this is an expensive business to be in, and the risk/reward factors are high.  Being on a 50/50, 60/40, or 70/30 split plus franchise fees doesn't really reduce any of my risks, only reduces my rewards.

For me, the opportunity to build my own practice was just too attractive to let it slip by.  And I'm happy to report that, so far, so very, very good.

Dan  

My wife and I work for Century 21 and I think that the name helps with marketing to people who are coming from other areas of the country. I think you have to look at waht type of biz your market is. Since we sell in Charleston, S.C. a part of the country that is growing rapidly a bit part of our biz comes from buyers who are searching online, so having the big name behind us sets us a part from a mom and pop type of shop. I wish you guys luck which ever way you decide to go.

I have been self-employed since the late 70's. When my husband and I sold our companies in 2000, I never wanted to be responsible for anyone else's paycheck again. So, I now work in a small office with national affiliation and the only paycheck I need to worry about is my own. Not a bad compromise.

I was in the family real estate business early on in a medium size town in Michigan.  Name recognition means alot and business was at my fingertips.  

I am now in Chicago and was with Coldwell Banker who originally was Prudential Preferred.  I left because people were becoming numbers and I now am with Keller Williams.  I like it because after 3 years you become vested with anybody you recruit and the more you recruit the larger and stronger your retirement fund is.  I'm in agreement with Dan Tolman.  There are plenty of agents out there that transition to a company like Keller Williams for a couple years to take advantage of the business plans you should implement plus the profit sharing for retirement benefits and then open up their own shop.  At KW, you go 100% alot fast than EXIT, with REMAX it's a desk fee and with KW you get a ton of training at your finger tips regarding branding your name, learn from the top producers in the company that pull down $1M plus in GCI, and for me, it is a better solution for learning from some of the best out there that will share their strategies for success.  

It's a hard decision to make and that's why I liked going to KW because they offer things that I should have gotten from a major corporation that I didn't.  I rehab homes as well and being with a company like KW has allowed me to expand my real estate business.  The staff are supportive and I don't have to worry about overseeing my own staff.  I have two different full sets of crews that I have to oversee with my construction end of business as well as mentor new agents at KW plus my real estate business.  

Write down what you want to do and where you see yourself five years from now.  Then make it happen.  Much success!!  

We have over 100 agents in our office. Branding is important to me and working for a large recoginzed company as helped me in getting more listings.

I put my thoughts on my website at randydicken.com

I think small is better.  I am taking between 8-10 listings per month. And work for a regional company in DFW Texas.

Randy

You can still work for yourself and have all the name recognition and advanced marketing tools right at your fingertips with RE/MAX! RE/MAX is the biggest real estate advertiser in the world, so everyone knows your name! You can work for yourself but you will still only be___  realty? RE/MAX has a lead generation system built in for you, the design center which has over 1,200 pieces of marketing material available to you, RSN which is training that is available to you 24 hours a day on the latest market trends and helpful tools. You can have all that and still keep 95% of your commissions! You will not be building someone else's business, you get all your own leads, and you are encouraged to use self promotion. Dont fall for pyrimid offices that promise alot but have not been around long enough to prove it, and if you peel back the layers and really take a look at the product you will see that it costs a lot more to work there, and they dont nearly have the resourses available to their agents. RE/MAX has the name of "desk fees", but its not all true, its just what the other brokers want you to hear. If I were you, I would visit a couple RE/MAX's in your area ASAP!

WARM - WONDERFUL - WEEMAAX.... WEALLY :)

I work for a small company.  My mom (Linda Reynolds) is the broker.  There are 10 agents all together in the company.  My mom and I work as a team and the other 8 agents are "independent agents" which means they kind of do their own thing and only pay her a certain dollar amount on any deals that close.  She doesn't give them any leads and doesn't pay any of their expenses.

The two of us however work together and it's been good because if we don't like the way something is going we can change it right then.  We don't have to go ask someone else for permission.  You can negotiate everything on your own and set your own rules rather then having to follow the rules of a franchise.  It's better to be on your own in the sense that you can flow with the market and not be locked into a certain set of rules of things you are allowed to do and not allowed to do.  

There have been a couple of instances when we lost out on listings because the sellers felt that a large "well-known" company would help sell the house faster.  And much to the dismay of one of the sellers, I know they listed with C-21 and the house didn't sell with that company.  ;)  Some people still think you have to have a large well known named companies sign in the front yard to sell the home.  Most people understand that's not the case, it's the marketing and the agent.  Those few people that still think it's the company name that sells the house are so few and far between that the benefits of being on your own out weigh losing a listing now and then.

I like working for a small company.  All of the agents know each other and sometimes it kind of feels like an extended family.  

What a great thread!  Thanks for asking this question Carol & Steve.

We're with a C21 office. Have been since Day 1. We love our broker, but grow weary of paying C21 franchise fees and 20% to our broker.

We don't get much for that 20+ percent either. Free sign installs, cheap E&O, some very limited advertising and that's about it. In the beginning, we got a lot of training, which was valuable, but lately we are the ones doing the training. We generate all our own leads.

I think being attached to a name like C21 was helpful in establishing "credibility" in the beginning, but I don't think we need that now.

We've decided to take the plunge and go it on our own. We may get a couple of agents under us, but that'd be about it. It's a scary thought, but it's a thought that's been running through our heads from almost a year. I think if we *don't* at least try it, we'll always regret it.

Country Home is a small company.  We actually have 4 working agents and an office manager. Our office has been around for 20+ years. The pros...we help each other, we're very close knit, we learn from each other and the interesting cases we fall prey to.  The cons...a majority of the calls that come in are for the owner/broker because it's her company and everyone knows hername to be synonomous with CHRE.

I don't pay office fees, I do my own advertising, pay my own dues and have often wondered if going with a National brand would bring me more business.  This forum was great...thanks for asking!!

I have a small company, 6 agents. I have never worked for a large company, so I don't know the benefits except through others. I am too stubborn and independent to work for a company with too much bureacracy, I think. I do know competing against large  franchise companies is difficult because I don't have the marketing dollars and branding they can buy nation-wide. But, it's fun trying.

Ours is a mid-size brokerage and a C21 franchise.  I don't see any value from being associated with C21 and don't like paying the 8% per deal either but Susan has been with this same broker her entire career (23+ years).  We pretty much do our own thing and generate our own leads, etc so other than splitting commissions and paying the high franchise fee I guess it's okay.  I don't go into the office unless I absolutely have to... don't go to meetings and don't do caravans.  I've got a feeling our broker will decide to retire in the near future and I'm pretty certain we'll leave at that time.  We considered buying when they decide to retire but really don't want the C21 tie-in so we probably won't.  I don't have anything against C21, necessarily, but just think they are too big and too parent-company centered.  They certainly aren't agent centered at any rate.  Their website is a mess... impossible to navigate!  I don't know one agent who uses the tools provided by them - not in our office of any of the other offices.  

I was with Coldwell Banker for 15 years before going to 100% company. Then buying my own 100% franchise.

Go with a company that you can get a High Commission Split.

It's your business..take control of it.

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