real estate agent

realtor

office administrator

administrative assistant

loan officer

Coldwell Banker

If you need a job to just tide you over, this is a great job. The learning curve is not steep, hours are set, and there are benefits (partially subsidized). 

If you are looking for career growth, look away! This job has no prospect at all and if you are so unfortunate as to have a branch manager that wants to appease agents and disregard their own policies and backbone, do too many things but don't actually know what they want, they will run you to the ground with busywork that adds no value whatsoever. 

This company does not care about you as a person. Work for half days in person at the office where real estate agents go in and out, see various clients, and possibly bring COVID-19 to the office and its staff members! Even though your work can absolutely be remote! Because the agents REALLY need to feel supported during these trying times by having a warm body at the office the whole time. Your life does not matter. Your family does not matter. It's all about making the agents feel welcome and supported during a PANDEMIC by risking your health and your family's health and safety. 

Corporate likes to make you, the SSA, tie up loose ends manually instead of paying someone $100k to code a usable program. A centralized system with all agent information that feeds to the other company program? Doesn't exist. Manually input headshots and agent information into 7 different applications because that's the most efficient tactic. 

Listing Concierge is the company's baby. So let's have all the marketing managers and regional managers incessantly pour that Listing Concierge sales pitch Koolaid down the throats of the office staff! We are not selling the program to agents per se, just encouraging them to use it. Even though the program is half baked, the coordinators are incompetent and cannot deliver anything on time. The company makes us, the low paid office staff clean up the mess of their initiatives without taking extra pay. 

My year-end "raise" was more of an insult. It wasn't even 20 cents per hour. 

The company preaches "open communication" but some marketing higher up will swoop in with no notice and intervene on office-level coordination. This company hires too many people who get referred in, ending up with many incompetent staff that do more harm than good. 

If you'd be happy being an emotional punchbag for agents screaming about the company's bad products and lack of support/service, this is the job for you!

For those who are new in the business, or are looking to get into real estate, this is an honest review from a newer agent. As a Realtor, we are contractors of the company and work on 100% commission. We should not expect to receive benefits, salary, or paid time off. We make our own schedules as such. Do not expect to get rich quick. It takes time to grow and develop your business. What is not disclosed completely are the fees and costs associated with being a real estate professional.Not only that, some companies pride themselves on "training", however they do not tell you what the costs of training will be until after the fact. Coldwell-Banker offers various training (JTM) to get you up and going, but what is not disclosed clearly is the costs associated with the training. I was charged $2500 to leave the company. I had to dig through all of the material I received in order to discover the fee and promissory note that I signed. Yes I signed it. However, it was in the back of a "training" manual that had other signed forms as well. In hind-sight, I should have been aware of these forms that I was signing, however, as a new agent, sometimes we overlook this and are desperate to get started. Please review the material carefully, and do not feel obligated to sign anything regarding "training". They make money off of new agents because they know that 13 out of 14 realtors will not renew their licence in 2 years. I left because I needed a new environment, nothing personal. However, when I went to make the switch, I was confronted with this fee, and was not "released" until I paid it. I was extremely disappointed because I actually liked most of the people that I worked with, including my broker, however, their true intentions and colors came out when I decided that I needed a change for myself. After that, I was just a "fee" to them, and as such, I will not promote them in any way. I will do my best to educate newer agents when deciding on a company and let them know that the training (JTM) was not all that it was cracked up to be, nor are they transparent in the fees associated with taking their classes. Upon requesting a receipt, I was notified with a document that looked like it was made on WORD and indicated that the $2500 charge was "Miscellaneous", nothing stating it was for JTM training or otherwise. A lesson learned.

In a typical day in Real Estate, I keep you a very strict schedule. I find consistency has helped me achieve my goals

From 8 AM to about 11 AM. I have scheduled Follow up calls. I divide them into two letters of the alphabet, for example, on Monday I may call all people in my database with the last name starting with M and Z. I make it consistent, but makes it up so my clients and Close family and friends are not bombarded. I always have a reason for calling, and never ask for a sale. I feel it’s important to offer my help and services, let people know what I’m about, I want them to hire me for work, and the passion and profession I put into that work. I take a break after my calls. 

At least two days out of the week I have lunch meetings and one Friday per month. We have an excellent time doing continuing education at the Grosse Pointe yacht club, followed by an excellent roundtable discussion by Realtors from all around the Detroit Metropolitan area. I find that Realtor actually work very well together. if it’s not a win-win situation, nobody gets a paycheck and neither of our clients win in the end. We work very well together. 

After lunch, I will come back to the office to follow up on emails, send out any contracts that need to be signed, and take care of all office work necessary at that time. I try to keep my showings to the last part of the day, but I always accommodate my clients. This means that any time of day I have to flip-flop my schedule. But I make sure my clients come first and if I have to Flip-flop a few calls or follow up emails. I can do so. 

Couple days depending on how busy I am, I will have showings 3 to 4 days a week. Also, depending on how busy I am, I try to take at least one open house per weekend. If I need to drum up some more business/lead generation I will try to do 2 to 3 open houses per weekend doing two in one day. 

Real Estate offers an incredibly flexible schedule. However, in order to be successful, you have to put everything into it, be extremely focused and self motivated. You have to have excellent time management, be comfortable, talking and educating others, negotiating contracts, and standing up for your client. At the end of the day, we take an oath of ethical obligation to meet our clients to the best of our ability.



CB managers are 'non compete' which means they get paid a salary, and over ride on you, and they run the office P&L. Therefore, each office is different. Managers can be very cheap. For a 50/50 - 6%, ask what you are getting. I got nothing except a box of business cards (some managers won't even pay for that, or they will split the cost). Yeah, the software seems cool but most of what they sell you on costs extra (and they don't tell you that upfront), so they are really no different than any other company that's out there. They don't even explain how to use all the software they offer. It's like going into a super super sized grocery store when you just want to buy a box of cereal. You spend all day trying to find it and no one can help you. Training? You pay for that, too but it doesn't cover much tech.

Non compete means your manager should step in if you need help with dual agency issues, or if you want back up on a listing presentation. That's hard to do when your manager lives an hour away and works 9-5 M-F and real estate is a night time and weekend job. What use is he? You'll end up having to work a split with a different agent. You can do that elsewhere and get a higher commission percentage for yourself.

For some reason, CB moves managers around - sometimes to an area of which the manger has no market knowledge AT ALL. Again, useless.

CB managers must get an over ride on mortgage business (or are pushed hard to sell it) because you are reprimanded for using someone other than the in house person. Let's remember, we're independent contractors and it's illegal to steer a buyer to one lender.

CB boasts their managers are non compete but if they're useless to you and only looking out for their own agenda, who cares? The bottom line is, you will only get business by networking and pounding the pavement. Little else matters. CB is good for new agents but so is Weichert (and their training, last I heard, did not cost anything). It's an OD on corporate culture without a return on investment.

Great company to work as a Broker/Associate. Excellent marketing tools, the best internet exposure for my listings. All the resources I need to successfully marketing properties and achieve a successful sale. I love the office I work out of, I have a fantastic administrative team that helps me in my success.

 A typical day consists of prospecting for new clients, following up with past & current clients. Researching the towns I'm currently shopping with clients for new possible inventory to see. Research and prepare Current Market Analysis for up coming listings. Preparing paperwork for current sales or new listings. Updating my web-site & my internet and social media marketing. Responding to emails & voice messages hourly, Holding broker tours for current listings. Preparing follow-up reports, showing stats & showing feedback reports for listed clients. House-hunting with clients looking to purchase a home. Follow-up with current sales under contract ensuring attorney's, mortgage brokers, clients & my administration team are up to date with everything they need to ensure a smooth closing.

 Working as a Realtor for the last ten plus years has taught me how to work under pressure, how to multi-task, how to best work with people, to be a good listener, to be a good problem solver and how to stay on course to accomplish the end result the goal of my clients.

 I have always been in sales and I enjoy working with people. It feels good to help people meets their needs accomplish their goals and meet their dreams. It feels great when you get to the end result and your clients are so happy! They refer their family, friends and neighbors to you! That is the  best compliment and helps you to know the hard work is worth it...

Do not work for the listing department.
If you end up as a client coordinator, prepare for quick burnout and office politics. Typical days are easy and repetitive once you work for a couple weeks at every office (you travel to multiple offices under this franchise) however, learning everything and being extremely detail oriented is essential to (maybe) keep your job.
Pay incentive if you work weekends. No overtime, you always go home at the same time. 
Do not work here if you are introverted and not into being pressured into sharing your own stances on political issues. 
Do not work here if you are a young professional and require time to adjust to a new routine, environment, etc. 
And finally, do not work here if you have experience already and have earned more than minimum wage before, you will be taking a pay cut by coming here. 
If hired as part time you will be worked full time hours and not receive benefits. If you're also unlucky and hired as full time, you'll be given just below 40hrs/week and still not even anticipate getting any benefits (after first 90 days). Broken promises of internal promotion, only good if you are complacent after years. 

You can't call in last minute without being confronted unreasonably. Prepare to go to work anyway even if something is wrong at home. However, they are happy to change your schedule last minute and ask you to fill in for other people who have been there longer/are more liked. 

The probationary period was a lie and you will be fired without explanation, warning, or exit interview if you're don't have the right personality or don't learn fast enough for them. People speak about others behind their backs all the time, be careful what you say and try to always look busy even if tasks can be completed in under 6 hours.

Going into the office is always exciting. We have 40 plus agents who seldom come together on any given day, but on average there is always at least 10 plus agents in at one time. Yes we may all be competing for the same geographic areas, but everyone is always willing to lend a helping hand to one another. Our management is always only one phone call away and never puts time restrictions on their availability to us. Education is always taken seriously and there are classes weekly for all agents to attend if they choose to do so. As realtors, we take our profession very seriously and realize the importance of loyalty whether we represent someone selling their home or buying their first home. The hardest part of my job, is when you meet a potential buyer who may have less than perfect credit and you work just as hard to give them hope, introduce them to the proper professionals who can give them financial advise and put them on the track of own a home in the near future. Or, when someone is on the verge of loosing their home and you try to beat the clock to selling their home before the bank takes it back. The most enjoyable part of my job, is walking into a home with my buyers and they both look at one another and say "WOW", I know I've done my job no matter how many homes I have to show them. Meeting people is also  very rewarding to me and building long term relationships. The best compliment I could receive is when my clients introduce me to a family member or friend as the person responsible for making their dreams come true, it great.

They spend every bit of their energy and resources babying their agents to the detriment of their other employees, whom they have no issue lying to. They ask constantly what the issues are, and when we tell them what they are, we are met with 2 answers:
1. Agents are agents, they won't change.
2. That is not a priority.

The management has processes and procedures, but at every turn we ignore them to make the agents happy. There very little consistency, which makes every day stressful. On top of that, in the processing center, there are at least 100 employees, and a 1 person training team for ALL of them.

They hide the truth from their employees, and then blindside them with enormous changes. Ex: My group was one of the busiest in the department, and they took 2 of the 4 people away. Those 2 people were given 2 days warning of what was to come. The 2 of us remaining did not find out until the morning it was happening. They told us our workload was doubling, and we were expected to still get it all done. Oh, and there would be no additional compensation, and this change was until further notice.

They complained about being short staffed, and yet kept us on a hiring freeze. 

And the cherry on top: They lied directly to our faces about upcoming layoffs, stating that nothing was going to be happening and all would be well, but then 2 days later our entire department is being laid off because they are outsourcing our positions to cut costs.

For a company that prides itself on being the "Most Ethical Company" for years in a row, I have seen A LOT of unethical behavior happen to its employees.

I have really enjoyed meeting many people during my Real Estate carrer,however, I find that I miss the technical feild in my life. After doing a technical job for so many years, I felt I was in need of a change.
     After retiring from Verizon after 32 years, I thought Real Estate would be an interesting and exciting change for me. I find myself working from the minute I get up, until anywhere from 10pm to midnight, making sure I've done everything possible for my clients. I find this job can be very rewarding and other times, can be very disappointing. The cost of Marketing, insurance, licensing, gas and sometimes meals for my clients, is proving to be almost a wash for the money I have made.
     One great thing I can say about working in Real Estate, is that I have met some wonderful people along the way. My current manager at Coldwell Banker, is incredibly helpful and works hard to create a positive and creative atmosphere in our Yorktown office. I really enjoy the people I work with as we all try to help each other out whenever possible.
     As I have said, I really do miss the technical feild in my life. I loved the satisfaction of fixing something that no one else seemed to be able to figure out. I loved hearing the relief of a customer when they learned thay were back in service. I was good at my job and I knew it. I will admit, it took years to reach that point, but when I did, it was a really great feeling!

I've been working as an agent for Coldwell Banker Schmidt for about 1 1/2 years. Honestly, I believe it all depends on your broker and other agents in your office. I have encouraged all in my office to be a team. I feel if someone hires me they should not only get my experience and expertise but it should be backed by my entire office and the Coldwell Banker brand. Imagine what can be accomplished when you all work as a team?! I know, we're all independent contractors and we all have our own clients. That's beside the point. If I know a lot about social media and advertising I can share that with my office agents so they can grow thier clientele too. If they know a trick or two about CMAs they can show us. It's information sharing, and helping another agent with questions or showings. I really try to inspire this atmosphere in my office. But the bottom line is, you need a GOOD broker no matter where you go! A good broker takes the time to show you the ropes, answer your questions, and be available when things need to get done. Trust me, there's a lot more my broker and office could be doing (in my opinion) but for now I'm fairly satisfied. If you are a go getter, driven, responsive, organized, articulate, well groomed, and dressed for success you'll do just fine anywhere.
In my case, my Broker is very responsive to questions and training and available when things need to get done. However, she hesitates to go to bat for any repairs that need to be done to our building and our building is really bad! I shouldn't be embarrassed to bring clients into my office to sign a contract :-/

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Real estate agent 412 salaries reported	$133,325 per year
Realtor 686 salaries reported	$124,671 per year
Office administrator 34 salaries reported	$18.83 per hour
Administrative assistant 31 salaries reported	$23.16 per hour
Loan officer 108 salaries reported	$139,597 per year

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