Brokers and real estate agents have not always been the best of buddies in the past, but Tim Brown says all that is changing.
Brokers and real estate agents have not always been the best of buddies in the past, but Vow Financial CEO Tim Brown says all that is changing, and smart brokers will make the most of the opportunities at hand.
While the shift in attitude has been “a long time coming”, says Brown, brokers in Australia are finally starting to wake up to the opportunities that partnering with real estate agents can bring.
“If you go to somewhere like the UK, Countrywide have an 80 per cent penetration of sales, and in Australia we’re lucky to get 20. So we’ve still got a long way to go, but the scene has been set and I think we are seeing a growth in this side of the business.”
Vow has recently finalised its joint venture with RE/MAX’s new finance arm Australian Property Finance and is vetting brokers to start working in real estate offices in Queensland.
Vow plans to place brokers inside the RE/MAX offices, where space permits, and says this is an important aspect of a successful working relationship.
“It’s sort of like out of sight, out of mind. Agents are predominantly focused on the transaction so very often you will find that they forget about the opportunities, whereas having someone sit in the office and be part of the sales team you find that they think about finance much more often.”
Because of this set-up, Brown says involving agents in the broker vetting process is crucial.
“It’s a relationship business and establishing that rapport early is a key component of being successful… if they don’t feel they can work with that person we’re wasting everyone’s time. So for us we get the agent involved in recruitment and they get a say in who goes into their office, rather than just us turning up and saying ‘Well, here’s Joe Blow. Good luck!’.”
The fact that both parties have an equal share in the business, and that the corporate teams are actively involved and supportive of the joint venture is also a key component to success, says Brown.
That almost all of the business generated from real estate partnerships are new purchases rather than refinance is a great advantage of the relationship, says Brown, and says this kind of partnership would suit brokers that may need help with lead generation.
“This would potentially suit someone who’s started in the industry or someone who’s reasonably established but struggles to do their own business development.
“Often we find there are brokers out there who are very good at closing but are lousy business builders, so this creates the opportunity for them so satisfy one component which they are not so good at. It’s very rare to find a broker that’s good at everything.”
Brown also hopes the relationship will act as an incentive for new brokers to get on board with Vow.
"The enticement of being able to work with an agent who’s going to refer to you and support you is obviously going to help us recruit good quality brokers in Queensland," he says.
Brokers that can get past their reservations and get involved with real estate agents are setting themselves up for a positive business future, says Brown.
“When you think about it, everybody that buys a house is going to need a mortgage – there’s not too many people that turn up and pay cash.”
Brown's top tips for working with agents:
- Ensure all parties have equal share in the business: “If everyone’s got money on the line there’s a lot more interest in making sure it works.”
- Make sure there is corporate support for the venture: “Putting money in is one thing but make sure that the real estate side of the business actually sees it as a key component of their sales process… If they don’t, you’re wasting your time.”
- Recruit the right people: “That’s the same in any business – getting the right people into the role always improves your chances of success.”
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