Oxygen general manager Alan Hemmings shares his tips on successful real estate partnerships.
All good brokers should be able to work with real estate agents, says Oxygen Home Loans general manager Alan Hemmings, and those that don’t are missing out on good business.
Oxygen is a wholly owned subsidiary of McGrath Estate Agents, and currently has over 20 brokers working out of McGrath offices.
“It’s vital having brokers working in those offices, working with the agents on a day-to-day basis. It helps them become part of the team.”
If brokers are unable to successfully build those relationships with McGrath agents, they are “effectively managed out of the business”, says Hemmings.
“It comes down to their ability to build relationships and grow a business, if we put them into an office and they don’t perform then chances are moving forward they won’t get the business, because it just means they can’t do it.
“The fact is we’re giving them the opportunity to come in and get a steady supply of leads, and if they can’t do that then they’re probably in the wrong business. The whole thing about being a broker is your ability to generate leads which generate business for you.”
While brokers “have been burnt” by real estate agents in the past, savvy brokers are making an effort to understand how the real estate business works and rebuild the bridges, says Hemmings.
Real estate agents are now one of the top referral sources for mortgage brokers, he says. But the work isn’t all coming from the brokers’ side, as real estate businesses start to wake up to missed opportunities.
“What would have been happening is you would have had individual agents going out there and referring to somebody and getting some money on the side, so the businesses themselves have realised they’ve been missing an opportunity and they’re willing to work at it a lot harder as well.”
The real traction comes when agents risk losing a deal because of finance approval issues, and brokers can help to settle the deal. This is also where the trust and strong relationships between the two parties is most crucial, he says.
“We see that numerous times, for whatever reason the bank’s policy doesn’t suit the property or the client’s struggling with the bank, our guys come in and help and the sale still goes through. That’s where you see a real benefit and that’s where that relationship is important because otherwise the agent could lose the sale.”
Full management support – from the top execs and all the way down – from the real estate group, as well as a strong remuneration structure, are crucial to ensuring the referrals keep coming in and the relationship remains strong, says Hemmings.
