Working with a team of real estate agents and specialists has several big advantages. It’s not just about sharing the workload, it’s about leveraging one another so that everyone is performing at their optimal levels. With real estate specialization, each team member can focus on their area of expertise while at the same time engaging with the bigger picture.
It’s a win-win situation!
My own experience with SFhotlist and launching Keller Williams San Francisco has made me aware of three main benefits of real estate specialization.
Having a team of specialized pros on your side allows you to reap the following rewards:
A powerhouse of real estate experience
For the past several years, my team has been in the top 1 percent of all San Francisco real estate agents. This is largely due to our combined experience. Each team member brings something unique to the table.
Don’t get me wrong, we’re all great real estate agents solo. But bringing our experience together as a team makes us a real estate powerhouse. It’s allowed us to serve a greater number of clients and meet a greater variety of client needs.
Real estate specialists include buyer and seller specialists, listing coordinators, team leaders, marketing directors, executive assistants and more.
This isn’t just a bunch of moving parts; plan your real estate team right and it’s a well-oiled machine.
Improved real estate and client relationships
A large component of being successful in the real estate market is networking and creating lasting, valuable relationships. But let’s be real—there are only so many hours in a day. Networking is absolutely a priority, but there are also a million other tasks on which to focus.
Having a team of real estate specialists, including administrative and marketing staff, allows agents to focus on their clients and improves both the number and quality of real estate relationships.
The big payoff with this is what it means for the clients.
For example, working with a team of real estate agents in San Francisco as opposed to a single agent means that multiple people will have had experience living in different San Francisco neighborhoods.
In a team situation, however, different members will have intimate knowledge about the neighborhoods they love, simply from living in San Francisco. It’s automatic bonuses like these that make real estate specialization so valuable.
Different clients also have different needs. Something I focus on very carefully is matching each client to the specialist on my team I think will be the best personality fit. Having a specialist focusing on buyers, for example, means that each agent can get to the know the realities of buying San Francisco real estate and offer the best possible information to each client.
Being a specialist also means that each team member has cultivated dedicated relationships with vendors and key players, like loan officers, throughout the industry. The result for the client is quality connections to meet whatever need that may arise.
Quality, quantity and big value
As you well know, the real estate market is competitive. This is especially true for the San Francisco real estate market. When you work with a team, a whole network of specialists works for you. No individual agent can offer this combination of knowledge, experience and attention to detail, which creates big value for the client.
It allows you to broaden your reach without compromising time and quality of service.
Trying to do everything yourself can be a frustrating experience, and there’s always the risk of this seeping through to your clients. Having a team of real estate specialists provides valuable support when both you and the clients need it most.
Put it this way—someone on your team will always have your back, which ultimately means more success stories with both buyers and sellers.
Danielle Lazier, Senior Broker-Associate, Keller Williams San Francisco, is a top 10 San Francisco real estate agent. She is founder of SFhotlist.com, San Francisco’s first real estate blog.