Benefits & Insurance
for real estate agents
As the CEO of your own small real estate business, it’s important to keep in mind that the majority of real estate agents are considered independent contractors when they join a brokerage, not employees. Your brokerage functions in a role that’s more of a business partner, and less of a boss.
As an employee starting a new job you’d typically expect to receive a benefits package which includes paid time off, insurance coverage, retirement plans, and perhaps some other perks. As a real estate agent, you should understand that while you’ll be receiving benefits and services from your brokerage, they’ll be different from those offered in general to employees.
Real Estate Agent Health Insurance
As small business owners, it’s typical for real estate agents to provide their own insurance for medical, dental and vision coverage. So it’s important to include those potential costs when you’re developing your budget. There are options for small business owners and individuals to purchase insurance on their own. However, in some cases brokerages may have programs available to you so always ask!
You will also be responsible for your own retirement plans, disability insurance and tax savings plans if you choose to have such coverage. Just like health-related insurance, you can purchase these through existing vendors & networks on the public market. Or, choose a brokerage who offers them.
Time Off & Vacation Plans For Real Estate Agents
As your own boss, you’ll also be in charge of your own time off and vacation schedule. How much time off you take is completely up to you! Take a little, or take a lot!
You’re in control. Just keep in mind that the amount of time you dedicate to the job will be reflected in your income.
We Offer Insurance!
That’s right! Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices has group insurance options available exclusively for our real estate agents.
Plan options include: health, dental, vision, life, disability, and retirement.
Other Real Estate Agent Benefits
While most brokerages don’t offer insurance related benefits to their agents, their value lies in providing benefits in other areas. While interviewing with potential brokerages, make sure you ask for a run down of all of the support & services they offer.
Office Services
For example, are basic office supplies and services available in the office like printers, fax and phone lines, workstations, meeting spaces & video conferencing options? If so, is there a fee?
Depending on the brokerage, benefits like these may be included at no additional cost, and can help save you money in the long run.
Tools & Tech
Access to a collection of tools to help you run your business efficiently is another major benefit which brokerages offer their agents. From software to help you manage your transactions to CRM and marketing tools, there are a huge variety of tools available to help make your day-to-day life as a real estate professional much easier.
The types of tools offered by brokerages varies widely. Some companies may offer only a few, others may have solutions in place for everything!
Staff & Leadership
The amount of support you’ll directly receive will vary greatly depending on where you hang your hat.
Some brokerages will offer very little support in regards to staff available to help you on a day-to-day basis, and others may offer an admin at every location to assist you with needs from marketing to help with the printer jam.
How We Do It
For our real estate agents, being a part of Real Estate’s FOREVER Brand has launched their real estate business and will help to keep it going, forever.
Being a real estate agent isn’t just selling homes, it’s a business to run! We help with that part… the business-running part.
Let us show you what we’re talking about. We can talk the talk AND walk the walk.
Choose the brokerage that’s right for you.
The most important thing to understand is that not all brokerages are created equal.
What’s right for someone else might not be right for you, so make sure you consider your options carefully and meet with multiple companies before you make a decision.
We’ve got some great recommendations to help you evaluate your choices, and even a great checklist you can use to stay organized in the process.
Programs & Services
One of the unique things about working as a real estate agent is how many different people you need to work with on a regular basis. To name a few, you’ll work with mortgage, title, insurance, home warranty, transaction coordinators, trainers, and coaches. But trust us, there’s also many more! Another benefit a brokerage can offer is access to these types of services right under the same roof. This makes you more efficient, helping you be the best CEO you can be.
In addition, a brokerage may make other internal services available to you as well – think accounting, administrative, and compliance! If you don’t want to get bogged down doing remedial tasks that someone else could be doing for you, make sure the brokerage you choose offers different departments to take care of the back end stuff. This lets you be the CEO without having to do any of the hiring or firing. Great, right?
Marketing Support
It’s up to each brokerage to determine the marketing support services they offer to their real estate agents, so you’ll most likely find that they vary greatly from company to company. Is there a company website? Do they offer agent websites? Is there a program or service to help you create postcards, flyers, and more? Are print advertising services offered? Social media graphics? You get the picture.
Take into account whether such services are offered, and their monetary value if you were to pay for them on your own. Marketing is key to developing your real estate business, and access to great tools can often be very expensive.
How We Support Agents With Tools, Services & Tech
We make a living by helping others (YOU) make a living. When we say we are full service we mean it. We take an immense amount of pride in serving our agents and customers completely. We provide a full education department, accounting department, marketing department, in-person coaching and business consultation. All of these departments, people and resources are simply to support you and your small business.
Coaching & Training
One fact that you’ll often encounter when learning about the most successful CEOs is that they didn’t do it alone. They often had help – learning new skills, building their business, exceeding their goals, and staying on track. The key to their success? Coaching and training.
Real estate is a business where you’re required to wear many hats – and it’s impossible to be an expert in all areas. Especially when your days are most often spent with customers, and not with your nose in a book! That said, one very important benefit brokerages offer their agents is training. The more knowledge you have the better agent you will be, so it’s a great investment for your brokerage to have a comprehensive training program available to you.
Personalized business coaching is another great benefit that some brokerages offer, although it’s less common. In this case, you are assigned a personal coach who you’ll discuss your business goals with. From there, you’ll work together to create a business plan to achieve (if not exceed) them. You’ll meet with your coach on a regular basis to help keep you on track and generate new ideas to help you hit that target. It’s fun, motivating, and rewarding for both you and your coach.
Interested in learning more?
If you’re looking for more information about working in the real estate industry, we’ve got plenty for you to review. Here’s a few pieces we recommend to review.
Lead Me To The Money
Generating leads is a large portion of your real estate business, and something that we help with! Between our local, dedicated Business Development and Relocation team and the national Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network, we are constantly cultivating relationships with hundreds of lead sources, brokerages and agents internationally. You also hold the power to generate your own leads through a multitude of methods while using the tools and resources we provide you!
Position Yourself For Success
You may hold the title of REALTOR®, but we all know there are so many more titles that you also carry. Being a real estate agent isn’t just selling homes, you have a business to run! Let us help you with that part… the business-running part. We have all of the internal operational efficiencies in place, the tools to help you do your job, the automation and synergy needed to make your job easier, and finally a global brand with local roots to support you every step of the way. Let us show you what we’re talking about. We can talk the talk AND walk the walk.
Here For You
When we say we are full service we mean it. We take an immense amount of pride in serving our agents and customers completely. We provide a full education department, accounting department, marketing department, in-person coaching and business consultation. All of these departments, people and resources are simply to support you and your small business. In addition to that we have CORE Services to help you deliver everything your customers need under one roof.
Have questions?
Let’s connect.
Important Links
© 2024 BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently owned and operated franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of Columbia Insurance Company, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. Equal Housing Opportunity.