Broker Support
What Support to Expect From Your Broker, and How Often
Updated
Bottom line: Expect a broker you can reach when a question needs one, and a clear place for everything else. How often you talk is mostly yours to set. Agents who switch name thin support among their biggest complaints.
Alexis Ruiz-Ney, Partner, Jumpstart Partners · Concierge Director, Houston Properties TeamOr call (713) 425-4194.
What do agents who switch brokerages say was missing?
Mike DelPrete interviewed agents who had switched brokerages, and lack of support came up as one of the main pain points.
One agent in Mike DelPrete's study had spoken with their broker about 10 times in 13 years. Mike DelPrete also lists tech overload next to thin support among the biggest complaints.
At high volume, a question only a broker can answer usually sits on a live file. A broker you reach a handful of times in a decade leaves that question with you.
Does support matter more to agents than pay?
HousingWire reported on a national survey of agent loyalty, and only 13% named pay as their biggest reason to stay with a brokerage.
In the same HousingWire report, 43% pointed to culture, leadership and personal relationships.
A broker's availability is part of leadership and relationships. It belongs in the decision beside the split and the fees.
How often should you expect to hear from your broker?
A RE/MAX News profile of a Maryland broker-owner gives a working answer: it depends on the agent.
She found that some agents prefer little contact with her, while others call her all the time.
She set boundaries on that contact. She still wants every agent to know she is available for help and questions.
Frequency is yours to set, within limits the broker sets. Ask a broker what those limits are, and how they handle an agent who calls often.
Who answers your questions at Real?
Real's help article on contacting the broker or support gives one model. Once you finish onboarding, most questions go to the Support Team, unless the question is one for the Broker.
That exception keeps a category of questions with the broker. Ask which questions fall into it, so a busy file reaches the right person on the first try.
What should you ask a broker before you move a busy practice?
Ask who answers after onboarding, which questions reach the broker, and how the broker handles an agent who calls often.
Ask an agent at your volume how many times they reached the broker in the past year, and how fast.
Jumpstart Partners is a group of agents sponsored by Real Brokerage. Our sponsor is Alexis Ruiz-Ney, and what we hold to is plain: a sponsor at Real who answers the phone.
Filed in Why Real.
Questions & answers
What do agents in the US and Canada ask about this?
Is strong technology enough to keep me happy at a brokerage?
Mike DelPrete's study of agents who switched brokerages treats strong technology and strong financial incentives as table stakes. In his findings, agents look past those to the softer, emotional factors. A platform alone rarely settles the decision. Weigh the people you would deal with, and how you would reach them, alongside the tools and the terms.
A practice that already runs on its own systems has a specific risk here: a new set of tools can add steps to work you have already handed off. Ask any broker you interview which tools are required and which are optional. Then ask who picks up when one of the required tools fails in the middle of a file.
What do agents moving from a big brokerage to a smaller one usually want?
In Mike DelPrete's study, agents who moved from large brokerages to small ones often wanted greater autonomy, more personal connection and mentorship. For a busy practice, autonomy keeps the systems you built your own. A personal connection gives you a named person to call when a question needs a broker rather than a help desk.
A producing agent uses mentorship as a sounding board: pricing a difficult listing, adding staff, or deciding which piece of the work to hand off next. Ask any broker you interview who that person would be for you. Ask how you would reach them, too.
What do agents who are happy with their brokerage point to?
HousingWire's report on a national survey of agent loyalty found that the happiest agents see their brokerage's vision show up in practical ways. The report names training programs, communication from leadership and steady follow-through. You can check each of those before you sign by asking for examples instead of a description of the culture.
Ask how leadership tells agents about a change, and how soon after it is decided. Ask what training exists for an agent at your volume, past onboarding. Then ask an agent already there whether follow-through matched what was promised. Specific answers to those questions describe support you can plan around.
What does Jumpstart Partners share with agents each week?
Every week, Jumpstart Partners shares one thing that is working right now, from the person doing it. Alongside that come AI tools, scripts and live sessions, built to help you win more business now. They are open to any agent at any brokerage. Jumpstart Partners is a group of agents at Real Brokerage, founded in 2019.
The weekly format keeps it short: one working idea from someone using it. Take what fits the way you already run your business and leave the rest.