Join a Team or Go it Alone?

One person's view, a response from a very successful REALTOR® and RealTalker:

My best five years every which way you slice it have been since Going Alone. Of course, a large part is having faithfully served my client circle over the years, which in turn serves me nice referrals and repeat business. However, I also appeal to "outsiders" with little effort who say they attracted to me because the know where the buck stops every time - it is always me who answers the phone or returns the voicemail, me who shows houses, me who answers emails at 4:24 a.m. and me who comes to closing - unless I am on a 10 day cruise like I am about to be, and they are fine with that, too!

I will add that the MLS and REALTOR.com are great equalizers. Your listing is out there like anyone else's as soon as it is input. For all the things I don't like about REALTOR.com, I do upgrade my site to get more photos and banners and it does make a difference (if you bother to go in to put your own description in real English, which you should). One of the things that disappointed me about being at two different brokers previously is that I did not have a jump on our company listings like I expected.

Do spend a little time developing a personalized website with lots of photos of your houses, which you keep current.

Also, don't worry about the office. I have a simple one off of our dining room to keep my overhead low, but it really doesn't matter. If you can't have an office at home which is away from bedrooms, meet folks at a coffee shop or perhaps a local title company (several of ours have empty ones we can use). Especially if you have a few technological bells and whistles (which could be as simple as a good lap top you obviously know how to use), you don't need a physical office to get the business you want.