By Verl Workman

The concept of real estate teams can be weirdly controversial, but they shouldn’t be.

I’ve heard horror stories of false promises, lost money, a lack of mentorship, and worse. Some say that the worst decision they’ve made was joining a team early in their career.

It’s sad that some have been turned off to the idea because of poor execution. Cross-generationally, real estate professionals report positive experiences working on a team. We recently commissioned a study on teams in real estate that shows nearly 80% of real estate professionals report a positive or highly positive experience with their team.

That’s a bold claim. It’s a high percentage. I wanted to dig into it to understand why teams are so popular among those who join them for long periods of time. Here are three takeaways from that digging.

Members of Teams Make More Money

The average income of a real estate agent is a harder number to ascertain than you might think. From reputable sources, I’ve seen estimates as low as $54,000, with some claiming figures in the $70,000’s and Indeed reporting an average just under $94,000.

All seem to agree that the average agent pulls in under $100K per year, so that’s the figure I’m going to stick with.

I spoke with one team out of Colorado whose lowest-paid agent was making over $150K every year. That was after her commission splits, but before taxes.

On another team, the average agent was knocking it out of the park with a GCI of over $200K.

Those are anecdotal, but the more I interview the teams that coach with Workman Success Systems, the more I see the same thing over and over again — teams make people more money. It’s hard to find a national average for real estate team members because teams haven’t been well-studied. Our study found this:

76% of real estate professionals say their team makes them a higher income.

That’s certainly been our experience at Workman Success Systems. We teach a team model of business because it works. Our clients report average incomes magnitudes above the national average.

People join teams and stay on them because that’s where they make the most money.

Teams Keep You In Real Estate

Agent churn is a reality in real estate today. And when those displaced agents can’t find the success they’re looking for, they leave the industry. It’s estimated that a whopping 87% of agents fail in their first five years.

But a good team seems to combat and contradict that statistic.

According to our study, 81% of real estate professionals say that a team keeps agents in the industry longer.

And that makes sense. Our study also showed that teams tend to increase accountability, collaboration, productivity, profits, and create a sense of community.

A good team keeps you in the industry. If you want to stick around for a while, build a team.

Teams Increase Your Free Time

Teaming up compounds your efforts, lets you specialize, and creates time.

Time is a funny thing. It’s truly nonrenewable. All the money in the world can’t get your lost time back.

Time is more valuable than money. So, throwing time after money sounds like an awful way to spend it.

Teams let you focus on making the most of your time. With a group effort, more gets done in less time. That compounded effort is more valuable than the extra income we’ve already established teams bring in.

In interviewing some of our clients, I saw something that surprised me: getting time back and establishing work-life balance was the real reason most of them sought out coaching to begin with — and the thing they were enjoying most as their businesses continue to grow.

Teams Help You Maximize Your Time

Real estate teams shouldn’t be controversial. If you had a bad experience or were convinced to avoid them because of rumors, take a look at the numbers. Teams just make sense. If you want to last, make more money, and get your time back, teaming up is the cure you’ve been looking for.