Working at Home vs. the Office

By: Barbara Todaro

As the market continues to become more challenging every month, I’m noticing that agents who previously worked from home are now making an appearance at the office more frequently. When that happens, there is always a conversation about business and new ideas are shared.

Without those new ideas and thoughts, there are transactions that may not have happened. Without that interaction with other agents, there are listings that may have been lost to another office. There are many positive factors involved with having an office environment available to agents.

Many agents in other offices refuse to go into the office because of the social hour that occurs every day. If an office has agents who are all business, those social hours do not happen. I have to say that our RE/MAX Executive Realty office in Franklin MA is an office filled with agents who are all business.

There is synergy every day; there are agents who energize one another; there are learning sessions; there are sharing sessions; and there are agents who are focused on production. How can working from home beat that type of environment?

If your office is not structured with agents who interact with each other and share business scenarios with each other, it may be time for your "broker/owner" to restructure your office. As I said in my last post, eliminate all of the negative elements, and your agents will soar from there. Make your office a “stimulating work environment” and you’ll have agents who work successfully together.

At RE/MAX Preferred Associates in Toledo Ohio, this is something that new and experienced agents ask us all the time says Broker/ Owner Kathy Kuyoth.  "Where should I work?" We tell our new agents that they really need to be in the office to feed off of the energy of the experienced agents and to pick up on new ideas and ways of doing the business. Many of our experienced agents have discovered that they are more effective working in the office, instead of from home. Many site too many distractions at home and wanting to separate their business and home life. We have such a high energy level at Re/Max Preferred, we believe coming to the office to work or just to get recharged is really helpful to our agents. As an agent if you have a bad day with a low appraisal, bad home inspection or the many problems that arise out of doing short sales and bank owned properties, having someone to vent to that understands what you are dealing with is really helpful. What do you think? Please email: Broker/ Owner Kathy Kuyoth at KKuyoth@ToledoMetro.com