6TH AVE GUIDE EXPANDED ROLE & EXPECTATIONS
What is a Guide?
At 6th Ave Homes, we call all of our licensed real estate agents “Guides”. While we are all technically agents, we prefer the term guide because we believe that truly defines what a good agent is supposed to do. A guide cares about the success of the client and not themselves. They seek to understand the customer's problem, empathize with them, and help them overcome it. A guide knows what they are doing and is better than a salesman. The best realtors are actually just good real estate guides. So, we decided to just call them that.
How do I become a 6th Ave Guide?
The short answer is to graduate from our 6th Ave Guide Training Program.
Our Guide Training Program is 6th Ave’s own hands-on training curriculum that aims to set up our new Guides for success in their career with 6th Ave Homes. We believe that 6th Ave Homes’ success has come from our mission, strategies, and overall approach to real estate. Which is why we believe our Guide Training Program is essential to your success!
Every new agent, starts off as a “Mentee”; meaning they need to be trained and mentored in order to graduate and become a 6th Ave Guide.
Mentors & Mentees - IMPORTANT
Every new agent will have a mentor for their first 3 transactions, as required by TREC. More experienced agents may not have to have a Mentor, depending on their experience. The Brokerage Manager will assign a Mentor who has volunteered to assist & guide the Mentee.
Mentor & Mentee Splits
If the Mentee brings a buyer or seller, The Mentee receives 60% of the commission (plus $200 Transaction Fee), the Mentor receives 25%, & 6th Ave 15%.
If the Mentee receives a lead from 6th Ave, the Mentee receives 30% of the commission (plus $200 Transaction Fee), the Mentor receives 45%, & 6th Ave 25%.
EXPECTATIONS
Team Meetings
Each 6th Ave Guide is expected to attend weekly meetings on Wednesday’s at 10 am with the rest of the brokerage team. There is always room for exceptions. These meetings are intended to be valuable for all agent and participating in them is a huge part of benefiting from the culture at 6th Ave. Joining virtually is always an option if you can’t make it to the meeting in person. We also record all of our meetings & place these on our YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/@6thAveHomes
The 1st Wednesday Agent Meeting is always held the 1st Wednesday of each month. We often summarize the previous month’s wins & update you on industry happenings, market conditions, & other valuable information.
The other Wednesdays of each month are designated to be “Mastermind” sessions where an experienced agent will present something from their expertise tool belt to share with the group. Many great conversations & valuable ideas come from our Masterminds.
Agents are also expected to prioritize quarterly “All Team meetings”. These meetings are the last Thursday of the each quarter at 11:30am.
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Each 6th Ave Guide is also expected to meet with their Brokerage Manager for a Quarterly or Semi-Annual Catch-Up.
While we expect each Guide to attend these meetings, we know and understand that sometimes life has other plans. If you cannot make a meeting, it is your responsibility to notify your Brokerage Manager ahead of time.
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Competence & Rules
All 6th Ave Guides are required to be working towards expert competency in their chosen field of business. Taking classes to increase your knowledge is always encouraged. A great class to take is TREC’s 6-hour Broker Responsibility course to understand why being competent is so important to you & your clients.
All 6th Ave Guides are expected to be familiar with our Policies & Procedures.
All 6th Ave Guides will follow TREC’s Advertising Policies.
All 6th Ave Guides will follow TREC’s IABS & Consumer Protection Notice display rules.
No 6th Ave Guide will participate in a transaction as a Property Manager without being certified & trained in proper management procedures. Please consult with the broker for more detail.
Agents are encouraged to consult with our Subject Matter Experts. These volunteers have expressed interest in helping newer agents & are a wealth of information. Use them!
Much of our communication is done through our Slack Channels. You are invited & encourage to participate! Ask your brokerage manager for assistance in setting up the app correctly on your phone.
Contracts and Documents
In addition to completing all of the forms and TREC documents correctly, we require each real estate transaction to have all required items on the 6AH Checklist Docs for a CDA to be released. You are expected to get all of this information to the Transaction Coordinator a minimum of 7 days before closing to get paid on time. Our transaction coordinator is NOT an employee of 6th Ave Homes & does not work full time on our compliance & CDAs. 7 days gives her time to work us into her workflow & generate your CDA before your closing.
Transaction Minimum
Each 6th Ave Guide is expected to complete 6 real estate transactions per year; 3 of which must be self-generated transactions and not leads you were given by 6th Ave Homes.
If you are coming over from another brokerage, your previous deals count towards your yearly and career numbers.
Splits and Caps
Splits and caps are assessed on an individual basis. 6th Ave Homes charges a mandatory $200 brokerage fee on every transaction. This pays our broker $75 & our Transaction Coordinator $125 for their service. Once capped, the all agents will pay a flat fee of $600/transaction (the $200 fee is included in the $600).
Leads
One thing that makes us different from a lot of brokerages is that Owners & our Broker don’t take real estate leads. That means every lead that comes in from our marketing is then distributed to our 6th Ave Guides. 6th Ave Homes does not ask you to contribute any money towards our marketing and leads are given out at the discretion of the Brokerage Director and local Brokerage Manager.
If you are given a 6th Ave Lead, you are expected to call the contact within 24 hours of receiving the lead. You are also required to follow up with them 5 more times if you do not get in contact with them.
Any leads that are gained from a specific house, listing or advertisement that you are working on will be directly funneled to you (usually via email).
Any 6th Ave Homes lead given to a 6th Ave Guide will be split 50/50, meaning your split will be 50% of the total commission earned.
Search portal website leads are given out as well. The split for these leads is 65% to you & 35% to 6th Ave.
If you receive a selling lead and they purchase as well, both transactions are considered 6th Ave Leads and will be at a 50/50 or 65/35 split depending on the type of lead.
FEES
Resource Fee:
All full time agents are responsible for paying $215/month fee. Part time agents do not pay the resource fee & they will not have access to Rechat, Realscout, nor Docusign.
RESPONSIVENESS
As a 6th Ave Guide, responsiveness is key. It can easily make or break a deal. We expect each Guide to respond to team members as well as client emails and phone calls within 24 hours (excluding Sundays) of receiving them. Exceptions are vacations (must notify team in advance), holidays, and emergencies. If you are not able to contact them, please manage expectations correctly.
DATABASE AND LEAD GENERATION
ALL AGENTS ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE, MAINTAIN, AND ACTIVELY USE A LEAD DATABASE
Your database should have a minimum of 200 people and will include 50 VIPs (Your top referrers) and All Past Clients.
Once you get the database set up, it is suggested for you to contact everyone in your database twice per year.
While databases and admin work might seem like a punishment or an annoyance, these rules are important. Every 6th Ave Guide that has followed these guidelines has been able to make a successful career in real estate. Those that did not follow these have all left.
WEEKLY LEAD GENERATION SUGGESTIONS
Lead generation is not rocket science. Agents that have prioritized regular lead generating activities similar to those outlined below find success much quicker than the average agent.
Each week:
5 calls to a past client (if no past clients, then add calls to VIPS)
5 calls to VIP’s (VIPs are defined in "Networking with Soul”)
2 lunches or coffees / week with a potential lead or someone in your database
Call through 1 letter (first letter in last name) in your database of 400 contacts per week
This will be the equivalent of 2 touch points per year for everyone in your database
MARKETING
Each 6th Ave Guide is highly recommended to have, maintain, and actively use a personal Instagram and Facebook account. We recommend you make a minimum of 1 real estate related Social Media post per week on personal platforms.
CLIENTS
When interacting with clients or leads, each 6th Ave Guide is expected to follow these guidelines:
Respond to a Lead, email intro, phone call, or lead within 24 hours by phone and email (excluding weekends)
Bring a 6th Ave Homes MeetUp Packet to every Meet-Up
Send calendar invitations for all Meetings & Showings
Send an email recap after all showings and client meetings
Use and fulfill our 6th Ave Homes Value Touchpoints
PURCHASING NOTIFICATIONS
If you are personally buying any real estate, please notify your Brokerage Manager in writing (email).
Purchasing and making a commission on your personal home or investment property is allowed and encouraged.
Note: we will not expect a commission off of this other than the fixed cost for the transaction if commission is generated in the sale.
In the event that an agent wants to take on a flip or renovation project, agents must have express consent from Jimmy Williams for use of any subcontractors or members of our renovation team.
REQUIRED SALES AGENT TRAINING
Each 6th Ave Guide is expected to understand the requirements for keeping your license up-to-date under the current TREC guidelines. The responsibility of this falls on the Guide.
Every agent is required to complete Sales Agent Apprentice Education (SAE - 90 hours of training) within the first two years of obtaining your license:
- 30 of these hours MUST be the Real Estate Brokerage class (offered by many schools)
- 4 hours of TREC’s Legal Update I
- 4 hours of TREC’s Legal Update II
Once you complete your SAE, and renew your license for the 1st time, all Sales Agents are then required to complete 18 hours of trainings every two years there after:
Complete Legal I and Legal II every two years
These are 4 hours each and are put on by GFWAR (& most online schools)
Complete 10 hours of Continuing Education (CE) - These are put on by GFWAR, local title companies, & many online schools
3 hours must be contract-related coursework
7 hours of elective CE (We offer many opportunities to get CE credit during the year)
All TREC details are located here: TREC - Renew Your Sales Agent License