Finding a sponsoring broker in NYC can be a confusing process. You’ll be faced with a plethora of choices ranging from recommendations from friends to advertisements you see online. What are some criteria you should look for when finding a sponsoring broker? What are some issues you should be wary of?

Is the Sponsoring Broker a Real Firm?

What Should I Be Wary of When Finding a Sponsoring Broker?

How Will I Generate Business with the Sponsoring Broker?

Does the Sponsoring Broker Offer Any Training or Mentorship?

It’s easy for new agents looking for real estate broker sponsorship to find firms that are nothing more than a broker with a license offering dubiously high commission splits.

Just remember, there are over 50,000 licensed real estate agents and brokers in New York City. Why should you park your license with a lawyer who has a broker’s license on the side?

What’s the point of parking your license with someone who offers nothing except a high commission split?

As a firm that regularly completes more than 100 sales transactions in any given 12 month period, we rank among the top 10 in terms of most active sales brokerages in New York City.

It’s easy for new agents looking for real estate broker sponsorship to find firms that are nothing more than a broker with a license offering dubiously high commission splits. Just remember, there are over 50,000 licensed real estate agents and brokers in New York City.

Why should you park your license with a lawyer who has a broker’s license on the side? What’s the point of parking your license with someone who offers nothing except a high commission split?

If you join a firm, make sure it’s a real company like Mont Sky Real Estate. Check out our roster of hand-picked, highly capable real estate agents and simply Google us to see our current exclusive sales listings, deal history and reviews. As a firm that regularly completes more than 100 sales transactions in any given 12 month period, we rank among the top 10 in terms of most active sales brokerages in New York City.

Beware of start-up, transaction or other hidden fees.

You should be careful of firms that do not openly disclose what fees they will charge you. A sponsorship broker may promise high commission splits, but in reality impose a slew of hidden charges or alternative splits on their agents.

We’ve heard too many horror stories from newbies looking for real estate agent sponsorship who sign up with a sponsorship broker only to find that there are start-up fees, software fees, desk fees, technology fees, transaction fees and other hidden fees that dramatically increase their cost of doing business.

Many firms have one headline commission split, but in reality impose a lower split to new agents until they have completed a set number of deals or earned a set amount of commission.

For example, one firm in New York has a 50% commission split, but new agents only earn a 30% split on their first 6 deals. Another firm in NYC that promises 100% commission splits has a hidden start-up fee, and the only way to waive the start-up fee is if you agree to a 50% split on your first 5 deals.

What most agents find refreshing about Mont Sky Real Estate is that we espouse complete transparency.

There are no start-up fees, desk fees, or other hidden fees at Mont Sky.

We only charge an all-inclusive overhead contribution of $129 a month for our 75% commission split plan. Agents that can independently generate their own business can opt for a 100% commission split plan for $399 a month.

You won’t ever see another fee from us, and we’ll provide you with all the tools you’ll need to get the job done free of charge.

That means the latest software to syndicate listings, access REBNY’s property database, create show sheets, keep track of customers, create search alerts and more included in your monthly dues.

That also means a private corporate email account, a business card design and access to our secure team messaging app and e-signature software.

Almost all sponsoring brokers will expect you to generate your own leads and referrals in New York. That can be quite tough even for the most active socialites as there are over 50,000 licensed real estate agents in NYC competing for your business.

How do you stand a chance as a new agent against so many sharks in the water?

Just remember, it doesn’t matter what firm you join or how high a commission split a firm is offering if you don’t have anything to work on.

A 100% commission split of zero is still just zero.

Do you really want to solely rely on cold calling your friends and family when you first start? How will you convince anyone to work with you when you have no deal experience or exclusive listings to show off?

Mont Sky Real Estate is the only firm that offers agents the ability to work on vetted buyers and sellers.

We don’t believe in handing out cold leads and random phone numbers to new agents to cold call. That’s always a waste of money and time and doesn’t exactly help a new agent build confidence.

All of Mont Sky’s company clients are already working with us to some degree, whether it’s a buyer who has already agreed to work with us after an initial call with a senior broker, or a seller who has just signed an exclusive listing agreement with us.

As a new agent, you will have the opportunity to work side by side with a senior broker on one of the company’s sales deals. You should view this as the best way for you to learn and to gain valuable real world experience.

Furthermore, you will also have the opportunity to earn a discretionary commission split for your assistance on any company deals.

The last thing you’ll want as a new agent is to get lost among the crowd in a corporate environment.

We’ve heard too many horror stories of new agents joining large corporations not being able to get any sort of response from anyone more senior in the company.

Worse still, the agents at the firm view each other as competitors and the new agent isn’t able to get advice or mentorship from them either.

Some firms may offer a rudimentary classroom training course for new agents, but often the topics will overlap with the 75 hour pre-licensing course they’ve just taken. Furthermore, how applicable are more classroom sessions to the real world?

At Mont Sky, you’ll always have a touch point with senior management and other agents on the team. We have individual private chat rooms as well as team chat rooms with all of our agents.

We regularly hold office hours at various locations throughout the city where agents are always free to stop by for questions. Furthermore, we have an online new agent training curriculum that comes in daily lessons which you can also take at your own pace.

We supplement this with periodic classroom training on more complex topics with our lawyer partners. Sometimes these classroom sessions provide Continuing Education course credits, and are always free.

The best way to learn is to do it.

Lastly, remember that only at Mont Sky will you have the opportunity to work on real world sales transactions directly with senior brokers on the team.

This is by far the best training and mentorship you can possibly have. Not only will you learn by doing, you will also be able to network and build your personal brand and credibility by association with a real deal.