Thomas Clarkin is the broker-owner of RE/MAX Central in Coventry, which has 34 agents. The son of real estate professionals, Clarkin has worked in the industry for more than 30 years. He is the past president of the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce. He spoke recently with the Providence Business News about how he recruits agents and what he suggests can help them build their business.
PBN: How and when did you decide to become a broker? Had you worked at another company and wanted to start your own?
CLARKIN: I grew up in the real estate business. My dad was a broker and my mother the administrative assistant, a two-person office. I learned things from my dad. I’ve seen a lot of trends over the years. They started in the 1960s as Clarkin Real Estate in Warwick. I ended up buying the business from my dad when I was 29. He used to take me to his open houses. We always had Saturday night dinner as a family; we never had Sunday night because my dad was at an open house. I had a natural migration into the business.
PBN: What kind of agents do you want to hire and how do you find them?
CLARKIN: What I look for is someone who is going to be a career real estate agent. This is going to be their primary source of income. An agent that wants to get to the next level. We’re looking for middle-level performing agents that really want to get to the next level. [Middle level] is eight to 12 real estate transactions a year, and they want to get to 20, 30, 40. We have some people in my office who do over 60 transactions by themselves. We’re always looking to grow our business. One of the ways we do it is by listening to our current agents. They’re constantly in the field, doing transactions with other agents. We ask them, did you enjoy working with that agent? Are they professional? Do you think that agent would be a fit for our office? If the answer is yes, I pick up the phone and make a call.
PBN: What advice do you give agents who are having trouble attracting new listings? This is a very competitive time now for listings, it would seem to be getting harder. How do they generate leads?
CLARKIN: One of the ways is to have a viable database. That’s what we work on. Who are the people who already know, like and trust you? This is a trust business. First of all, there is no bad way to get a lead. Many agents are trying to grow their business and buying leads from Zillow and other places that sell leads. Instead of spending more time cultivating relationships with [people in] their database. What I tell agents all the time, is Facebook is a great listening tool. Listen to what is going on in someone’s life. You can find out who just had a new child, who has a child graduating from high school and approach the business from that angle. The bottom line is this is still a people business.
PBN: What trends are you seeing in open houses, and is this the best place where the agent can line up future clients in prospective homebuyers who haven’t yet signed with an agent?
CLARKIN: Open houses have never been the greatest tool for selling a home. They are useful for an agent to [connect with] buyers who are not represented. Historically, a lot of agents do it to satisfy the seller. What sells a home today certainly is the condition of the home, and it has to be priced right for the market. And you have to have plenty of good visuals, high-quality photos, videos, floor plans. You have to have those tools to help sell a home today.
PBN: What is the biggest mistake you see among professionals? Are they not planning or organized well, or is it a failure to invest in their own education?
CLARKIN: A lot of agents get wrapped up in the job of real estate: going to open houses, making presentations, how to write an agreement. All of these things are important. But what agents have to stop and focus and allocate time doing is working on the business of real estate: how do they look on the internet, what are they doing for marketing. The most successful, disciplined agents will allocate so many hours per week on the business of real estate.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
