How to Build a Real Estate Team in 10 Minutes

Brian Icenhower explains how to build a real estate team in less than 10 minutes!

Hey there, I’m Brian Icenhower, and today I’m excited to share with you a quick but informative guide on how to build a real estate team in just 10 minutes. Before we dive in, let me clarify that building a real estate team is a process that can take time, but I’ll break it down into easy steps for you to get started.

Whether you’re a solo agent, team leader, or a broker-owner, understanding how to build a real estate team is critical for scaling your business and creating sustainable growth. My bestselling book, The High-Performing Real Estate Team, offers an in-depth guide, but today, let’s focus on giving you the foundation to start building without getting bogged down in the details.

Be sure to listen to this episode of The Brian Icenhower Podcast?and subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode!

VIDEO: How to Build a Real Estate Team in 10 Minutes

The Importance of Building a Real Estate Team

First, let’s get one thing straight—building a real estate team isn’t about spending tons of money upfront. In fact, many of the top real estate teams we coach and consult with started by growing gradually, without major financial investments at the start.?

Some team leaders may come into the industry with capital, such as an inheritance or a retirement payout, and can fast-track their growth by investing right away. However, that’s not the norm.

For most people, growing your team will be a more incremental process, relying on reinvesting your earnings back into your business. The focus is on playing with the house’s money—meaning you take the revenue your business generates and use a portion of it to grow further.

Start with a Clear Strategy

To build a real estate team, you must start with a clear strategy. Many agents ask, “How do some teams grow faster than others?” The answer lies in their willingness to take on two uncomfortable but essential tasks:

1. Do Uncomfortable Activities One of the biggest challenges team leaders face is the reluctance to engage in prospecting or recruiting. It’s much easier to focus on customer service and managing the transactions you already have. But if you want to grow, you need to put yourself out there and engage in sales-generating activities. This might involve cold-calling, networking, or reaching out to potential recruits—activities that are often uncomfortable but necessary for growth.
2. Invest in Your Business Growth also requires financial investment, specifically in marketing and administrative support. One of the core principles I teach is to reinvest 10% of your gross commission income (GCI) into your marketing efforts. Whether you’re creating online ads, developing a social media presence, or running traditional marketing campaigns, this reinvestment will help you generate more leads and grow your client base.

In addition to marketing, you’ll need to allocate another 10% of your GCI toward administrative support. Having transaction coordinators, marketing assistants, and other administrative roles in place will allow you to focus on high-value activities that drive your business forward.

Slow and Steady Growth

If you’re not ready to put a large sum of money into growing your real estate team, that’s completely fine. Most teams grow slowly by reinvesting the profits they make, and this method is highly effective. As your team grows, your income will increase, allowing you to reinvest more into your business.

However, growth through reinvestment takes time. Some teams get there faster than others because they’re willing to take uncomfortable steps—whether that’s increasing their marketing budget or making their first hires. The speed at which your team grows depends largely on how quickly you’re willing to take these steps.

The Challenges of Building a Real Estate Team

It’s important to understand that while the steps to building a real estate team are simple, they aren’t easy. There are two main obstacles:

1. Uncomfortable Activities The first challenge is getting yourself and your team to do the uncomfortable activities required to grow. For example, as a team leader, you need to constantly recruit new agents. Yet, many leaders hesitate because recruiting can be time-consuming and challenging. It’s much easier to hope that agents will come to you organically, but waiting for that to happen will slow down your growth.
2. Spending Money to Make Money The second challenge is being willing to reinvest a portion of your earnings back into the business. No one likes spending money, especially when profits start rolling in, but continual investment is necessary for growth. By allocating a percentage of your GCI to marketing and administrative support, you’ll build a sustainable team that can handle more transactions without burning you out.

The Step-by-Step Process of Team Growth

Now that we’ve covered the challenges, let’s walk through the step-by-step process to build a real estate team:

1. Grow Your Business as a Solo Agent Before you even think about adding team members, you need to grow your personal business. Focus on getting to a point where you’re consistently closing 30, 40, or even 50 transactions a year. At this level, you’ll find that handling everything yourself becomes nearly impossible, which is the ideal time to start expanding.
2. Hire Administrative Support Once you’ve maxed out your personal capacity, your first hire should be an administrative assistant. This person can take over transaction coordination, marketing, and other non-sales activities, freeing up your time to focus on generating new business.
3. Add Buyer’s Agents As your business continues to grow, you’ll eventually need help handling buyers. At this point, it’s time to bring on a buyer’s agent. Offering them a split of your commissions might seem like a financial hit at first, but it will allow you to scale by focusing on generating more leads and closing more deals.
4. Continue Hiring and Recruiting With administrative support and a buyer’s agent in place, you’ll be able to focus on recruiting more agents and expanding your team. Don’t worry if not every hire works out—building a team is about constantly finding the right people who align with your goals.
5. Leverage and Delegate As your team grows, your role will shift from being in production to managing and leading the business. You’ll need to delegate more responsibilities to others, including bringing on new agents, managing client relationships, and overseeing administrative tasks. This shift will allow you to focus on the high-level activities that drive the growth of your business.

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The Key to Success: Consistency and Patience

The key to building a real estate team is consistency and patience. Growth takes time, and while some agents and team leaders may experience rapid expansion, most will grow incrementally by reinvesting their earnings and doing the uncomfortable activities necessary for success.

It’s crucial to understand that team growth is a long-term game. As your business grows, you’ll continue to face new challenges, from managing a larger team to handling the complexities of recruiting and training new agents. But if you stay consistent, reinvest your earnings, and remain patient, you’ll build a team that not only supports your business but also allows you to step back from production and lead from the top.

"Building a real estate team isn’t a sprint—it’s a marathon. Whether you’re just starting as a solo agent or are looking to scale your team to the next level,?the process requires consistent effort, reinvestment, and a willingness to take on uncomfortable activities."

Brian Icenhower

Conclusion: how to build a real estate team

Building a real estate team isn’t a sprint—it’s a marathon. Whether you’re just starting as a solo agent or are looking to scale your team to the next level, the process requires consistent effort, reinvestment, and a willingness to take on uncomfortable activities.

The steps are simple: grow your business, hire the right people, and reinvest in your team. The sooner you start taking those steps, the sooner you’ll find yourself leading a thriving, successful real estate team.

So, are you ready to take that first step? Let’s get started, and I’ll see you at the top!

Get there faster with a one-on-one coach! Reach out today and get a free coaching call with an Icenhower coach.

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