Industry members see commission suits as one of the top recruiting challenges of 2024. But brokers who can target and elevate middle-tier agents might have an opportunity.
This is the third and final story in Recruiting War ’24, a multi-part series exclusive to Intel subscribers on how brokerages are poaching and retaining top agents in a down market. Read the first installment here and the second installment here — both of which are available through your Intel subscription.
“People are worked up about the industry losing half its membership.”
That’s what Russ Cofano, a long-time real estate industry veteran and CEO of Collabra Technology, said when asked this spring about how the commission lawsuits might intersect with recruiting efforts. The point is that with big changes on the horizon, there is a simmering fear in the industry that the agent pool is about to shrink significantly.
Cofano is actually skeptical that any such outcome is likely.
But many are concerned right now about shrinking agent ranks, which highlights the way that the impacts of commission litigation are rippling out into different parts of the real estate business. The lawsuits and settlements — from the National Association of Realtors, major franchisors, and others — aren’t just about agent pay. They also intersect with the competition for talent.
That at least is the takeaway from the Inman Intel Index survey in March, which is when we last asked brokers and agents about these issues. In previous installments of this series, we revealed survey results showing how agents are fielding near-constant recruiting pitches, and that amid an evolving market brokers’ efforts have shifted their focus to top producers.
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But the survey also shows that the commission lawsuits are a major source of anxiety for many members of the real estate industry. And that anxiety extends to worries about talent and the labor pool.
The good…