Building a Team
How to Learn the Skills to Build and Lead a Real Estate Team
Updated
Bottom line: You learn to lead a team in a set order: start once your production outgrows you, hand off admin work first, have leads before you recruit, then practice coaching each agent on their own terms.
When is the right time to start building a team?
Three RE/MAX team leaders, interviewed by RE/MAX News in 2014, put the starting point at a production level. You start when your transaction count is high enough that other people can help carry it, and when those people can also draw on your experience, your client base and your reputation.
New Jersey team leader Robert Dekanski described a similar pattern to RE/MAX News in 2024. While he was still selling on his own and pushing his limits, he began spotting support roles that would add to his business and raise his productivity. He describes forming a team as something necessity drove.
So the first skill is reading your own calendar: where transactions pile up, and which parts of the work someone else could do.
What should you hand off before you hire another agent?
Those RE/MAX team leaders gave a clear order: delegate the administrative work first, so your own hours go to customers.
Seeing how wide that work runs on a team that already hands it off is useful. On our team, the support staff work in six areas: client management and database support, listing preparation and management, content and marketing, email and communication, client acquisition and lead conversion, and transaction coordination and compliance.
Transaction coordination alone, as we run it, covers timelines and deadlines, inspections and appraisals, title companies and lenders, contract compliance, commission disbursement agreements, closing documents and final closing statements, plus status updates to the agent. Each of those is a task you can hand off and then check, one at a time.
Do you need leads before you recruit agents?
The same RE/MAX team leaders said yes: grow a large client base first, because you need leads to offer the agents you recruit.
On our team, generating leads and working them are separate jobs. Houston Properties Team generates new leads every month through its own AI, SEO and marketing work, routing 525+ leads to its agents each month as of August 2026, and a full-time inside sales team qualifies those leads, sets appointments and introduces agents to clients.
If you plan to build, count the leads your own business produces that you cannot work yourself. That surplus is what you would be offering a first hire.
How do you learn to coach agents day to day?
A 2016 RISMedia column by a BoomTown managing editor treats managing a team as a set of daily habits. One habit in the RISMedia column is to fit your coaching style to each agent and help that person become a successful agent. The same RISMedia column says agents in the field have to make key decisions for their clients, so a leader gives them the autonomy to make those calls. RISMedia also points to studies finding that leaders who closely watch their team's tasks and behavior get more performance and productivity from agents, and it advises against holding a meeting just because one is routine.
Dekanski told RE/MAX News that setting the example yourself is key, and that agents at different experience levels learn from each other.
The RE/MAX team leaders interviewed in 2014 added one rule to keep in front of you: never set team members against one another.
Where can you get formal leadership training?
The National Association of REALTORS® offers its L.E.A.D. courses, described in a 2022 RISMedia article. According to RISMedia, the program has three self-paced online courses and one interactive course led by an instructor, which uses story arcs drawn from real REALTOR® leadership.
RISMedia lists topics that include the role of the REALTOR® association, communication and public speaking, conflict resolution, and advocacy for real estate, along with running a committee, engaging virtually and promoting a positive culture. As RISMedia describes it, the program is built mainly around association leadership, so communication, public speaking and conflict resolution are the parts that carry over to a team.
A 2024 HousingWire column by a brokerage chief operating officer describes putting agent management and training in place first, before growing. In HousingWire, the same operator advises checking whether someone already on your roster can move into a new role before a round of hiring, because promoting from inside costs less and is easier than teaching a newcomer your culture and process. The HousingWire column also says to bring your staff in early and listen to them.
What does learning inside Houston Properties Team look like?
On Houston Properties Team, mentorship is formal. The Squad Leader Program gives every agent a designated mentor, who guides strategy and keeps the agent accountable toward their goals.
Agents can shadow client appointments and live deals, with hands-on coaching and feedback from the mentor as it happens.
For experienced agents, the 30/60/90 day plan sets weekly targets for calls or conversations and monthly targets for appointments. After the first 30 days the agent gains access to ISA appointments, and over the next 30 the agent meets weekly with their Squad Leader and the Success Team to clear bottlenecks.
The team also has a defined path from Associate Member to Partner Member. Sitting in those weekly meetings shows you mentoring, accountability and handoffs from the receiving side, which is the side your own agents will see.
Filed in The team, for agents who are building a team.
Questions & answers
What do Houston agents ask about this?
How do I learn the skills to lead a real estate team?
Start with the order experienced team leaders describe. Team leaders interviewed by RE/MAX News advise starting once your production is more than you can carry alone, handing off administrative work first, and building a client base before you recruit agents. Day-to-day coaching comes next: a RISMedia column on team management advises adapting to each agent and giving agents room to make decisions in the field.
Formal courses exist too. The National Association of REALTORS® runs its L.E.A.D. courses, which RISMedia describes as three online, at-your-own-pace courses plus one interactive course with an instructor. RISMedia reports that the content centers on association leadership, with communication, public speaking and conflict resolution among the topics. On Houston Properties Team, every agent has a designated mentor through the Squad Leader Program and can shadow client appointments and live deals with feedback in real time. Seeing coaching and accountability from the receiving side is one way to learn how they work before you run them yourself.
What should I delegate first when I start building a team?
Administrative work. The three RE/MAX team leaders profiled by RE/MAX News in 2014 said to begin there so your own time goes to customers. Robert Dekanski, a New Jersey team leader profiled by RE/MAX News in 2024, followed a similar path: while still selling on his own, he identified support roles that would add to his business and raise his productivity, and the team came later.
On our team, that support work sits in six areas: client management and database support, listing preparation and management, content and marketing, email and communication, client acquisition and lead conversion, and transaction coordination and compliance. Listing preparation alone includes photography sessions, property descriptions, MLS setup, brochures and flyers, staging and showings, virtual tours, and price and detail updates. Writing down which of those tasks you still do yourself gives you a hand-off list to work through, one task at a time.
Do I need my own leads before I recruit agents to my team?
The RE/MAX team leaders interviewed by RE/MAX News in 2014 said yes. Their advice was to grow a large client base first and recruit other agents after, because you have to be able to give those agents leads. Without that client base, there is nothing to hand the agents you bring on, and the team is a name on a sign.
Houston Properties Team separates generating leads from working them. The team produces new leads every month through its own AI, SEO and marketing work, and a full-time inside sales team qualifies them, sets appointments and introduces agents to clients. Under the 30/60/90 day plan for experienced agents, ISA appointments open to an agent after the first 30 days.
Is the NAR L.E.A.D. course training for running a real estate team?
In part. RISMedia describes the National Association of REALTORS® L.E.A.D. program as built mainly around leadership within the REALTOR® association, including how to run a committee and advocate for real estate. RISMedia also lists communication and public speaking, conflict resolution, engaging virtually and promoting a positive culture among the topics, and those skills apply to any group you lead, a team included.
As RISMedia reports, L.E.A.D. has three online courses taken at your own pace and one interactive course with an instructor, which teaches through story arcs based on real examples of REALTOR® leadership. For the parts specific to a team, such as when to start, what to hand off and how to coach, team leaders' own accounts in RE/MAX News and a RISMedia column on team management cover ground the course does not.
How do I coach agents on my team who have different levels of experience?
A 2016 RISMedia column on team management advises adapting your coaching style to each agent, and RISMedia adds that agents in the field need the autonomy to make key decisions for their clients. Robert Dekanski told RE/MAX News in 2024 that agents at different experience levels learn from each other, and that setting the example yourself is key.
RISMedia also cites studies finding that leaders who watch their team's tasks and behavior closely see higher performance and productivity, and it advises holding meetings only when they have a clear purpose. The three RE/MAX team leaders added a firm rule: never pit team members against one another. On Houston Properties Team, each agent's mentor gives guidance on strategy and keeps the agent accountable toward their goals, and agents shadow live deals with coaching in real time.