Real Estate Agents vs Brokers: Key Differences for Assisted Living
Nov 05, 2024
Navigating the real estate market when investing in an assisted living facility is no small task. One of the most important decisions you'll face in this process is choosing the right professional to guide you. Should you work with a real estate agent or a broker? While these terms are often used interchangeably, they represent distinct roles with different levels of expertise and responsibilities. Understanding these differences can significantly impact your experience and success in purchasing an assisted living business.
In this blog, we’ll explore the key differences between real estate agents and brokers, highlighting their unique roles and how they can help you make the best investment decision for your assisted living venture.
Check out the video too:
What Is a Real Estate Agent?
A real estate agent is a licensed professional who helps clients buy, sell, or rent properties. Agents must complete specific state-mandated training and pass an exam to earn their license. Once licensed, they usually work under a broker's supervision to ensure they meet all legal and professional standards.
Real estate agents can be incredibly valuable when investing in an assisted living business. They bring a wealth of local market knowledge, including property values, market trends, and insights into what buyers and sellers in your area are looking for. By handling negotiations and guiding you through the buying process, they help make what could be a complex transaction much more manageable.
What Is a Real Estate Broker?
A real estate broker is a step above an agent in terms of education, licensing, and experience. Brokers have completed additional training beyond the standard real estate agent curriculum and have passed a higher-level licensing exam. This additional knowledge equips brokers to handle more complex transactions and operate independently, without the need to work under another broker.
In the world of assisted living investments, working with a broker can be especially beneficial. Brokers often have specialized knowledge in specific types of properties, like senior living facilities, and understand the unique regulations and financial considerations involved. Their advanced expertise means they can offer strategic guidance that goes beyond the basics, helping you navigate the assisted living market with greater confidence.
Types of Brokers
There are a few different types of brokers you might encounter, each with specific roles:
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Associate Broker: An associate broker has the same qualifications as a broker but chooses to work under the supervision of another broker. They have the skills and knowledge to operate independently but prefer to leverage the support of a larger brokerage.
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Managing Broker: This type of broker oversees the day-to-day operations of a brokerage. They manage agents, handle administrative tasks, and ensure that transactions run smoothly. Managing brokers play a crucial role in guiding less experienced agents and maintaining the quality of service within the brokerage.
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Principal Broker: The principal broker is the top authority within a brokerage. They are legally responsible for all transactions and agents under their supervision, ensuring that everything complies with state laws and regulations. The principal broker’s role is essential for maintaining the brokerage's reputation and legal integrity.
Why the Difference Matters in Assisted Living Investments
When investing in an assisted living business, knowing whether to work with a real estate agent or a broker can make a significant difference. Brokers typically have more experience and specialized knowledge, which can be invaluable when dealing with the intricacies of assisted living properties. They can offer insights into off-market deals, provide a deeper understanding of property values, and help navigate the complex regulatory landscape that comes with assisted living investments.
However, real estate agents also bring a lot to the table. Their localized knowledge and ability to focus on specific neighborhoods or communities can be beneficial, especially when looking for a property that aligns with your investment goals. If you're working in a specific area, a well-connected agent may have the inside track on new listings or opportunities before they hit the market.
Choosing the Right Professional for Your Assisted Living Investment
Selecting the right person to guide you through your assisted living investment is about finding the balance between specialized knowledge and local expertise. Here are a few tips for making the right choice:
- Consider Your Needs: If you’re dealing with a straightforward transaction, a real estate agent might be the right fit. For more complex investments involving multiple properties or regulatory hurdles, a broker’s advanced knowledge could be essential.
- Evaluate Experience: Ask about the professional’s experience in the assisted living market specifically. The more experience they have with these types of properties, the better they can guide you.
- Look for Industry Connections: Both agents and brokers with solid connections in the assisted living industry can provide access to valuable resources, from financing options to regulatory advice and off-market deals.
Final Thoughts
Understanding the difference between a real estate agent and a broker is crucial when investing in an assisted living business. Both professionals have unique skills and areas of expertise that can guide you through the complexities of the real estate market. By choosing the right person to work with, you can make more informed decisions, avoid potential pitfalls, and ultimately make your transition into the assisted living industry smoother and more successful.
Are you ready for the next step?
As you navigate the complexities of investing in assisted living facilities, having a knowledgeable broker or agent on your side is important. For those ready to take the next step, consider downloading our Business Plan Checklist to ensure you have all the components in place for a successful investment.
Need help figuring out where to start? Join the next Roadmap Challenge and build your launch plan with me.
Show full transcript 👇
Transcript
00:00:01
[Music] hey guys it's brandon gustafson welcome back to assisted living investing uh happy to have you on the channel today just a reminder my name is brandon gustafson i own and operate two assisted living facilities out of state and i've created this channel to help you learn the process of how to acquire your own assisted living facility the ins and outs and and help you get through the process so that you i can get to the point where you also own your own assisted living facility and it can you
00:00:43
know get all the rewards that come with that i just want to remind you that uh you can reach out to me on assistedlivinginvesting.net we'd love to see over on the website i've got some free resources over there and i would love to see you kind of join the the newsletter i'm going to be putting out a blog there i'm here in a little bit and you know i would love to to interact with you over on the website assistedlivinginvesting.net and then please just make sure you like the video give me a big thumbs up
00:01:10
comment down below let me know if these topics are helping you what topics you'd like to learn about so that i can create some content videos that are going to help you answer your questions and things like that because you're not the only ones that have have those questions so i'd love to share what information i have or i can do some research for you and figure it out make sure you subscribe to the channel and ring that bell so you get notified every time i put some new content out
00:01:37
there doing those things are going to help other people find the channel and just helps us build this community so please just interact and get out there and and just support the channel i would love to see you on the channel uh in the comments and things like that and then make sure you follow me on my other social media platforms trying to get out content in those different areas and would love to kind of build up our community that way so we can all support each other as we're going down this journey of
00:02:04
acquiring facilities and operating facilities and learning that new process in our last video we talked about why do you need to register your business with the city and state we went through a series of videos where we're kind of talking about that and today i'm going to launch a series we're talking about working with brokers and working with real estate agents and what that process is like so today's video is real estate agents versus brokers what's the difference you know what what is the
00:02:32
difference between those two i think a lot of times we we hear people go through and they just kind of use those terms interchangeably and so i want to make sure that we're clear on what they are so you have a good understanding of who you're working with and how they get paid and different things like that and the different terminology that exists in this part of the world of real estate some of you might have a lot of experience in real estate and that's great but there are a lot of people out
00:02:56
there that they they don't but they're interested in getting into assisted living and so i want to share some of this information with them so they can better understand kind of what they're getting into and who they're talking to and what that process looks like and so that's going to be the topic of today's video real estate agents versus brokers what's the difference oh first the the difference between a real estate agent and a broker a real estate agent is an individual who's licensed to help
00:03:20
people buy or sell real estate the crux of what they do is they bring buyers and sellers together so that they can complete a transaction they're they're there and help facilitate that transaction and then a real estate broker is a real estate agent who has continued their education they they've continued on that path and they've received a broker license i know in a previous video i talked about how brokers will oftentimes kind of specify in a specific area so you can get a broker that is
00:03:47
in the senior living space and those are some of the brokers that i've worked with you can get one that works in commercial you could get one you know that works in airbnbs or whatever you can find brokers that kind of work in these different niched areas that can help you out but a broker is somebody that has continued that education and has received a broker's license and they can work independently they can start their own brokerage which allows them to then hire other real estate agents they can kind of build
00:04:13
that out so you can think of some of those bigger brokerages you know like newmark and keller williams and remax and some of those bigger names that you're probably familiar with those are bigger brokerages and they'll have kind of specific areas but you can have smaller brokerages as well with a broker that has kind of started out and gone on gone off on their own and they're bringing in agents and they're building their own brokerage so you can see a lot of that as well so what does a real estate agent do
00:04:44
real estate agents they help to organize the transaction between a buyer and a seller so they are kind of the go-between of those two parties and they'll discuss offers and counter offers and you know sometimes they they play that middleman role oftentimes they're working with with a different agent so you've got they could work on on the same deal you could have the same agent the same broker representing the seller and the buyer or you can have a separate one representing the the seller a separate one
00:05:15
representing the buyer in that case you know they're they're working um together those two agents and they're talking to each other they're they're more of the go between they're having the conversations you talk to your agent or broker they talk to that other person's agent or broker and there's not a lot of interaction between you as the buyer and seller there's not a lot there there's more interaction between the agents another thing that the agents do is they
00:05:38
make sure that all the parties are aware of the different requirements that are needed to complete a sale so that could be things like home inspection the the different dates that are coming up um closing the process there that they're just very aware of the entire process and they then can help you through that process and help you you know complete the self listing agents so that's the ones that work with the seller they make sure that they are doing everything that they can to maximize the
00:06:06
return for that seller so they are an advocate for the seller they're doing everything they can to help the seller make more money that's that's their goal so they'll do that through home staging through marketing the home on the multiple listing service the mls negotiating different fees and things like that so that's what a listing agent does they work with the seller they have the sellers best interested buying agents those are the ones that if you're looking to buy a facility those
00:06:34
are the ones that you're going to be working with so a buyer's agent will help you find properties that match your your requirements and it'll help to negotiate terms that benefit you as the buyer so it's it's really great to to use an agent or a broker to help you find facilities to help you negotiate things to walk you through the processes as you're looking to to purchase a facility they are an amazing advocate somebody that i highly suggest that you find and get on your team so that you can be more
00:07:07
successful now as far as brokers with the understanding that a broker is is basically a real estate agent that has furthered their education they do much of the same work that we just talked about but there are different types of brokers out there so i just want to make you aware of the different types of of brokers that you might see or you know terms that you might see as you're looking at brokers so number one is an associate broker an associate broker is is also a licensed broker but they are
00:07:34
choosing to work underneath another broker they don't want to go off on their own they kind of want to work under somebody else's license essentially this could be somebody that's kind of breaking into it so they can learn the ropes or it could be somebody that's near retirement and they just don't want the headache of running their own brokerage anymore generally those associate brokers are not supervising other agents there's a managing broker and these are brokers that oversee the transactions
00:08:02
and daily office operations they're they're kind of the ones that do a lot of the work and they hire and they train and they they manage other agents as they come into the brokerage they also do that with administrative staff at the office and so they're kind of in charge of a lot of the things that are going on the daily operations of everything going on in the brokerage and the other the other one is a principal broker a principal broker is somebody that kind of supervises all the all of
00:08:29
the other agents to make sure that they're in compliance with state and national real estate laws and regulations and each broker has at least one designated principal broker they're kind of in charge of everything making sure that everybody is complying with the the different rules and regulations um that are ever changing in real estate so to recap today we've been talking about you know real estate agents versus brokers what's the difference and kind of giving you a good overview of what
00:08:54
those are and just so you have a good solid understanding of the types of people you're going to be working with as you're trying to find a property that's going to meet your needs to you know find find the location that you want so that you can have your own assisted living facility we reviewed the difference between a real estate agent and a broker we we talked about what real estate agents do and we also talked about the different types of brokers next time we're going to be getting into
00:09:23
why you should work with a broker we've gone over you know the difference between the two but i really want to harp on why it's important that you work with a broker because working with a broker is going to be key if you want to be successful if you want to find an opportunity that you can close on and find a good solid opportunity that's going to allow you to be successful in running a facility why you should work with a broker to help you do this because it's going to be the best decision you
00:09:48
ever make i promise you if you go and find a good broker it's going to make your life so much easier so we're going to cover that in our next video i just want to remind you make sure you like this video give me a big thumbs up comment down below um leave leave some comments let me know your thoughts and your insight on real estate agents versus brokers and who you've worked with and your types of interactions there i'd love to see that make sure you subscribe to the channel and ring that
00:10:13
that bell um so you get notified every time i put new content out there i'm putting content out there twice a week and would love to see you on the channel again interacting with us and make sure you get on all those social media platforms i've got them linked down below in the bio and i have links to them also at the end of the video make sure you visit me on assistedlivinginvesting.net we'd love to see over on the website for free resources and and to get access to the newsletter and the blog and the
00:10:40
different resources i'm putting out there i'm trying to make this so that everybody can have all the information they need so that they can be successful and would love to see you in all of those areas um so that we can grow together and help you be successful and last uh and in closing just remember it doesn't take a lot it's just a little bit keep going you can do this and everything's gonna work out thanks for watching [Music] you
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