Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Long.
Josh, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Right out of college, I went to work for the Xerox Corporation as a major account sales rep. I spent four years with Xerox and it was the training of a lifetime. One of my national client was First American Title, which gave me my first intro into real estate. Real estate became a real point of interest, as stated focusing on national real estate brokerages clients. In 2004 I went to work Fidelity National Title as a sales rep, and at the end of 2005 in California sat for my real estate license. I love the idea of becoming a student of my craft, and a sales rep for Fidelity my major goal was to create a value ad approach to building their individual real estate business’s. My career took off and in 2007, I relocated to DFW with Fidelity National Title, and in 2012 became the Sales Manager for Fidelity National Title. In 2013 I accepted a position with Hexter Fair / First American Title as DFW Division Sales Trainer. I had created over 20 real estate workshops and was training real estate agent in every major brand in DFW.
The fundamental flaw of most real estate brokerages has always been lack a value from the broker to individual agent. I have always found that most agents move from brokerage to brokerage based on lack of value or a broken relationship with a broker, not over a higher compensation split. In 2015 I was doing a training for RE/MAX of Texas owners on creating value for their agents and was approached about with the idea of buying a RE/MAX Franchise. I though holy smokes what if I used my approach of creating value directly as the owner as a recruiting tool. I wanted to build a boutique brokerage with a national brand. My wife and business partner Becka bought our franchise in Sherman Texas in 2015 and stated building it from the ground up, by the end of the same year we were rewarded with the RE/MAX Rookie franchise of the year.
By the end of 2016 with a 1/3 of the agents of our top 2 competitors, DFW icons Ebby Halladay and Virginia Cook, we had reached second in market share in residential sales in Grayson County. In 2017 were nominated for Best of Texoma and had 7 out of the top 25 agents in the county working in our office. Also at the end of 2017, I decided to go into production as a full time producing agent as well as just being the owner of the brokerage and opened a team office in Prosper. By the end of my 1st full year as an agent in 2018, I received the RE/MAX 100% club for the State of Texas, and in 2019 received the RE/MAX Platinum Club Award and also received RE/MAX Top 500 agent award in Texas.
The sky is the limit, 2019 we bought our own commercial building and Becka got to work on a full renovation. She is an amazing designer and has really become the heartbeat of our company. She is one of the most talented women I’ve ever met, her heart for our agents is bigger than the State of Texas. Our oldest son graduated from Prosper HS in 2019 and is currently working on getting his real estate license and joining the family business.
Has it been a smooth road?
Nothing worth having is easy. We had to make some major adjustments in the first year with some leadership roles that can kill some companies. We have grown with our agents. We are subject to the same hardships that other brokerages experience, we have lost a couple of agents to competitors. We are always excited for their new adventures but it feels like your losing part of your family. I think that has been especially rough for Becka.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the RE/MAX Signature Properties story. Tell us more about the business.
Real Estate Brokerage.
We specialize in relationships, we teach our agents how to specialize in building those lifelong client relationships. Never see a buyer or seller as a transaction but a friend that you are about to help acquire or sell their largest financial asset.
I’m most proud of being a company that focuses on actually helping great agents become even greater agents. Helping them become better husbands, wife’s, parents. Helping them to become community leaders.
Too many brokerages focus on agent growth and how wide they can get with agent count. Our true focus is the quality of the agent that represents the public. There was a day less than 20 years ago that the real estate was considered a trusted advisor. I love the fact that from top to bottom of our company we are full time trusted advisors to our clients not for the transaction at hand, but for life.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
This business will always be a true relationship business. For 20 years, I have seen all types of changes. The internet changed everything in 2004 with online MLS. The latest trend in I-Buyers and even though they have been around for five years, 94% of real estate is still sold with full-time REALTORS. The internet can bring exposure to a property, but it is still a personal and emotional decision. What the internet can not do is give you a feel for a neighborhood, or true feel of a home.
The top 20% of REALTORS nationally handle 80% of the real estate transactions, because the general public still want a professional to advise them on a wise real estate decision. Making a bad real estate decision costs families thousands of dollars.
Contact Info:
- Address: 202 S Coleman St Suite 300
Prosper Texas 75078
205 W Lamberth
Sherman Tx 75092 - Website: www.signaturehometeamtx.com
- Phone: 469-215-8936
- Email: joshualong@remax.net
- Facebook: faceboom.com/joshlongrealtor
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