So, just as this becoming a partner debacle was unfolding right in front of my eyes, I decided that I was no longer going to be involved with a company that allowed partners to screw the associates so much and so often.
I could go into stories from other real estate agents who worked there before, during and after me --about how the partners screwed these agents, but I think my story is enough.
Anyway, during my meeting with RH, where he was doing his best to describe his discontent for the partners NOT voting me to become one, he did say (maybe off the cuff) that some of the partners, had more say than others in the direction the office was heading. And, the reason was they were being paid 94% of the gross total commission earned off of their deals.
WHAT?! How does a brokerage survive if an agent is getting 94%? (6% was to be paid to the capital investors in the office.)
I was surprised by this. To me, top producers (maybe) got 75% or even 80% if they did lots and lots of closings in a month. But, when he mentioned that SP and another founding partner were the ones being paid this high of a commission amount, and they were being compensated without a desk cost, I knew right then and there that the Lee Las Vegas Office partners were idiot businessmen. (And, apparently, SP and this founder had been paid this amount for quite some time.)
I asked, "Why?"
He said it was because they were the top producers of the firm.
I was surprised. But, then he let out a bomb shell that hit me like a nuclear blast.
He told me that ALL sign calls were sent to SP first -- so he could "qualify them."
I was shocked, "Even mine?" I asked.
He replied yes.
He explained that in order to make sure that the associates didn't let a qualified client slip through the cracks, the partners trusted SP to make sure the client was qualified to buy, sell, lease before a deal was made.
I had wondered why I wasn't getting as many calls on my signs. Now, I knew.
AND, (a little while after my RH meeting) I talked to the receptionist and she (reluctantly) confirmed this was true. I was so mad at this disclosure that I immediately called another Broker, who had in the past asked me to join his firm. I immediately left Lee Las Vegas for good.
I went to work for the other firm and lasted there for only a year. Shortly after joining there, I found out that PTB was going to join the firm, too. He said, he had a disagreement with the partners after I left. I know for a fact he was "let go" by the partners for commission stealing another agent who was a partner's wife!
(I always wondered why they let PTB go for doing that but NOT SP. (I guess the wife relationship had something to do with it.)
Anyway, after PTB arrived, he asked me to work with him again. I said no.
After being there for a year, another agent (let's call him GG) who had been at Lee Las Vegas too who left just before I did, called me and asked me to come work with him at a boutique firm that he went to. Because of the situation with PTB at the firm, I felt it appropriate to leave and went to work at the boutique company.
There, GG and I worked for almost two years together, until the boutique broker felt I didn't earn him enough money. That is when I started my own shop by myself. Recently, GG joined me.
Anyway, since my departure from Lee Las Vegas, many other associates left. A couple were promoted to partner and then they left for other firms. Apparently, my honest approach to clients, and other brokers was being too honest for Lee Las Vegas. I left Lee in March, 2006.
It has been almost 9 years since I left, Lee Las Vegas. I heard last summer that they defaulted (to my knowledge) on a leased space they had occupied, moved to another small office warehouse space closer to the 'Strip.'
And all the while, (I am still trying to confirm this) SP was still getting his 94% even though the company could NOT pay it's rent. I learned that the last of the associates left just before they quietly announced they were closing.
Lee & Associates Las Vegas office closed it doors in June, 2015.
Now I know why Lee Las Vegas filed Bankruptcy back in the early 2000's -- it was to get out of a high rent office space they were in. The space was well located and easy for clients to get to.
Also, I now know why certain other brokers around town, that became Lee Las Vegas competition had left.
As far as I am concerned, good riddance.
Contacting David Howes is easy -- either by: davidATdavidhowesDOTnet OR call him at: 70 25 01 93 88 AND Follow David on Twitter: @DavidAHowes
I could go into stories from other real estate agents who worked there before, during and after me --about how the partners screwed these agents, but I think my story is enough.
Anyway, during my meeting with RH, where he was doing his best to describe his discontent for the partners NOT voting me to become one, he did say (maybe off the cuff) that some of the partners, had more say than others in the direction the office was heading. And, the reason was they were being paid 94% of the gross total commission earned off of their deals.
WHAT?! How does a brokerage survive if an agent is getting 94%? (6% was to be paid to the capital investors in the office.)
I was surprised by this. To me, top producers (maybe) got 75% or even 80% if they did lots and lots of closings in a month. But, when he mentioned that SP and another founding partner were the ones being paid this high of a commission amount, and they were being compensated without a desk cost, I knew right then and there that the Lee Las Vegas Office partners were idiot businessmen. (And, apparently, SP and this founder had been paid this amount for quite some time.)
I asked, "Why?"
He said it was because they were the top producers of the firm.
I was surprised. But, then he let out a bomb shell that hit me like a nuclear blast.
He told me that ALL sign calls were sent to SP first -- so he could "qualify them."
I was shocked, "Even mine?" I asked.
He replied yes.
He explained that in order to make sure that the associates didn't let a qualified client slip through the cracks, the partners trusted SP to make sure the client was qualified to buy, sell, lease before a deal was made.
I had wondered why I wasn't getting as many calls on my signs. Now, I knew.
AND, (a little while after my RH meeting) I talked to the receptionist and she (reluctantly) confirmed this was true. I was so mad at this disclosure that I immediately called another Broker, who had in the past asked me to join his firm. I immediately left Lee Las Vegas for good.
I went to work for the other firm and lasted there for only a year. Shortly after joining there, I found out that PTB was going to join the firm, too. He said, he had a disagreement with the partners after I left. I know for a fact he was "let go" by the partners for commission stealing another agent who was a partner's wife!
(I always wondered why they let PTB go for doing that but NOT SP. (I guess the wife relationship had something to do with it.)
Anyway, after PTB arrived, he asked me to work with him again. I said no.
After being there for a year, another agent (let's call him GG) who had been at Lee Las Vegas too who left just before I did, called me and asked me to come work with him at a boutique firm that he went to. Because of the situation with PTB at the firm, I felt it appropriate to leave and went to work at the boutique company.
There, GG and I worked for almost two years together, until the boutique broker felt I didn't earn him enough money. That is when I started my own shop by myself. Recently, GG joined me.
Anyway, since my departure from Lee Las Vegas, many other associates left. A couple were promoted to partner and then they left for other firms. Apparently, my honest approach to clients, and other brokers was being too honest for Lee Las Vegas. I left Lee in March, 2006.
It has been almost 9 years since I left, Lee Las Vegas. I heard last summer that they defaulted (to my knowledge) on a leased space they had occupied, moved to another small office warehouse space closer to the 'Strip.'
And all the while, (I am still trying to confirm this) SP was still getting his 94% even though the company could NOT pay it's rent. I learned that the last of the associates left just before they quietly announced they were closing.
Lee & Associates Las Vegas office closed it doors in June, 2015.
Now I know why Lee Las Vegas filed Bankruptcy back in the early 2000's -- it was to get out of a high rent office space they were in. The space was well located and easy for clients to get to.
Also, I now know why certain other brokers around town, that became Lee Las Vegas competition had left.
As far as I am concerned, good riddance.
Contacting David Howes is easy -- either by: davidATdavidhowesDOTnet OR call him at: 70 25 01 93 88 AND Follow David on Twitter: @DavidAHowes
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