Criteria # Hire for the Right Skills and Attitude
Culture fit is crucial, but so is having the basic foundational skills for effective transaction coordination.
The person you’re looking for is organized, detailed, friendly, and knows how to stay focused when the going gets tough. But underneath all that, you also need someone who has a naturally professional email, phone, and in-person communication style. Ask your top candidates to perform a simple writing screening where they are required to submit a few emails or paragraphs on a topic. Check for complete sentences, proper use of words, and tone.
Remember, one botched transaction can really hurt an agent’s ability to ask for referrals. Be crystal clear about what you want your new TC to do for you. The more you ask for, the more you’ll pay per transaction but in our experience, investing in the right TC is almost always money well-spent.
First, decide exactly which skills and tasks you’ll need from your next TC:
Screening for a candidate with the right attitude is admittedly much harder than screen for black and white technical skills, but it’s just as (if not more) important. Ask your interviewees the following behavioral interview questions. Their answers will tell you a lot about what they are really like to work with.
Problem-solving interview questions for transaction coordinators:
Real Estate’s steep learning curve
In some instances, it’s possible to hire an experienced TC in-house that won’t need any training. But that is rarely the case. And in the situation where you hire a smart but inexperienced transaction coordinator, you’d need to spend time and considerable resources on training. Keep in mind that hiring someone without a documented process or system makes their learning curve even steeper, and the risk of turnover is higher.
Outsourcing your TC needs to a freelancer or service provider grants you access to an experienced hand. Many real estate transactions can be complicated, and you don’t want an inexperienced employee handling your file if complications arise. Most service providers or freelancers are specialists in real estate transactions.
What does a real estate transaction coordinator do?
A TC supervises a range of tasks. While these tasks can vary based on the brokerage or transaction, core activities include:
Bringing a transaction coordinator into the picture to handle all these tasks frees up the rest of the team to focus on generating leads and managing clients – but that’s not all a TC can help with.