How To Scale Your Real Estate Business With Your First 5 Hires

If you’re a Realtor thinking about scaling your business but you’re unsure who to hire or you’re worried about overspending, there’s a better way to grow. When I first started building a team, I followed the usual advice and brought on a director of operations, an admin, several buyers’ agents, and marketing staff. The result was a bloated payroll and razor-thin margins. Most real estate team leaders who stop selling homes themselves only average between 1% to 6% profitability. That kind of setup isn’t sustainable.

However, I found that a smarter approach is to build a lean, high-margin model that prioritizes efficiency. It begins with the replacement ladder. This method helps you decide which roles to hire first based on where you can reclaim your time most effectively. Here’s everything you need to know about the five-step replacement ladder:

Step 1: Offload administrative tasks. Start by removing administrative work from your plate. Many agents skip this and jump straight to hiring for sales or marketing, which creates problems later. Admin support should be your first move.

Step 2: Delegate delivery. This includes showings, inspections, and walkthroughs. Bring on licensed agents to manage these responsibilities. It usually costs about four percent of your commission, which is much more affordable than hiring full-time buyers’ agents.

Step 3: Bring in marketing support. Once admin and delivery are covered, it’s time to hire a marketing partner or company to handle branding, content, and lead generation.

Step 4: Expand your sales team. With the foundation in place, start adding sales agents. This is where you begin to step away from the day-to-day transaction process.

Step 5: Hire operational leadership. The final step is bringing in someone who can run the business. They should understand your vision, lead your team, and manage both daily operations and long-term goals.

First five hires. If you want to scale a lean and effective team, here are the first five hires to prioritize:

1. Licensed transaction coordinator (TC). Your first hire must be a licensed transaction coordinator based in the United States. This person should already be trained, experienced, and capable of managing all paperwork, offers, and follow-ups without extensive onboarding.

2. Executive assistant. Once your TC is in place, hire an executive assistant to manage your calendar, emails, logistics, and scheduling. This person should work closely with your TC to keep your operations smooth and your time focused on revenue-generating tasks.

3. CRM manager. A CRM manager must stay in contact with leads, send follow-up texts, keep prospects warm, and maintain consistent communication with future buyers and sellers. They should know your CRM inside and out and help guide your daily call list so you never miss a follow-up.

4. Secondary CRM support. As your lead volume grows, bring in a second CRM support person to help maintain communication across more hours of the day. This allows consistent outreach from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and ensures that no lead is left unattended.

5. Appointment setter. Once your admin and CRM systems are running smoothly, hire an appointment setter to actively book consultations with your database. This person should contact warm leads, especially those who have already interacted with your content, such as downloading a home renovation guide.

If you are serious about building a lean and profitable real estate team, I will help you write each job description, define their key responsibilities, and even place your first virtual assistant free for 30 days. Let’s find out where you need help most and get the right person into that role. You can call me at 480-332-6468 or send an email to dave@zteamaz.com. I look forward to hearing from you.