There are all kinds of business models in real estate, but the model where the seller pays 5-6 percent and splits it with the buyer’s agent is still the prevailing model.  Where do you stand on flat fees, rebates, minimum services fees and the like? Also, with younger buyers and sellers entering the market, how do you think buyers adapt to this?

Gill: The full-service Realtor is going to have to work harder to show value, because if they are not able to differentiate themselves from brokers who offer more of a limited service model, the consumer will, if pressed, go for the one with the lowest price.

But if they can see value, they’ll be happy to pay more. We all do that. If you perceive value, you spend a lot more for one car than another car, because you perceive that it has a greater value. Some people will pay more for the Mercedes-Benz because there’s either real or perceived value. In the case of real estate, consumers will also pay premium, but they also have to see value.

The reality is flat fees, rebates, etc. are certainly becoming more popular, not less. Referral fees from third-party relocation companies – fees those third-party relocation companies expect – are getting higher. I think the other question that everyone needs to be asking, if they’re taking a part of that real estate commission, is what services are being provided that they’re getting paid for?

There’s not enough hours in a transaction to provide all the full-service marketing and so on. That’s true both in commissions to agents and from companies. It’s impossible. But again, as there are many different styles of real estate company, there are many different types of consumers, and there should be.

I had the greatest conversation with a twentysomething buyer a few years ago. I asked her how she picked an agent, and said it must have been easy because agents are everywhere. She said that she really struggled to find an agent who would help her like she wanted to be helped. I asked her how she would define that, and she said all she wanted from an agent was someone who would listen to her, and based on what she told them, help her. The beauty is in the simplicity, and she’s right on. In life, who doesn’t want that? Who doesn’t want to be listened to and helped based on what they share?

Corral: In the United States, people are used to the percentage base, which is a good model, because a good agent who comes to us, can make a good profit and has strong skills is going to be more valuable than others. When you have a team, you have costs, salaries and other things to consider.

Companies that offer rebates or money back to their buyers are Realtors who have not learned how to produce leads. They do not value their service enough to believe that they deserve the whole fee for themselves. They’re people who are dependent on others, and that’s why they do that.

Younger buyers sometimes use online tools to look without an agent. They start to get deep into it. They see the complexities of a transaction and what it takes to buy a house the right way. Then, when they see what an agent can do and how they can benefit, they no longer trust those sites.

With sellers, they often want the most exposure, and to pay the least possible amount. You get what you pay for. The better agents may charge more, but they’re going to get you a higher price for your house.

With the average age of agents and management well into the 50’s, how do you think the industry should manage bringing in new generations of leadership? Are you making targeted efforts to reach out to recruit young agents as well as the top producers and more experienced agents? How?

Jernstedt: It is incredibly important to have a farm team. The Millennials are 90 million strong, and it’s important to have many talented young people who are coming from many different careers. Attorneys, brokers, fashion designers, investment bankers – they are all looking to make a change. It’s important to get those talented people in the offices while we have highly experienced agents to serve as mentors. We have a great program where agents share what we call “sage advice.” We have a very experienced agent come and talk for an hour about being an agent, and what it took to be successful.

We also have very specific training programs that meet weekly, and we have experienced people who help with that and are part of the discussion. It is imperative to build relationships between the experienced and the non-experienced in real estate. It doesn’t mean they’re inexperienced in life skills or professional attributes, but it helps them really understand real estate.

The other side of that is the importance of the newer Millennial group being able to help the more seasoned group with social media and all sorts of technological matters. That’s a perfect marriage.

Siciliano: I post things on different local college job boards to not only attract people coming out of college, but to also help them understand real estate and why it’s a good option for developing a full-fledged career. We reach out to them; we have a real estate school that’s pretty popular, so we have a lot of folks that are going through the program and taking their exam and preparing for that.

Gill: We’ve dabbled a little bit in college campus recruiting, such as career days. We participated in one at the College of DuPage at the end of 2012. We receive leads, and we try to facilitate peer recruiting. If someone comes into real estate, we talk to them to find out if they have any friends, relatives or peers who might also be interested. The thing that we’re seeing across our company and across the industry now is multi-generational real estate brokers. A lot of the long-time real estate agents are now bringing their children into this business, which is great.

There are three things that you can do to become wildly successful in life, if that’s your goal. Certainly, you can pursue an advanced degree – a medical career or something like that. My son was a business major, and I told him the following: you can become an entrepreneur and start some type of endeavor where you can be wildly successful. You need to figure out what training, education and skill sets you need to climb the proverbial corporate ladder to come out on an executive track. Or, the third thing you can do is get involved in performance-based compensation. Real estate sales is the ultimate in performance-based compensation.