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Building a Winning Real Estate Team
Hiring the right people is one of the most challenging and crucial aspects of growing a real estate business. Whether you're a solo investor looking to scale or an established real estate company seeking to refine your hiring process, the right team members can make or break your success. To acquire consistent motivated seller leads and close more deals, you need employees who are not just skilled but also the right fit for their roles.
Austin McCurdy, a hiring expert from Sharper Business Solutions, has helped thousands of real estate investors build strong, efficient teams. In this article, we break down the best strategies for hiring in real estate, the importance of using data-driven hiring techniques, and how to ensure that every team member is in the right seat.
The Hiring Process: Why Most Businesses Get It Wrong
Hiring is often treated as a gamble, but it doesn’t have to be. Many real estate investors make the mistake of relying solely on resumes and job experience, assuming that past roles guarantee future success. Others make hiring decisions based on gut feelings from interviews, only to realize later that the candidate wasn't the right fit. Another common pitfall is failing to differentiate between different sales roles, leading to mismatched hires who struggle in their positions. By refining the hiring process and using objective assessments, businesses can drastically improve their recruitment success rate. Most employers look at two things when hiring:
- Resumes and Work Experience – If someone has done the job before, they must be good at it, right? Not always.
- Gut Feeling in the Interview – Many business owners think they can judge character in a one-hour conversation, but that’s rarely the case.
A more effective approach is to treat recruitment like a sales process. Just as you generate and qualify motivated seller leads, hiring should involve structured lead generation, lead management, and a strong closing process.
Where to Find the Right Candidates
Finding strong candidates starts with knowing where to look. Consider these methods:
- Job Boards – Posting job listings across multiple platforms increases your reach.
- Social Media and Networking – Many business owners overlook their personal networks, but referrals can be a goldmine.
- Headhunters and Recruiters – They specialize in finding and attracting top talent for specific roles.
- Internal Promotions – Sometimes the best hires are already within your organization.
Once you have candidates, the key is filtering them efficiently. This is where predictive data tools, like the Predictive Index (PI), come into play.
Using Data to Make Better Hiring Decisions
Most hiring decisions are based on a mix of resumes, interviews, and gut feelings. However, relying too much on resumes can lead to costly mistakes. For example, Austin McCurdy shared a story about hiring a former Domino’s employee for his Papa John’s restaurants, assuming prior experience would make them a great fit. On day one, it became clear why they were no longer employed at Domino’s—their work ethic and performance did not align with expectations. This highlights why hiring based solely on past experience can be misleading. However, studies show that a resume is only 12% predictive of job performance, while behavioral and cognitive assessments can be 70%+ predictive.
The Predictive Index: A Game-Changer for Hiring
Predictive Index (PI) assessments analyze two key traits and serve as a crucial tool for filtering candidates efficiently. For example, Austin McCurdy highlighted how businesses using PI can pre-screen candidates before even reviewing resumes. By having applicants complete a quick behavioral and cognitive assessment, businesses can immediately identify whether they match the ideal profile for a role. Instead of sifting through hundreds of resumes, hiring managers can focus only on candidates who meet the necessary benchmarks, saving time and improving hiring accuracy. The PI assessment ensures that businesses are selecting individuals whose natural behaviors align with the demands of the job, reducing turnover and increasing productivity.
- Behavioral Profile – What motivates a candidate, and do their natural strengths align with the job role?
- Cognitive Ability – How quickly can they solve complex problems?
For instance, a successful acquisitions manager needs to be highly competitive, comfortable with conflict, and motivated by results. Someone applying for this role who scores low in competitiveness might struggle to negotiate deals effectively. Conversely, a lead manager should be more collaborative and empathetic, as their role involves building initial relationships with potential sellers.
Hiring for the Right Roles in Real Estate
Acquisitions: The Core of Your Sales Team
Acquisitions is the heartbeat of a real estate investing business. The success of your deals starts here. Here’s what you should look for in an acquisitions manager:
- Dominant and Competitive – They need to be motivated by challenges and comfortable pushing for better deals.
- Comfort with Conflict – Negotiating low offers with homeowners requires confidence.
- Goal-Oriented and Resilient – Salespeople must thrive in fast-paced environments and handle rejection well.
Many businesses make the mistake of hiring “good interviewers” rather than the right fit. A great acquisitions rep might not necessarily sell themselves well in an interview, but a data-driven hiring process will identify their potential.
Lead Management: The First Point of Contact
Lead managers play a critical role in the customer journey. They must:
- Be empathetic and engaging – They are often the first person sellers speak with.
- Listen more than they talk – Their job is to qualify leads, not to sell.
- Stay organized – They need to track and follow up with leads effectively.
Unlike acquisitions reps, lead managers don’t need to be overly dominant or aggressive. They should be steady, patient, and focused on building rapport.
Dispositions: Selling the Deal
Dispositions managers handle the selling side of wholesale deals. Their success relies on:
- Strong relationships with buyers – They should know what their buyers are looking for.
- Good negotiation skills – While acquisitions negotiate on the buy side, dispositions managers must maximize assignment fees.
- A collaborative, social nature – They should enjoy networking and keeping a pulse on the market.
Why Employees Leave: Understanding Turnover in Real Estate Sales
Many real estate business owners struggle with high turnover in sales roles. The biggest reason? They hire the wrong people for the job.
A common mistake is hiring friendly, relationship-driven people for acquisitions. While they may build strong rapport with sellers, they often struggle with the tough negotiations required in acquisitions. For instance, Austin McCurdy shared an example of how a salesperson motivated by social interactions might feel sympathy for a homeowner’s situation and overpay for a property, reducing profitability. This highlights the importance of hiring acquisitions managers who are comfortable with conflict, competitive, and focused on securing the best deal. While they may be great conversationalists, they often lack the competitiveness needed to negotiate deals effectively. If an acquisitions rep is more motivated by relationships than numbers, they may sympathize with sellers too much and offer higher prices than necessary, hurting profitability.
Understanding behavioral motivators helps avoid this pitfall. A well-placed hire stays longer, performs better, and contributes to business growth.
How Sharper Business Solutions Helps Real Estate Investors
Hiring the right people is just one piece of the puzzle. Sharper Business Solutions provides comprehensive business development services, including hands-on coaching and quarterly workshops designed to help business owners implement scalable systems. These workshops focus on structuring teams effectively, improving hiring processes, and developing leadership skills. Through customized training programs and ongoing support, Sharper Business Solutions ensures that real estate investors can transition from working in their business to leading it strategically., including:
- Accountability chart creation – Ensuring every team member is in the right role.
- Process mapping – Streamlining operations for maximum efficiency.
- Training and development – Helping employees grow into their roles.
Their expertise helps businesses transition from “owning a job” to building a scalable company.
Key Takeaways
1. Hiring the Right Team Is Critical for Scaling
Success in real estate hinges on having the right people in the right roles. Top talent is essential to generate motivated seller leads, close more deals, and grow the business effectively.
2. Common Hiring Mistakes in Real Estate
Many investors rely too heavily on resumes and gut feelings during interviews. This often leads to poor hiring decisions, especially when roles aren’t clearly differentiated—such as treating all sales roles the same.
3. Treat Hiring Like a Sales Process
Effective hiring should follow a process similar to lead generation: structured, strategic, and repeatable. Think in terms of recruitment funnels—attracting, filtering, and closing the right candidates.
4. Where to Source Candidates
Candidates can be found via job boards, social media, referrals, recruiters, and internal promotions. Casting a wide net increases the chances of finding strong talent.
5. Predictive Index (PI) for Data-Driven Hiring
PI assessments dramatically improve hiring accuracy. They measure behavioral traits and cognitive ability, which are over 70% predictive of success—compared to resumes, which predict only 12%.
6. Match Candidate Traits to Specific Roles
Each role in real estate requires different personality traits:
- Acquisitions: Needs dominance, competitiveness, and conflict comfort.
- Lead Managers: Should be empathetic, organized, and relationship-focused.
- Dispositions: Must be socially driven and strong at buyer negotiation.
7. Avoiding Turnover by Understanding Motivators
Turnover happens when the wrong behavioral fit is placed in the wrong role—like putting a relationship-focused person in a negotiation-heavy acquisitions role. Aligning traits with responsibilities improves retention and performance.
8. Sharper Business Solutions’ Role in Hiring Success
They provide training, coaching, and systems to help investors structure teams, streamline operations, and develop leadership. Their programs move investors from “owning a job” to running a scalable company.
9. Key Tools for Scaling with the Right People
Sharper Business Solutions uses tools like accountability charts, process mapping, and customized development plans to ensure every team member is aligned with their strengths and business goals.
10. Build the Right Team to Convert Motivated Seller Leads
To truly scale, it’s not just about generating leads—it’s about building a team that can convert those leads into profitable deals through role alignment and smart hiring.
Build a Stronger Business with the Right Team
Growing a successful real estate business requires more than just generating motivated seller leads—it requires a team that can efficiently convert those leads into deals. Hiring based on data and behavioral assessments rather than gut feeling ensures that every team member is positioned for success.
If you’re ready to take your real estate business to the next level, start by building the right team. Visit Sharper Business Solutions at sharperprocess.com to learn how they can help.
