Starting Over with Lindsay Reishman

Real estate agents face a unique challenge in deciding where to hang out their shingle. Do you join a franchise for the brand recognition and resources? Do you opt for an indie brokerage with more flexibility and local authority? Or do you strike out on your own and start a new business?
As it happens, Lindsay Reishman has done all three.

Lindsay has worn a lot of hats in the real estate business. After years of working closely with consumers, first as an agent, then as a broker-owner, Lindsay sold his company to Compass, stepping out of day-to-day operations and into a management role. “I felt like basically the brokerage that I was running would be better, bigger, and we’d get there faster in Washington as Compass, than I could do on my own,” Lindsay told us.

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In my experience, my friends, family, people I thought maybe I would get business from…that did not prove to be true because those people knew that I was new in the business.

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Today, he’s is back on the front lines of real estate with a new sales team. The process of forming a new team has given Lindsay the opportunity to forge a new path in the business. “I’ve had a chance to start over and create a new brand again,” Lindsay said. “When I went through this, I really thought about, ‘Okay, well why should anyone hire me to help them sell their property versus anybody else? And so what makes me unique? How am I really different?’”

The answer to those questions had to do with how Lindsay supported his agents. “The more that agents can focus on being experts in their discipline and knowing the contract, knowing the inventory, finding out about properties before they come to the market…the more you’re able to provide those things for agents, the more valuable you’re becoming.”

Starting over in sales has also made Lindsay reflect on how beginner agents should make the most of their first year in real estate. While many rookies are encouraged to leverage their existing network of family and friends to drum up initial business, Lindsay begs to differ. “In my experience, my friends, family, people I thought maybe I would get business from…that did not prove to be true because those people knew that I was new in the business.”

Instead, Lindsay says, it’s crucial for agents to find a successful veteran to help them establish themselves. “Somebody who can generate leads and business opportunities, if you can [align] yourself with that, that’s a huge benefit,” he said. The key to finding an effective mentor, Lindsay pointed out, is to consider the relationship from their point of view. “Is it truly in the best interest of the person who you’re considering working with to help mentor you?”

In this interview, Lindsay Reishman discusses the process of reinventing his brand for a new venture, and offers up some words of caution and advice for brand new agents.

- Seth