Starting as a New Real Estate Agent in NYC

Welcome to HomeDax Real Estate! Whether you are an experienced agent or have just completed your New York Salesperson Licensing Course, we are excited to have you as a member of our rapidly growing and successful team. Joining HomeDax is as simple as following the steps below.

All new HomeDax agents are required to take New York City’s mandatory Sexual Harassment Training Course prior to associating with the firm. Please email our support team your Certificate of Completion once you are finished with the course. In accordance with the Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC Act, this training must be completed annually.

In addition, please review the Anti-Sexual Harassment Factsheet which is available at the links below:

English – Anti Sexual Harassment Fact Sheet in English
Español – Detener El Acoso Sexual

Please e-sign an Independent Contractor (IC) Agreement with us if you haven’t already. The IC Agreement establishes and formalizes your relationship with HomeDax Real Estate.

The specific IC agreement you’ll sign depends on which commission split plan you’ve selected. Refer to this page to learn more about our commission split plans. Be sure to add the name of your mentor, if applicable, when filling out the IC Agreement.

Access the 75% Commission Split Agreement here. The 100% Commission Split Agreement is accessible here.

If you are an existing agent associated with another brokerage, you will need request a dissociation with your current sponsoring broker before signing an IC Agreement with HomeDax Real Estate.

Please keep in mind that the commission split plan you select pertains only to deals which you have independently procured through your own network. Leads provided by the firm are subject to discretionary commission splits, based on the scope of work, overall performance and degree of customer satisfaction.

Here are the steps for associating your license with HomeDax Real Estate:

New Agent

The results from your salesperson exam will typically become available via eAccessNY within a week of your test date. If you passed your exam, you will be able to move forward and apply for your salesperson license. Please submit our firm’s license number along with your application, which is as follows: 10491206186.

Existing Agent

Email us your salesperson license number so that we may associate you in the NY DOS database. Keep in mind that it may take up to 48 hours for the disassociation from your previous firm to be completed.

We will associate you via eAccessNY as soon as your license has been successfully released from your previous brokerage and you have paid the $20 NY DOS fee. This is a fee which we will pay on your behalf when we associate your license. You can pay this fee by credit card here.

All Salespersons and Associate Brokers who join HomeDax are required to join the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) within 30 days of associating with the firm. REBNY imposes strict penalties on any member brokerage who does not comply with the rule, so it’s important that you join REBNY as soon as possible. The annual dues for a salesperson are a few hundred dollars which are paid directly to REBNY.

The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) is a 17,000 member real estate trade association based in New York City. REBNY operates the New York City equivalent of the MLS (Multiple Listings Service) database which is called the RLS (REBNY Listing Service).

All HomeDax Associate Brokers and Salespeople have full access to RLS listing data as well as the suite of agent tools, training and growth opportunities provided by the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY). Resources offered by REBNY to HomeDax agents include training and networking opportunities, a guest speaker series, ongoing education and dispute mediation.

All members of HomeDax Real Estate are required to join the Long Island Board of Realtors (LIBOR) within 30 days of license association. The LIBOR application is available here. Annual membership dues are payable by October 1st. If you join before or after this date, membership dues are pro-rated. To attain full REALTOR® membership, one must complete a New Member Orientation program within 90 days of joining LIBOR.

As a HomeDax agent, you will have access to thousands of listings throughout Long Island, the Hudson Valley and all five boroughs of New York City through the OneKey MLS. Your seller clients will also benefit from exposure to over 45,000 agents who subscribe to OneKey.

Please take care of your first month’s dues as the next step. Agents on our 75% split plan can do so here. Agents on our 100% split plan can do so here. New invoices will be due every 30 days. Please save your credit card number and remember to enable recurring monthly payments on your next invoice.

Because of the significant time and monetary investment we are putting into you, we will need to see commitment from your end as well. Please take care of this before we proceed further.

First impressions are everything in real estate. Having a complete, professional and consistent agent profile online will increase your credibility with current and prospective clients. Please prepare a brief biography and send it to us in your Telegram chat room as next step. It will be uploaded to your agent page on the HomeDax website.

When composing your bio, please ensure that it’s stylized in the 3rd person and of sufficient length (3+ paragraphs). Example agent bios can be found here.

Once the bio is complete, please create a new agent account on Zillow using your HomeDax email address. When creating this account, please check the ‘real estate professional’ option. Complete all required fields, and be sure to include complete brokerage information, your license number and full contact information (cell phone, etc.).

Next, please create an account on StreetEasy.com using your HomeDax email address. Once this is done, you’ll need to email StreetEasy and ask them to convert your account into an agent account which offers additional tools and functionality.

Here are some examples of completed agent profiles from the HomeDax team:

Zillow: Elisa Flores
StreetEasy: Chris Drakakis

Secure Chat Messaging

To get started, please download our team’s secure messaging and communication app Telegram. Install this on both your computer as well as your tablet/smartphone. Once you’ve installed the app, please join our team chat through the invite link you were emailed so you can communicate with the rest of the firm’s agents. The primary means through which we will communicate going forward will be through Telegram.

Private Corporate Email

As a next step, please activate your HomeDax corporate email account as per the instructions you’ve been emailed. We highly suggest that you set-up your email account on both your smartphone and computer so you will always be able to access your emails. Please ensure that you set-up an email signature similar to the template below:

Having a professional headshot in the same style of our other agents ensures that we maintain the consistency and high standard of our firm’s public image.

Please schedule a session with our team photographers after you’ve taken care of your first month’s dues. Schedule a time that works for you here. It’s important to work with our team photographers as they will produce a photo that will be similar in style to our other team members, and because our photos simply look great!

Once your headshot is delivered, please upload it to all online profiles including Zillow, StreetEasy and RealtyMX. Having a consistent photo and bio on all of your online profiles will increase your credibility with clients and fellow brokers.  It will also help you stand out against other agents who may not have the same professional appearance online.

Please remember that self reliance is a critical trait in real estate, and all agents are expected to find answers to questions they have on their own.

If you have a general question, please utilize Google, the Hauseit YouTube channel and your training materials first. Remember to also login to the agent materials section of our website for forms, agreements and signage. If you still can’t figure it out and no one has ever written about it online, then please ask your question in our team chat room.

If you are working on a deal with management, please ask deal specific questions in the private chat for that transaction. Again, please endeavor to figure it out on your own first. Being resourceful and practicing self reliance will maximize your chances of success as a real estate agent.

Due to the ‘always on’ nature of real estate, agents are prone to burnout. Therefore, HomeDax is passionate about maintaining a healthy and sustainable work environment to maximize long-term productivity. This means prioritizing mental health. Staying healthy means respecting the sanctity of weekends and after-hours as critical periods to rest and recharge, both for management and yourself. As such, we ask you to defer all non-essential (and non-client related) requests or questions to routine business hours. If something is on your mind and it’s late at night or the weekend, please leverage the delayed send feature in Telegram to schedule your message during business hours.