Brian Buonaiuto
Broker/Owner
JPAR Premier Destination Realty
Cranston, Rhode Island
https://www.brianbuonaiuto.jpar.com
Region served: Central Rhode Island and Tampa, Florida
Years in real estate: 10
Number of offices: 2
Number of agents: 40
Rhode Island is currently facing record-low inventory. As a leader with JPAR, how are you and your agents finding opportunities for buyers and sellers?
We provide some leads that we pay for, which helps drive opportunities to our agents, but we also have a development coach on staff that meets with agents to help them work their sphere and leverage some of the other no-cost methods to generate business. In addition, one of our partner team leads specializes in making connections in the new construction sector. This year alone, we have over 50 new construction projects that we’re going to be representing the sellers on.
With so many brokerage models out there, what makes JPAR the right fit for the specific needs of the New England market?
The last few years have been challenging for a lot of agents as transaction counts have been down, so there are less transactions to be had. With that, I believe the transaction-based model is not only relevant, but where the future of real estate is headed. Agents need to make themselves the brand and then plug into a platform that helps them reach their potential. One of the things we’re focusing on is providing the tools and platform for people to be successful while allowing them to reinvest in themselves in order to create their own brand and grow their own business.
When looking to grow your team, how do you distinguish between a top producer and someone who fits the collaborative culture you’re building?
The nature of the model we’re building is that it’s designed to have a little bit of both. There are going to be some people who want to produce, who may not be part of a group or a team, who will have the ability to plug into the tools and take advantage of them when they want to. There will also be folks who enjoy the fact that we have such a collaborative culture, and they’ll be excited about some of the things we do as a brokerage. We’re doing a lot of things that are going to naturally attract those who want that culture.
How are you leveraging the technology provided by JPAR to give your agents, their listings and their client relationships a competitive edge?
Throughout my career, I’ve found that most agents don’t engage with and use the tech they have access to where they are. In fact, I’ve noticed that they can get easily overwhelmed by it, especially if they’re producing and feel like they don’t have the time to dive into it, so they don’t fully reap the benefits of what they’ve paid for. We’re focused on showing agents how they can use technology to improve their business—because having the tools is great, but if nobody uses them, they don’t help anyone.
What mindset is most critical for agents looking to make a leap into management or brokerage ownership?
The biggest thing they need to do is look at what it is they’re trying to build and understand that they’re now serving the needs of others. Not every top producer can effectively coach, manage and understand the needs of agents at different points in their careers. If you only know how to produce and sell, you may do well with that type of agent, but it’s going to be hard to build a brokerage on that alone. You have to be able to meet agents where they are while understanding how they must grow in order to get where they want to be. The mindset you need is, “How do I serve a wide range of people?” Because if you’re only solving problems for one segment, it becomes more challenging. There are always going to be ebbs and flows within someone’s business, so being able to understand people at each point in their career is important.
For more information, visit https://www.jpar.com.
