What Should an Experienced Agent Do in Their First Week on a New Team?

Why the First Week Matters for Experienced Hires

An experienced agent joining a team has already changed affiliations at least once and is aware that another change is possible. The first week is the first period in which the agent can compare what was described during recruiting with what the team actually provides, including systems, support and access to leadership. Problems in that week, such as missing logins or an unavailable leader, tend to be read as evidence about the team as a whole rather than as isolated delays. For this reason many teams treat the first week as part of recruiting rather than as administration.

Survey data shows how often agents move. According to Redfin's 2025 Industry Survey, which polled 500 agents from brokerages other than Redfin across 46 states through Ipsos between December 2024 and January 2025, 13.4% of agents switched brokerages in the previous 12 months and 15% planned to switch in the following 12. According to the same survey, 19.4% of agents who switched in 2024 were already planning to switch again. These figures were reported by Redfin and by nowbam.

The cost of losing a hire is borne by the recruiting function. According to the Delta Media Group 2026 Real Estate Leadership Report, which surveyed more than 100 brokerage leaders whose firms accounted for more than two-thirds of 2025 U.S. home sales, 63% named recruiting top agents as a challenge and 54% named agent productivity. Real Estate News reported the same survey as showing 63% citing recruitment as their primary challenge. A hire who leaves after a poor first week must be replaced through the same recruiting process, which is described in What Does a Real Estate Recruiter Do?

Work Completed Before Day One

The onboarding period begins at signing rather than at the start date. In Blake Suddath's 2025 recruiting record, half of hires signed within eight days of their first appointment, and the interval between signing and starting is often short. Teams that begin setup on the start date tend to spend the agent's first week on tasks that could have been finished earlier. The work before the start date is assigned to a named onboarding owner, commonly an administrator or operations lead, and in larger organizations a director of growth, a role compared with the recruiter in What Is the Difference Between a Recruiter and a Director of Growth?.

Four items are usually completed in this period. The first is the license transfer with the state real estate commission and the update of MLS and association records; the rules on whether an agent may practice while a transfer is pending vary by state. The second is the creation and testing of every account the agent will use, including email, CRM, transaction management, e-signature, showing service and the team calendar. The third is a one-page written summary of the split, cap, fees and lead rules, which restates the signed agreement in plain terms; the structures involved are described in How Do Real Estate Teams Split Commission? The fourth is scheduling the first week, including day one, the team meeting, the first one-on-one and the scorecard meeting.

The Five-Day Transfer Checklist

The table below sets out a common five-day structure for an experienced hire's first week, with the owner of each step. The structure assumes the work before day one has been completed. Teams adapt the order to the day of their team meeting.

Team leaders who want this checklist installed with an onboarding workflow behind it can see how the Territory Takeover System works at theinnercirql.com/operators/.

Day One and the Team Meeting

Day one is commonly scheduled on the morning of the team's regular meeting. The remaining signatures and the systems walkthrough are completed first, and the agent then attends the meeting, where the leader introduces them by name. Blake Suddath has described running onboarding this way, with new hires completing onboarding in the morning and moving directly into the company meeting; in his words, "they'll feed off of that energy while also you're welcoming them into the new community." The purpose is that the agent's first experience of the team is its people and culture rather than paperwork.

Many experienced hires have attended other teams' meetings and will compare them. According to the NAR 2026 Member Profile, released in June 2026 and reported by NAR and HousingWire, 21% of REALTORS worked as part of a team in 2025. Teams also commonly assign a peer agent as an informal point of contact for the first week, separate from any formal mentoring arrangement, so that operational questions do not wait for the leader.

Moving the Agent's Business

A license transfer changes an agent's affiliation but does not move the agent's business. Days two and three are used to transfer the two assets an experienced agent brings: the contact database and the active pipeline. The database is exported from the previous system and imported into the team's CRM, with past clients, sphere and active clients tagged separately so that follow up can begin immediately. The process for organizing that database afterward is described in How Do Real Estate Agents Build a Referral Database?

The database carries a large share of an experienced agent's business. According to the NAR 2026 Member Profile, the typical REALTOR earned 28% of 2025 business from repeat clients and customers, up from 20% a year earlier, a figure reported by both NAR and HousingWire. According to HousingWire and Buffini and Company, the typical REALTOR earned another 22% from referrals from past clients. According to the same profile, the typical member had 13 years of experience and closed nine transaction sides in 2025.

The pipeline map lists every active buyer, scheduled listing appointment and transaction in progress, and records which remain with the previous brokerage. Listing agreements and pending transactions are commonly held by the brokerage rather than the individual agent, so each requires a specific plan. The rules involved are described in How Do Real Estate Agents Switch Brokerages? The team also walks the agent through a live example of lead routing, including where a lead arrives, who receives it, the expected response time and where follow up is logged.

The Sphere Announcement, First One-on-One and Scorecard

The sphere announcement is made once the agent's accounts work and the database is loaded, usually on day four. It is a short message to past clients and sphere stating the agent's new affiliation and contact details, often accompanied by a graphic and social post prepared by the team's marketing staff. Sending it after the systems are ready means replies reach a working inbox and CRM.

The first one-on-one between the agent and the team leader takes place at the end of the week and typically lasts about 45 minutes, matching the length Blake Suddath has described for weekly one-on-ones. It commonly addresses what has worked, what was promised during recruiting but has not yet happened, and what would make the next 30 days successful. Items in the second category are resolved in the following week. The meeting ends with a 90-day scorecard of three or four measures chosen from the agent's own history, such as conversations, appointments and contracts, and with check-ins booked at 30, 60 and 90 days.

Recent hires are then reviewed weekly for their first 90 days, a practice described in What Should a Weekly Recruiting Meeting Cover? The agent-side view of the first month is set out in What Should an Agent Do in the First 30 Days on a New Team?

Frequently Asked Questions

Real estate team leaders, broker owners and recruiters who want an onboarding checklist that keeps the experienced agents they recruit, with the workflow and follow up installed in their market, can apply with Blake Suddath and Tyler Lewis at theinnercirql.com/operators/.