What should an agent do in the first 90 days after switching brokerages?

The first 90 days after switching brokerages are when momentum is easiest to lose. The steps below come from what a transfer involves, not from a promise of production.

What should I finish in the first week?

Confirm the license transfer, MLS and lockbox access, and that your email and systems work. In Virginia, a transfer typically processes within a few business days once DPOR has the paperwork and your former broker has released you. At Keeton & Co, staff file for you, and most agents are live inside a week.

Don’t wait for perfect systems to talk to clients. If an active buyer wants a showing on day two, you need MLS and lockbox access the same day. Ask in advance who will do each of those tasks and by when. Our post on how long a license transfer takes goes into the timeline.

What do I do about pending deals?

Pending listings and contracts usually close with the former brokerage, because the agreement is between the client and that firm. Your former broker decides. That makes this a first-week conversation, not an afterthought.

Keep a list of every active deal, its deadlines and who is responsible. Agree in writing what happens to each one, and how you’ll be paid. Read our post on what happens to pending transactions when you switch, and use our questions to ask before you switch to confirm nothing is left open.

How should I tell clients and my sphere?

Active clients first, personally, with a plain explanation: who is handling their transaction, what is changing and what isn’t. Then your sphere, with a short message that says where you are now and how to reach you.

Update every place your name appears: MLS profile, email signature, website, social accounts and printed material. Virginia advertising rules require the brokerage name on your marketing, so mismatches are a compliance problem as well as a branding one.

What should I set up in the first month?

Get your CRM working with your database in it. At Keeton & Co, a CRM account is configured with your contacts imported rather than handed to you empty.

Then start using the support you now have. Our agents get a full-service transaction coordinator, marketing support, IT and admin help, a field technician for signs and lockboxes, and KAI, an AI assistant built only for Keeton & Co agents and connected to the MLS, your transactions, your goals and your CRM. It writes and reviews contracts, creates your marketing and answers questions about your business.

Run your next two or three transactions through the support system on purpose, so you learn what it takes off your plate. A support stack you don’t use is just a cost.

How do I decide on a lead strategy?

Decide whether you want appointments set for you or you’ll build from your own sphere. Keeton & Co’s Lead Service is optional: our marketing generates inquiries and an in-house Inside Sales Team qualifies them and books the appointment on your calendar. Agents who build entirely from their own sphere choose a plan without it.

Which fits you is a plan question. Keeton & Co commission plan details are shared privately during a confidential conversation with our team.

What should my 90-day review look at?

Three questions. How many hours did you get back? Where did deals stall? And what would you do differently if you switched again today?

My advice: treat the first 90 days as a project with deadlines, not a settling-in period. I can’t promise production for anyone.

What should I do next?

If you’re considering a move and want to see how the first 90 days would work for your business, start a confidential conversation with us. Or contact us with a quick question, and find Daniel Keeton.