Why Our Agents Love Us

Oregon First, Realtors® and Washington First Properties are local, independent brokerages with good reputations and decades of experience supporting successful real estate careers. Since our founding in 1994, we've consistently been listed in the Portland Business Journal’s annual ranking of Top Residential Real Estate Firms. We were voted Best Real Estate Company by readers of the Gresham Outlook and Sandy Post. At around 250 agents, we’re neither so large that you’ll feel lost, nor so small that you’ll miss out on tools and training.

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OUR COMMISSION SPLITS ARE FAIR

You work hard for your money, and we let you keep more of the money you earn. Our commission programs offer a favorable split with a low cap — not a desk fee, but a cap on what we can take. If your anniversary date rolls around and we haven’t gotten the full cap, you don’t owe us anything.

70/30 until $8,400

• You keep 70% of your commissions until the company has received $8,400, then you keep 100%. This is our most popular option.

50/50 until $7,500

• You keep 50% of your commissions until the company has received $7,500, then you keep 100%.

100% for $6,600

• You keep 100% of your commissions from day one by pre-paying a lump sum of $6,600.

Teams

• The cap for a team is equal to one full cap for the first member, but only 1/2 a cap for each additional member. A two person team choosing option 3, for example, would pay a total cap of $9,900 or $4,950 per team member. And if you’re a principal broker with a licensed assistant who pays that assistant directly, with all your transactions in your name, and the assistant just doing the back-end stuff, you would only pay one cap. Your assistant would simply owe $30 a month after 6 months of officially not receiving a commission check from us, and you could pay that fee for them. Our team options are a screaming good deal.

Dual Licensees

• At Oregon First, Realtors® and Washington First Properties you have one cap for both sides of the Columbia. If you hit your cap in Oregon, then you hit it in Washingon and vice versa. There are no extra fees or charges just because you have a license in both states.

There's also a $98 transaction fee. Once you hit 100%, it bumps up to $198. And that’s it. No other fees or charges. The only other possible charge is if you go six months without any sort of payout. Then we will charge a $30 a month holding fee until you have a payout.

We believe we’ve hit the sweet spot in terms of allowing you to keep as much of your hard-earned money as possible, while still providing you with the resources you need to build a strong business and impress potential clients with what you have to offer.

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WE TAKE CARE OF OUR AGENTS

The heart of our company is our agents. We are tremendously proud of the good people we have working for us and work hard to make sure they have the attention and resources they need to succeed.

Professional Support Staff

• Your phone call is always answered and your visitor is always greeted by a friendly, helpful staff member during normal business hours. Our agent support team can help you with flyers, postcards, Craigslist ads, photos in RMLS, setting up your mobile devices, answering your questions about social media, etc.
• At our company, you can have your own assistant for the minimal cost of $75 per transaction or $150 for a listing that becomes a transaction. These are the folks who make you look good. Your assistant will be one of our salaried administrative team, working from our offices—a person you know and can develop a long term relationship with. We don’t farm this work out to someone working from home who may or may not have experience because we know this is very important work. Your assistant will be someone you can rely on to keep you on the right track and free up your time to get and serve more clients.
  
  

Personalized One-On-One Coaching and Training

• We assign all our agents their own managing principal broker who will act as your mentor and personal trainer at no additional cost to you. They will be available to you evenings and weekends to answer your questions, look over your paperwork, and give you the benefit of their expertise and experience. These are people who want you to grow and succeed. They will never require you to hand over leads to them or otherwise take advantage of their mentor relationship with you. And if you get assigned a lead from our website, we don’t charge you for that. That’s just part of us helping you build your business. We understand that we succeed when you succeed.
• We also have continuing education classes every day of the week except Sunday. No matter which office you call home, you can attend any of these classes for free. You can also join in via Zoom from your home. (Note: there are no in-person meetings taking place at this time. They are all via Zoom.) In addition to being full of useful information, they earn you credits toward your license renewal for free and are a great way to connect with others in the business.
• Our Saturday morning class at the main office in SW Portland (currently Zoom only) runs for two hours and is specifically geared toward newer agents, or experienced agents who want to brush up on the fundamentals. We go over the Sale Agreement in detail, talk about how to get business, review situations like offers contingent on the buyer’s current home selling, etc.
• We have a dedicated managing broker just for new licensees. In addition to reviewing all the real estate documents you generate, she holds weekly one-on-one and small group meetings to make sure your career is getting off to a good start. This is in addition to the Saturday morning New Agent/The Fundamentals classes!
• We have managing brokers who are certified mentors with Buffini & Company, the leader in real estate career coaching and training. We offer several Buffini training courses throughout the year.  
  
  

Modern Equipment in Stylish, Convenient Facilities

• Our offices are in easy-to-find locations on main thoroughfares. All our branches were recently remodeled so they are places where you can be proud to take clients. We have free coffee and snacks, desktop computers, wireless networks for your laptops, color printing and scanning, sit-stand desks, private offices for quiet work, lounge areas for socializing, stylish conference rooms with bluetooth flatscreens for meeting clients, and more. We have tried to create dynamic and inviting spaces for however you like to work. All our branches are available to you 24/7 for you to work from or meet clients in, no matter which office is your home base.
  
  

Free and Useful Technology

• Free online transaction management platform with paperwork and task checklists, principal broker review, built in OREF and NWMLS forms, and digital signature function.
• Each agent gets their own fully customizable stand-alone website with a full property search that routes all leads to you, an automatically updated blog so you don’t have to play webmaster, and the ability for clients to sign up with you to get property and market updates. Everything your client sees is branded to you. We charge nothing extra for this. There are no tech fees at Oregon First, Realtors® & Washington First Properties.
• Sign up for up to six zip codes to receive leads from the main company website at no charge to you. We do not demand a higher split on deals you close from leads you get through the company.
• Free CRM to help you keep track of your leads and clients. Automate your marketing with ready made newsletters, home anniversary emails, flyer templates and more. Again, this is just part of what we offer. There are no extra fees for any of this.
• Excellent communication within the company with our agent-to-agent Google group, Knowledge Compendium, flash notices, video recordings, online resources and more.
  
  

We Look Out for You

• With our checklists, continuing education, managing broker review and advice, knowledge compendium, and more, we do everything we can to help you minimize the risks inherent in the real estate business and keep you on the right track. But sometimes, even when you do everything right, you can find yourself needing legal help. We purchase Errors and Omissions insurance for all our agents which includes the services of a lawyer if the worst happens. We stand by our people.
• If you're in the State of Oregon, we are able to offer group health insurance through Providence—stop paying individual prices!

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OREGON & WASHINGTON FIRST IS GOOD PEOPLE

We are locally owned and operated with a friendly, open culture. We often receive compliments from our agents who’ve come to us from other companies for how helpful and professional our staff is, and how nice their fellow agents are. The tag line on our website puts it succinctly: “Good Homes for Good People—Local, Trustworthy, Professional.”

A FINAL NOTE

When you have a transaction with an Oregon First, Realtors® or Washington First Properties agent, ask them how they like their company. When they say positive things about us, it’s because they really feel that way. Many companies charge their agents extra so they have enough money to pay their agents to recruit for them. We don’t do that. We let you keep your own money and focus on doing your actual job, which is being a real estate agent. We want you out there promoting yourself and growing your own business. And we want to help you do that.

Have we piqued your interest? Call, text, or email one of our managing brokers below for a confidential discussion. 

 

 

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AGENT TESTIMONIALS

“YES, 100% Oregon First. I joined last year after getting my license. Elise has done an amazing job training me one-on-one via Zoom, and she is always there when I have questions. Mickey and her crew offer great classes all week long (minus Sunday). I went with them because I liked the structure of the business and I have zero regrets!”

— Beth Bartlett, New Agent

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“Oregon First has been a great place to start my career as a real estate agent. The Saturday classes for newer agents give me an opportunity to attend with my schedule. I recommend anyone who is looking to start or already has years as an agent to be part of this brokerage.”

— Erik Arevalo, formerly with Keller Williams

 

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“I am thoroughly enjoying being with Oregon First. I appreciate the sense of community and how helpful everyone is. The Haves and Wants thread is SO helpful. I also love that I can pop in at any office, anytime, since I have clients all the way from Scappoose to Gresham, and even the North Coast. I’ve had to make some adjustments (mostly tech related) coming from a big franchize’y company, but overall happy with the freedom Oregon First provides to market myself as an individual, instead of just a ‘brand’. It’s refreshing. I’ve already worked out most of the kinks and am moving along just fine with the tools I’ve found. Thanks for bringing me and Dick on the team! We’re both so much happier and more motivated to be here. It’s been great!”

—Lila Bruce, formerly with Windermere

 

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“After working on various Real Estate teams at a couple different brokerage offices, I found my way to Oregon First three years ago and couldn’t be happier. The owner Mickey is incredible and embodies the ideal of always leading with integrity, honest and fairness. The fees at Oregon First are super reasonable, but why I’ve stayed is the access to resources, the fabulous staff and plethora of offices to work from. I love working for a local family brokerage with a business model that has helped me propel my business to a higher level than I aimed for or expected.”

—Lindsay Borg, formerly with John L. Scott

 

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“I have been selling Real Estate for serval years but recently I change my affiliation to Oregon First. This company is all about the Agents and making them shine. They really have your back. We have educational classes every day except Sundays. Although I have sold Real Estate for some time things change, laws are rewritten, procedures, Documents are updated and technical issues are constantly upgrading. This realization has happened to me several times sitting in a class and I will say to myself ‘I didn’t know that!’ I am becoming a better Real Estate Agent. That is so important and it should be to the folks who are out there wanting to buy or sell a home; or to Agents who really want to serve their clients. Oregon First has opened a whole new world for me I can’t thank them enough. Thank you Oregon First. Thank you to my Principle Broker, Mickey Lindsay.”

—Pat Soelberg, formerly with WH Realty

 

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“No company can compare when it comes to knowledge, education and support. My friends and I have talked about it many times and wish we had made the move sooner. We’ve all been with at least two to four companies prior to Oregon First. We are very lucky.”

—Dana Wilhelm, formerly with Pete Anderson Realty

 

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“One thing I have been impressed with is the level of education, access and risk management offered by Oregon First. Even though we pay a smaller proportion of our commission to the main office, we still get excellent support!”

—Josette Hugo, formerly with John L. Scott

 

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“l like Oregon First a lot. The company provides everything I need to enhance my career! The facility, staff, team work, support, and your timely advice were much better than my old company. Frankly, I was a little hesitant to switch companies for years as I was concerned that I would not be able to get timely advice on my real estate transactions from a big company. However, your tireless professionalism impressed me a lot and totally released my concerns.”

—Grace Fang, formerly with Brokers Realty

 

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“I am very impressed with the support and education you get as an Oregon First agent. The supervising brokers are extremely knowledgeable. They make sure you get the information you need to be competent in an ever-changing and challenging market. Getting your credits is made easy since they have courses most days of the week. The agent website is very well organized. It is easy to communicate with other agents, get upcoming events info, important market news and continuing ed class announcements. I would recommend Oregon First to anyone looking for a great company to join.”

—Debbie Amhaz, formerly with Summa Realty

 

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"Oregon First makes the financial part of this business reasonable and easy. The support staff is proactive in assisting brokers keep their transactions well documented. Oregon First is a friendly company to work with.”

—Rod Erickson, formerly with John L. Scott

 

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“One of the biggest reasons I moved to Oregon First was being able to use their multiple offices. I show and list property throughout Portland and the surrounding areas and it’s great to have different offices at my disposal that are close to my clients home or a property that I am showing them! Another reason I moved to Oregon First was the quality and availability of continued education classes. Prior to Oregon First, it was all on me to find or pay for classes that would give me the needed hours to renew my license!”

—Mark Didier, formerly with Century 21

 

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“The class yesterday was really helpful. It seemed like the questions I had about different topics kept getting asked/answered as the class went along. So, just wanted to say thank you for all the help you give to all of us new agents. Its greatly appreciated.”

—David Bogdan, New Agent

 

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“I tried several Real Estate companies before landing at Oregon First 14 years ago. It has been a perfect fit for me all of these good years, an extremely supportive and genial environment, many thanks to all!”

—Tom Hermach, formerly with RE/MAX

 

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“I couldn’t be happier with my decision to work with Oregon First. They have struck a perfect balance, in my opinion, between the ‘big box’ brokerages and the flat fee brokerages. As a new broker, you only pay Realtor and MLS fees—that’s it. No huge startup costs or handing over leads. At the same time, they are very helpful and offer support and guidance with getting started. Oregon First does a great job of helping you run your business your way, while still providing the guidance and resources you need.”

—Ryan Hammond, New Agent