Some may recall that one of the first out here to work as a team was Tom MacNiven with Michelle Tiberio at Cook Pony Farm in 1998 through 2000. In 1999 they set a record of 37 closed sales in one year - one deal every 10 days. Says Tom, "Coming from an athletic background I've always been a firm believer in teamwork. Simply put: No single raindrop can be responsible for a flood."

I guess that says something for teamwork.

Barbara Feldman of BF Designs and a realtor with Coldwell Banker Prestigious Properties in East Hampton says teaming up is, "Something I've been thinking about since joining Coldwell Banker and was asked to be part of a team almost immediately. In fact, Beau Hulse, my principle broker (what a terrific guy!), the two other agents, and I had a lengthy discussion today and this is what we surmised.

Property listed with Hampton Homes.

"If the property value is not above a certain price point, it does not pay since the payback leaves each of the agents working at a loss or at break-even. If two agents are on the team, they would have to do twice as much volume to break even, if three agents - three times as much volume. Moreover, it does tie you into a relationship that could get sticky if one member wants to leave. Who holds on to the listings?"

"It does help with the management of a large number of listings. It does help with the management of listings if the agents are spread out over a large geographic area (i.e., Westhampton through East Hampton). And it does work better if a team has a common vested interest (like husband and wife). And teams do help with advertising costs, although the increased use of the internet mitigates some of the expense of print advertising."

"A team may make the seller more comfortable with paying large commissions, since the perception is that no one person is making a commission that is out of synch relative to the perceived amount of work involved. Yes, well, he has to pay anyway when the firm has done its job for him!"

"However, it must be a balanced team with no one agent bringing more to the table. As to balance - sometimes an agent has a special 'something' to bring. For example, with my existing reputation as a property stager, track record, and portfolio, I can style houses for my exclusives without charging a fee. This gives the seller as much as $20,000 worth of professional services that costs them nothing but will add value to their house."

"Unless the other members of the team can match that person's contribution in some way (a large number of exclusives that they can throw into the pot, paying for advertising, huge name recognition, or an assistant, for example), the team is skewed in strength and balance, which will further complicate the math vis a vis commission splits and the level of responsibility of each team member!"

"After all the thinking - [teamwork thinking] - we decided to work as a team on a per project basis, evaluating each situation independently, but basically operating autonomously."

Property listed with Town & Country Real Estate.

A shorter view from Judi A. Desiderio Chief Executive Officer Town & Country Real Estate: "Teams - ahhh like navigating between Cila & Carribdus - the select few who make it through are rewarded handsomely! But many a ship has crashed on the shores while being enticed by the sirens. I find the character and personalities of the members predispose the level and term of success."

And from a working team! Barbara Weinman and Jan Robinson at Hampton Homes: "Jan and I are still doing well. I think it's because our goals are the same. We may get there differently because our personalities are basically opposite but opposites do attract. Also we are not about ego. Jan and I have been doing this long enough to realize that it sometimes luck, sometimes skill, and sometimes putting your heads together and making it happen. We began in real estate at the same time, approximately 20 years ago. We are from the same mold. We give the same amount of attention to a $20,000 rental that we do to a $2 million dollar sale. That's what we did then and that's what we do now. My daughter, Lisa Lulo, is working with us and of course Eric Winter, who has been with Jan forever. They have worked hard this summer and we appreciate their efforts. So I must say for us it works, for how long we don't know, we just know that in this type of market it's the tough that will stand strong, it does not come easy so we just keep going - rentals, sales - we do it all. We are still here so something must be working!"

There are, by the way, some responders that say they don't want to give away any trade secrets that might help the other guy. Right, they're not stupid! Yes, well so much for teamwork.

East End real estate? A very strange business.