Hal Barnett: The Benefits Of Downsizing And Refining Your Core Business Focus

In this article, we look at some tips for surviving the real estate downturn from Hal Barnett, Qualifying Broker/Owner at Southwest Realty in New Mexico.

He spoke to our founder, Dane Maxwell, during a roundtable event where Paperless Pipeline users shared their insights on adapting to current industry challenges. 

This article is part of a series based on that event. To learn more, check out Secrets on How Brokers Recruit and Increase Production As Rates Rise.

About Hal Bartnett 

Hal has been running his own brokerage for 16 years. In the past, the company has been part of several major franchises and has had two offices—one in Albuquerque and another in Rio Rancho. Around this time the company also had 45–50 real estate agents. 

However, recently Hal has made some major changes at his brokerage—including using Paperless Pipeline. 

Smaller business—greater profit

Hal told us how downsizing and streamlining his business made it more profitable. 

Having two offices, 50 agents, and franchise fees resulted in huge company overhead costs. So Hal and his business partners decided to downsize the business and become independent. 

Today, they have 15 agents and just one office set up for hot-desking—although most agents choose to work remotely.  

Doing this has made the company more profitable. Plus, with the franchise fee gone and overheads reduced, Hal can afford to give his agents a more favorable split. 

Here’s what he offers:

  • 75/25 split up to $100k
  • 90/10 split above $100k
  • $30 per month flat desk fee up to $100k
  • No desk fee after $100k
  • Agents pay their own MLS and license fees

Hal says he loves his agents and in return, they are very loyal. In fact, some have been with the company for 20 years.

Paperless Pipeline Enables Remote Working

Hal explained that his team has been using Paperless Pipeline for just a few months now but has already been seeing the benefits:

  • Agents love the system and most have embraced it.
  • Uploading and reviewing transactions is easy.
  • Those who don’t want to use it don’t have to. Paperless Pipeline works seamlessly with legacy paper-based systems.
  • It has made remote working a reality for the company. Some agents live hundreds of miles away. They no longer need to come into the office. 
  • Those agents who travel a lot, for example, those selling ranches, can access Paperless Pipeline while they are on the road. 

Hal’s Pipeline Tip

Hal’s team has already been taking advantage of Paperless Pipeline’s customization options. 

The Southwest Realty’s MLS uses Instanet for forms and each form is generated with a four-digit number. 

But when the forms were uploaded to Paperless Pipeline they weren’t ordered by the type of document—in other words purchase agreements would be mixed in with CDAs and other document types.  

Hal’s team discovered that they could create their own cover sheet and produce a unique number for each type of document. This ensured that different document types were grouped together in Pipeline. 

Survive the Real Estate Downturn with Paperless Pipeline

One way to survive the real estate downturn is to make your closing process faster and more reliable with Paperless Pipeline. 


We know that switching to new software during this time feels risky. That’s why we offer a free trial—no credit card details are required.