A few weeks ago, an agent on a popular social media platform asked for advice. They had reached a level of production qualifying for a higher split, they said, but a team leader claimed the new split wouldn’t go into effect until the following year.
What is the industry standard, the agent asked?
A cascade of responses to that inquiry reminded the agent that—like so many other things in real estate—there is no “industry standard.” Splits, fees, forms, caps, tech and referrals vary widely from company to company, office to office, and are always changing.
That second part might be truer now than ever before. Big mergers and acquisitions mean only a few companies can set the pace for what agents (and brokers) expect from their contracts. Simultaneously, independents have sought to differentiate in what they can offer agents, while some companies explore add-ons like revenue share or AI integrations in order to attract agents.
Maybe even more importantly, agents and brokers at companies that are suddenly looking up at a new corporate boss are having to mull the terms of their contract. Even as nearly every big consolidation has come with the promise that “nothing is changing” for agents, the reality is that big deals always come with disruption—direct or indirect.
But at the same time, some of the biggest uncertainties of the post-lawsuit era are fading. Commission rates are no longer top-of-mind—by all accounts, they have stabilized at levels close to where they were before the NAR settlement knocked compensation off the MLS. Cooperative compensation and buyer agreements also appear to have melded into the background, with various practices and approaches that (so far) all function well enough.
That leaves a very different sort of change to parse out. With private listing and MLSs in the spotlight, the conversation has rightfully focused on more existential questions—the future of cooperation, market fragmentation, regulatory scrutiny. But all of these things in the end will trickle down to your bottom line.
Right now, there are far more questions than answers. Redfin, now with the backing of Rocket, has claimed its new pseudo-employee model is ascendant, offering agents perks like retirement plans and health insurance while maintaining much of the traditional compensation structure. Real, which just grew tremendously through its acquisition of REMAX, is leaning on revenue share and Real Wallet—a financial platform that includes a debit card and commission advances—as well as an all-in approach to its proprietary Leo AI system, which it promises can create leads and leverage data.
What hasn’t been available is data—broad based and independent. While companies tout the efficacy of their own approaches, it is hard to ignore the vested interest a brokerage or portal has in supporting its own position.
RISMedia’s fifth annual Contract & Commission Study, launching later this month, is designed to address that gap. Looking back to the pre-lawsuit era, the study can compare the evolution of commission rates, splits, fees, referrals, team structure and many other factors that dictate how agents and brokers operate, and show in granular detail how they have evolved this past year.
Additionally, this year the study will examine pre-marketing practices for the first time, aiming to answer just how prevalent these strategies are—and who is incentivizing them.
That is the kind of data real estate professionals need to make the hard decisions required to navigate a new era of disruption. One of the social media commentators, opining on the “industry standard” thread, noted that agents can’t make decisions based on one single issue or stipulation, as every system, brokerage, team and model has pros and cons.
“This is a conversation between you and your broker,” they said. “And it helps to have specifics in hand.”
