I'm new to real estate and my broker is a close friend. We have an 80/20 split, with me funding all of my marketing and sales efforts n(signs, flyers, fees, etc.) My husband thinks my marketing should be funded by my broker to earn his 20%, but I believe the 20% is a fairly good deal considering the liability he assumes by hanging my license in his office and the mentoring he provides.

For those of you who have been doing this for a while, which is correct?

If your broker advertised and marketed for you, your broker would want and take far more than 20%. Your arrangement is not bad for a new agent. Tell your husband that some brokers take as much as 50% of the commission of a new agent. Make sure you are getting good training and mentoring.

80/20 isn't bad at all with what you are not getting.


If there is a office monthly "fee" in there, it may be a little less than stellar. I'm on a split with my broker that is less than yours, but they pay for quite a bit of things, and i'm very content. I can switch to a 100% system should I want to (Then I pay for my marketing).

The benefit with NOT having a broker provide you services is that you can pick what you feel is needed or warranted in your area.

For instance, I absolutely HATE newspaper ads, with a very passion. My office spends something like $2000-$3000/mo in newspaper ads. Yes they generate leads, but a good internet marketing campaign could be much better with the same funds.

As caveman said, training is very very important.

you sound like you have a good deal. remember that the marketing that your broker does will bring in leads that get distrubuted to the agents in the brokerage where as your marketing dollars will be spent on leads that will come directly to you. personally, i can generate more leads on my own than any broker that i know could give to me, so i have made a business decision to pay monthly fees and keep 100% of my commission and i pay for everything of mine. i mean everything. from lockboxes to business cards.


i can say that 85/15 with no monthly fees is the best commission that i have ever seen in the industry as far as splits go and that is by just one broker that i know. if i were going to be on a split, i would go for 80% as i know there are several around my area taht i could do that at. 80% is a fair number to me.... even 70%, but i would not take 70 because i know that i can get 80.


i am one to question commission splits on these forums quite often and i think that 80% is very fair.

good luck to you in this business. you can do great or horrible. remember how good or bad you do is on no one other than you. welcome to the world of independent contracing! i love this stuff!

Heck of a deal. Tell your husband to go get his brokers license, open up and office and then figure out what he wants to hire agents at.

My broker does everything for me and I get a 100% split, but I have to admit that I am the broker! ;-)

Thanks guys, very helpful.

Me too . . . . but I don't know if I'm a 100% or a 0%. If it's a bill to be paid, I pay it: little things like the telephone and electricity; or plowing the driveway; or postage; or new stationery; or heat; or cleaning; or E&O; or an Attorney Retainer; just the odds and ends that grease the skids and are never directly related to any specific Transaction.

My broker gives us quite a bit in exchange for our split. First and foremost, he is ALWAYS there to help, whether it's with a contract, or to ride with me if I'm nervous about going out with people, to training - yes, that's how a broker SHOULD be but I came from an office where the broker was hardly there, said she'd train me but never did, and always seemed too busy.

I love my office and I can't imagine working in another office. I'd be in heaven though if I had this split - your husband needs to learn more about the business. LOL

Very few brokers pay advertising expenses and start-up fees for new agents. They might pay for open house ads in the newspaper. And they might reimburse certain mailing expenses. And they may have a cabinet with loads of free stationery, fancy folders, and other goodies. Other brokers charge for each envelope and every copy you make on the office copier. Take advantage of what you can. It sounds like you've got a pretty sweet deal as a 'newbie.'

When you're a top producer... you'll have leverage to negotiate for just about whatever your heart desires!

My office allows us to take stationery and envelopes (but not for mass mailing). They do pay for most postage (but not for mass mailing).

We also have unlimited black and white copies, but color copies have to be paid for - they charge us exactly what the copier company charges them so they are making zero money off our copies.

The office secretary is there for us if we need her.

The office pays for online training for us to access any time we want from Weichert.

The office pays for postcards we mail out announcing a new listing or a just sold.

They provide us with all the signs we need (But we need to buy our own name riders, $5 each).

They give us a license plate, a license plate frame, and two car magnets with our name and number on it.

Full time agents get their own cubicle (part timers have to share a "general" cubicle that is for anyone to use).

They pay for part of our REALTOR.COM fee for enhanced listings.

They provide GREAT training.

As ALWAYS it's not about price it's about VALUE!

It's about what are you getting for what you are paying,it's that simple.

I would say 80/20 is a VERY good deal for a new agent. If I was your broker and I paid ALL expenses for you with NO risk you wouldn't be called an independant contractor you would be my EMPLOYEE and you would make very little money with no risk involved.

No way I would pay advertising as the broker. It's a rite of passage to learn what works and doesn't in this business. If an agent wants to try a hairbrained idea to sell something then they can do it.

Obviously your husband has no clue what he is talking about.For just training you and reading over your contracts and providing the forms to where you don't have to reinvent the wheel is alone worth 20 percent.

What your broker does for you is directly related to whether or not they think you are going to be with their company in the future. Agents are the reasons real estate companies do business...not the other way around. Traditional real estate companies were designed to promote the company's brand and take care of the share holders. This is why most traditional companies do not truly teach their agents how to generate their own business, or offer them the appropriate training, support and education...they see their greatest asset as they company's brand recognition not the success of their agents.

It all comes down to one simple concept...loyalty. Loyalty has never really been a big part of the real estate industry. Agents that realize that they are reason they do business, will take their business and their relationship to another company where they make a higher percentage of their commissions or get better training and support.

Your split sounds very fair, especially for a new agent. I started at 50% and the broker paid for everything except my gas mileage. It was a great way to start and learn the ropes without much risk.

Many times new agents look at the split commissions as a decision factor. If you indicate that you are new, you perhaps should hang your license with a very good experienced broker. If he pays for your E&O insurance, great. If not, that's okay too.

Just view your 20% as education fee - it's cheap if you have a good broker to rely on. Your experienced broker can cut short your learning curve and point you to what works and what doesn't. Isnt that in itself worth more than 20% ? I'm not a hiring broker, but if I do, I know my time is worth more than the 20% that I charge, hence I would charge more - especially to a new agent. I will also not take agents who view the split commission as a decision factor. I would want agents who want to learn the ropes of this business and someday be able to earn the 100% commission.

Remember if your broker is no use to you, and you have to learn everything by yourself, so what if your commission is 100%. All I know is that 100% of Zero sales still makes a zero in the end.

$$kate$$ obviously your husband has never worked in or around the real estate industry... I had worked for two agencies before going out on my own and the most I ever saw an agent receive as a "traditional" split was 70/30, that was an agent who was experienced and produced for the office, now as 007 mentioned earlier that broker covered everything for every agent...

The other side of this is the first company I worked for was a Re/Max and they offered a 95/5 split but you covered every single little thing yourself, they charged you a desk fee, assistant fees, calls, voicemail, e & o, for faxes, copies, envelopes, sign, post, EVERYTHING!

I think you have to consider how much work you have to do for your split, not just out in the field selling real estate but also the administrative things that carrying more of your own costs require... Do you like record keeping and balancing books??? Because if you're covering all of your costs for everything than it's on your shoulders to make sure that all the payments and paperwork are in order. Some agents don't want to deal with that stuff, they just want to list and sell real estate and I have agents that are like that at my company... They don't like/want to handle any of those things so the office covers and supplies them with everything they need but it's costs the agent a greater split...

All in all, I think as a new agent you got a fantastic deal!

Dan Ortiz ABR CRS CREOS (Hablo Espanol)
Licensed Broker/Owner
Manor Gate Real Estate of NY Inc

"If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait till you hire an amateur" Red Adair

Perky - I want your deal!

80/20 with you paying for your marketing is a decent start, depending on what those "fees" are. Some offices in my area are charging desk fees, website fees, E&O fees, franchise fees, long distance fees, copying fees, a partridge in a pear tree fee, etc., etc.. Take a good look at those fees.

Starting agents at my office get 50/50, the broker pays half of advertising, training and the franchise fees, we pay E&O, and the broker pays for just about everything else.

Godged - That sounds about right for what we do in my neck of the woods, only some agencies will cover the E&O as an "office" expense to make sure that it's in place and current...

Dan Ortiz ABR CRS CREOS (Hablo Espanol)
Licensed Broker/Owner
Manor Gate Real Estate of NY Inc

"If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait till you hire an amateur" Red Adair