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What is a finder's fee in real estate?
A finder's fee in real estate is a fee paid to the person or network that connected a client to the agent who closed the deal. In the Realtor Referral Hub, the receiving agent pays a finder's fee of 5% of their side's commission to the network at closing, with no cap. It is separate from the 25% referral fee the receiving agent pays the agent who sent the client, and a homeowner never pays either fee.
A worked example on a $400,000 sale
Percentages in this network are always calculated on the receiving agent's commission, never on the sale price. Take a $400,000 sale where the receiving side earns a $12,000 commission (shown at a 3% commission rate for illustration — actual commission rates vary and are set between the client and their brokerage):
$3,000 to the sending agent.
The standard referral fee, paid between brokerages at closing.
$600 finder's fee to the network.
Five percent of the $12,000 commission, no cap — the same 5% rate applies on a small deal and a large one.
$8,400 kept by the receiving agent.
What is left of their side after both fees. If nothing closes, none of the three amounts exists.
Finder's fee vs. referral fee — they are not the same payment
- The referral fee (25%) pays the agent who brought the client — the sender earns it for handing their client to a trusted local partner instead of losing them.
- The finder's fee (5%) pays the network that runs the desk: the matching, the signed paper, and the follow-up that keep the referral collectable at closing.
- Premium coverage replaces the finder's fee. While a realtor's Premium coverage is current, no per-closing 5% is owed on referrals routed to them — the 25% to the sender still applies.
Ask the desk instead
More questions
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