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What is the standard referral fee between real estate brokerages?
The standard referral fee between real estate brokerages is 25% of the commission on the referred side of the deal, paid brokerage to brokerage at closing. It is set in a signed referral agreement before any client details move, it comes out of the commission — never out of the client’s pocket — and if the deal never closes, no fee is owed. That flat 25% is the standing rate in the Realtor Referral Hub: the receiving brokerage pays it to the sending brokerage, and the network itself takes nothing.
The number, and what it is a percentage of
The standard is 25% — not of the home’s price, but of the commission the receiving side earns on the referred deal. On a $12,000 commission, the referral fee is $3,000, sent by the receiving brokerage to the sending brokerage after closing. Fees outside a network are negotiated deal by deal; inside this network the number is flat and known before anyone signs: 25%, every time.
Who pays whom
- Brokerage to brokerage. Referral fees are paid between licensed brokerages, never agent to agent and never by the client. The buyer or seller’s price, loan, and closing costs do not change because a referral fee exists.
- Only at closing. The fee exists only when the referred deal actually closes. No close, no fee — and there are no up-front, monthly, or per-lead referral charges in this network.
- On paper first. A signed referral agreement between the two brokerages — naming the client, the 25%, and the deal — comes before any client information is released. That paper is what makes the fee collectable at closing.
How it works in this network
In the Realtor Referral Hub, a realtor hands a client to the local partner who covers the destination metro; the partner signs the standing agreement once, works the client, and at closing their brokerage pays 25% of their side to the sender’s brokerage. The desk registers the referral, follows it to closing, and takes nothing at closing itself — the sender’s 25% is never cut.
Ask the desk instead
More questions
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