An 85/15 split, a $12,000 cap, and no monthly fees is a very different equation than most agents are used to. Here's how it actually works, and what's coming next.

Let me ask you something, agent to agent. When’s the last time you actually ran the numbers on what your brokerage costs you?

Not your split off the top of your head. The whole thing, all in, at the end of the year.

Most agents can’t answer that, and it’s the single most important number in your business. So let me cut through the noise and walk you through how the model I’m on actually works. Once you see it in plain numbers, you’ll want to run your own.

Start with the split.

Real runs an 85/15 split. You keep 85 cents of every dollar of gross commission, the brokerage keeps 15, from day one of your anniversary year.

No production tiers. No different splits for different transaction types. No franchise royalty stacked on top.

For comparison, that’s better than the 80/20 a lot of cloud brokerages start you at, and a world away from the 30-plus percent a traditional shop takes in your early years. What you see is what you get.

Then there’s the cap.

This is the part that changes the whole equation. You pay that 15% only until you’ve paid in $12,000 for the year. After that, you’re effectively at 100% commission for the rest of your anniversary year, minus some fixed transaction fees.

No split after the cap.

If you’re a producer, that means the back half of your year looks completely different than it does at a brokerage taking a cut of every deal all the way to December. One note if you run a team like I do: team members cap at $6,000 rather than the full $12,000, which matters when you’re building.

“The most important number in your business isn’t your split. It’s what you actually paid your brokerage last year, all in.”

No monthly fees.

Here’s something most agents don’t factor in at all: there are no monthly desk fees and no monthly technology fees.

A lot of agents are quietly paying hundreds a month in desk and tech charges before they’ve closed a single deal. Take those away, and the real annual cost of your brokerage can look very different than the split alone suggests.

There are transaction fees to be aware of, a per-deal fee and a post-cap transaction fee, and one of those post-cap fees is scheduled to change in September, so run the current numbers for your own situation.

The point isn’t that it’s free. The point is that the all-in math is what you should be comparing, not the split on the sign.

Revenue share and ownership.

Now the two pieces that go beyond your own commissions.

The first is revenue share. When you bring another agent to Real and they name you as their sponsor, you receive a portion of the company’s side of their split, on a five-tier structure, without it coming out of that agent’s pocket. It’s the company choosing to reward the agents who help it grow instead of spending that money on advertising.

The second is ownership. Real is publicly traded, and it gives agents free stock for hitting milestones like capping and reaching Elite status, plus a program to buy stock out of your commissions with a company match. You’re not just earning at the company, you can own a piece of it.

Those two things, revenue share and equity, are what make agents look at this as a long-term business decision and not just a split comparison.

What’s coming next.

Here’s the part I’ll only tease, because it’s a big one. Real recently agreed to acquire RE/MAX, one of the most iconic brands in the entire industry, to build a combined global platform.

Shareholders of both companies have now approved the deal, and it’s working through the final regulatory steps toward an expected close later this year. I won’t get ahead of it, but think about what it signals.

The cloud brokerage model isn’t the scrappy upstart anymore. It’s the one doing the acquiring. If you’ve been watching this shift from the sidelines, that’s worth paying attention to.

So here’s my honest ask.

Don’t take my word for any of this. Run your own math.

Pull what you actually paid your brokerage last year, all in, and compare it to an 85/15 split with a $12,000 cap, no monthly fees, revenue share, and stock. If the numbers make you curious, let’s talk, agent to agent, about whether this fits where you’re trying to take your business.

Call or text me at 602-502-6468, email me at bret@rngaz.com, or visit bettertogether.academy. I’m always happy to walk a fellow agent through it.