When your client wants to buy or sell outside your market or specialty, you may refer them to an external brokerage/agent and earn a referral commission.
Referral Fee Standard & Negotiation
Industry standard: 25% of the gross commission earned by the receiving brokerage.
Negotiable: You may negotiate a different percentage only if it is written in the signed Referral Agreement.
Mandatory Referral Agreement
- Required: A signed Referral Agreement is the only binding document that guarantees your referral will be paid.
- Include at minimum: the negotiated referral fee %, both broker license numbers, company tax IDs and contacts, property/client identifiers, and payment terms (e.g., “due within X days of closing”).
Referral Compensation
External referral income is subject to the same compensation/cap structure as all other deals under the Single Agent Model
Required steps (end-to-end)
1. Identify & negotiate
- Identify the receiving brokerage/agent.
- Agree on the referral fee % (default 25%; may differ if written in the agreement).
2. Complete & sign the Referral Agreement (mandatory)
- Get signatures from both brokerages - Referral Agreement
- Verify the agreement contains all required fields (see “Mandatory Referral Agreement” above).
3. Send the agreement for internal review & archiving
- Email the fully executed Referral Agreement to support@reliverealty.com and to finance@reliverealty.com for review and to archive in Relive’s internal drive.
- Subject line suggestion: “External Referral Agreement – [Client Name / Property Address]”.
4. Track status
- Maintain basic status updates with the agent who received the referral (accepted, in contract, closed date).
5. Invoice Creation
- The Finance Department will create an invoice and send it to the referred brokerage.
Important Notes
- Ensure the referral agreement is signed before sending a client. Failure to do so may result in non-payment.
- Verify all broker and tax details in the agreement to prevent processing delays.
- Relive is not responsible for unpaid or delayed referral fees if an agreement is not properly executed.