Referral fee for sending clients to broker

[ryan_gz]

Hi Team,

Are your brokerage partners accepting buyers, sellers and renters referrals?

If so, how much % is your brokerage offering?

Thank you
Ryan

[HauseitAdmin]

Hi Ryan! Yes, absolutely you can refer clients to our partner brokers. Thank you for thinking of us!

Unfortunately, our partner brokers can only pay a referral fee to other licensed individuals. It’s illegal for them to pay referral fees or kickbacks to anyone else (i.e. unlicensed owners and former unlicensed clients) we're afraid.

With that said, we’d be very grateful if you had any friends in mind for us!

Anything our teams can help with?

[ryan_gz]

Hi Team,

I am reading your partner broker's website. I am learning a lot about real estate.

Your partner broker's website mentioned about it is illegal to give referral except licensed real estate agents. I know one broker (He is active broker/buy, sell himself) who is receiving many referrals from the building management company from where he lives. (it might be possible he might be one of the board member). If my memory is correct, he said he had to give 25% referral to the management company.

Q1: Since the management company is real estate industry type of work, can the broker still give referral fee 25% legally to the management company?

Q2: Who decides the referral fee %? How is the process work? Agent to Agent? or Broker to Broker? or Agent to the other side of broker?

Q3: Does agent pass each other the referrals even they are working at the same brokerage? (Is it called "Team"?)

Q4: I remember Douglas Elliman agent told me they were working as team. Are your partner brokerages' agents working as team or not?


Sincerely,
Ryan

[ryan_gz]

By the way, I already told about your partner's brokerage to one of my friends who sold their property in Westchester! Unfortunately they picked a different brokerage since they needed a full service agent. I told them it is very much same even they pick a full service agent or Hauseit in Westchester if they set up a lockbox plus their condominium does not allow agents to do open house. I am happy to introduce your brokerage anyone who speak English fluently in Westchester and Manhattan without any strings attached. This Westchester Japanese couple, her husband speaks English well, so no issue. But many Japanese people does not speak English well.

I helped some Japanese people's real estate transactions before as translator. But I was tired to deal with this kind of volunteer translator exchange with nice dinner. But at the same time, I still would like let Japanese people know they have many choices. They do not need to pick only Japanese agents. Unfortunately some Japanese brokers are taking advantage of their Japanese clients. Fake listings, put listings only on Streeteasy so the brokers can keep the both side/double commissions etc. I talked to one of Japanese agents before regarding the 6% commission. The agent did not tell me the direct words but pretty much he wanted to tell me "Shut your mouth!". They really do not want any Japanese people know about the commission is negotiable.

Some agents are worth to pay 6% for their negotiation skills, knowledges, experiences, honesty, faithful, connections of the boards especially 3 MM type co-op etc. But why we have to pay 6% to terrible pictures (who want to see water inside the toilet plus photographer on the mirror), no REBNY member, split commission 3.5/2.5 (once I found out 4.5/1.5), does not speak English well, just tell the condo rules without checking the rules, not too much knowledge zoning, selling SRO buildings but does not know what SRO means, does not take their buyer's customers because the seller pay only 2% commission to them (1.5MM x 0.02=$30000 is not good enough?), sold 12MM building which only worth 8MM etc. I had to go to city town hall to check to make sure their agents told them were correct or not sometimes because I got some bad hunches. Unfortunately my hunches were 100% correct.

Let me tell you some of my thoughts later.

Ryan

[aslan]

Pretty straightforward so I'm happy to answer these:

Q1: Since the management company is real estate industry type of work, can the broker still give referral fee 25% legally to the management company?

Yes, as management companies are typically licensed as brokers.

Q2: Who decides the referral fee %? How is the process work? Agent to Agent? or Broker to Broker? or Agent to the other side of broker?

It's a mutual agreement. 25% is pretty standard though. Both brokers sign.

Q3: Does agent pass each other the referrals even they are working at the same brokerage? (Is it called "Team"?)

Yes sure, that can of course happen and negates the need for a referral fee to an outside brokerage.

Q4: I remember Douglas Elliman agent told me they were working as team. Are your partner brokerages' agents working as team or not?

Can't speak for the company, but I know pretty much every real estate brokerage in the city employs team structures.