Joining a Team
Commission Splits, Leads and Listings: Reading a Team Agreement Before Signing
Updated
Bottom line: A team agreement should state the commission split, what the team expects of you and what it provides. Read the listing and lead clauses as closely as the split, and ask how each one applies to your production.
What should a team agreement spell out before you sign?
HousingWire's guide to joining a team, by multi-state broker Shannon Sharpe, says the agreement should cover commission splits, expectations and the resources the team will provide.
Get each of those written into the agreement itself, not settled in a conversation. A producing agent has the most to lose from a term that was only ever spoken.
How much room is there to negotiate the split?
HousingWire's guide says no hard and fast rule sets the splits a team has to offer.
The same HousingWire guide adds that experienced agents, and listing agents in particular, have more room to negotiate higher splits. If your production is already on record, bring those numbers to the conversation.
What does a listing clause decide?
For sample wording, eXp Realty's independent contractor agreement for licensees shows how one affiliation contract handles listings. When that agreement ends for any reason, the company releases listings that have no existing contract of sale.
Two conditions apply under that wording. The contractor's account must be paid in full, and the property owner must want the listing released. Ask how the team agreement in front of you treats the same question, and read its conditions word by word.
Who keeps the lead records?
The same eXp Realty agreement sets a Preservation Period for a departing agent's leads. If the agent files no Export Request during that period, the leads become subject to forfeiture and deletion once it expires.
Before signing a team agreement, ask whether it carries a lead clause like this one. If it does, find out how long any window runs and what event it counts from.
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Questions & answers
What do Alpharetta agents ask about this?
Should I have an attorney read a team agreement before I sign it?
It is worth doing. HousingWire's guide to joining a team, written by multi-state broker Shannon Sharpe, suggests you may want an attorney to review the agreement. The purpose is to confirm that it is fair and legal before you commit an established practice to it. An attorney's read costs far less time than learning a clause's effect after you have signed.
Point the attorney at the terms that keep working long after your first closing with the team. Those include the split, how listings and lead records are handled, what counts as confidential, and how the agreement can be revised. Ask the team the same questions directly, then compare the spoken answers with the written text. Where the two differ, ask for the written clause to be changed before you sign.
Can a confidentiality clause in a team agreement still bind me once the affiliation ends?
It can, if it is written that way. eXp Realty's independent contractor agreement for licensees is one example. It bars the contractor from disclosing company information, during or after the affiliation, to anyone for any reason. The one exception it states is the company's express written consent. Read any team version for the same two points: how long the duty lasts, and what lifts it.
Check what the clause treats as company information, too. The eXp Realty wording reaches any person, firm, corporation, association or other entity, so its reach is wide. Ask the team to define the protected information in writing. That way you know which material sits inside the clause before you sign, rather than finding out later.
Can a team change the agreement after I sign it?
Some agreements allow revisions, so read that clause closely. eXp Realty's contractor agreement says that for material changes, once a review period has passed, a contractor who has not objected in writing is deemed to accept all revisions. Under that wording, a written objection is what stops automatic acceptance. Ask whether the team agreement in front of you works the same way.
Three details matter in a clause like this: how you are told about a change, how long the review period runs, and what event that period counts from. Get each answer in writing before you sign. Ask too whether changes that are not material follow a different process. The eXp Realty wording addresses material changes specifically, so other edits may sit under separate terms.