The money
What Real Takes From Each Commission, Before and After the Cap
Updated
Bottom line: Before the cap, Real takes 15% of each commission. After it, a fee per deal replaces the split, while the compliance and broker review fee and the year's three brokerage fee installments apply either way. The cap resets each anniversary.
Alexis Ruiz-Ney, Partner, Jumpstart Partners · Concierge Director, Houston Properties TeamOr call (713) 425-4194.
How much of a commission goes to Real before the cap?
15%. Real offers an 85/15 commission split to all agents, and its help center says the split is predefined in the Independent Contractor Agreement (ICA) and not subject to change at this time.
Real takes that 15% on every commission until you have paid the cap for your anniversary year. The cap is $12,000 for an individual agent in the US and $15,000 in Canadian dollars in Canada, and it resets every year on your anniversary date.
What stops at the cap, and what keeps going?
The split stops. Real's US fee schedule says that once the cap is paid, the agent no longer pays the commission split to Real, and that the fees below it in the schedule still apply.
After the cap, each sale carries Real's post-cap fee, or 15% if that is less. The deal that reaches the cap costs at least $285 in the US or $375 in Canadian dollars, counting the split and the fee together. The compliance and broker review (CBR) fee applies to every transaction Real processes, before the cap and after it. The annual brokerage fee is paid in three installments of $300 in the US or $400 in Canada, one on each of your first three transactions of the anniversary year, and it is not charged at all in a year with no closings.
The table shows which charge applies when. The amounts for both countries are in the fee table on the page The Money at Real.
| Charge | Before the cap | After the cap |
|---|---|---|
| 15% split to Real | On every commission | Stops |
| Post-cap fee on a sale | Not charged | On every sale, or 15% of the commission if that is less |
| Compliance and broker review (CBR) fee | On every transaction | On every transaction |
| Annual brokerage fee | One installment on each of the first three transactions of the year | The same, three installments a year at most |
How is a lease charged?
By its own rule, the same in the US and in Canada. Until the cap, Real takes 15% of a lease commission or $125, whichever is greater. After the cap, it charges $125 or 15%, whichever is less. The CBR fee and any brokerage fee installment still owed for the year apply to a lease as they do to a sale.
What if another Real agent is on the deal?
The fees are shared by the commission. When more than one Real agent is paid on a transaction, Real prorates the post-cap fee by each agent's share of the total commission, and splits the CBR fee the same way.
If you represent both the buyer and the seller, the CBR fee is charged on each side. If another Real agent referred the client to you, Real charges the transaction fee on the main transaction and again on the referral transaction.
What does Real charge on your own home?
A flat fee per personal transaction, for up to three a year: $250 each in the US and $275 in Canadian dollars in Canada. Canada's schedule adds that you must be named on the contract as the buyer or the seller.
Does anything else come out of a commission?
Stock, if you opt in. Real's stock purchase plan invests 5% of your net commission income in stock before the cap and 10% after it, and agents can opt in or out at any time. Real's fee schedules list no monthly fees in either country.
On a team, the team split is paid to the team leader rather than to Real, and the page How the Team Cap Works at Real for Team Leaders and Team Members covers it.
Questions & answers
What else do agents in the US and Canada ask?
What is Real Brokerage's split and cap?
Real pays every agent on an 85/15 split: Real takes 15% of each commission until the agent has paid the cap for the anniversary year, and then the split stops. The cap for an individual agent is $12,000 in the US and $15,000 in Canadian dollars in Canada, and it resets every year on the anniversary date.
The split is written into the Independent Contractor Agreement, and Real's help center says it is not subject to change at this time. After the cap, a post-cap fee on each deal takes the place of the split, and the compliance and broker review fee applies to every transaction either way. Every fee, with its date and in both countries, is on the page about the money at Real.
How does Real charge on a lease?
By a rule of its own, the same in the US and in Canada. Until you cap, Real takes 15% of a lease commission or $125, whichever is greater. After you cap, Real charges $125 or 15%, whichever is less. The compliance and broker review fee and any brokerage fee installment still owed for the year apply to a lease as they do to a sale.
Real's help center article on lease transactions, edited in January 2026, gives the same two rules in its US section and its Canada section. The post-cap figure matches the lease fee in both countries' fee schedules of August 2026.
Who pays Real's fees when two Real agents share a deal?
Each agent pays by their share of the commission. Real prorates the post-cap fee by the percentage of the total commission each agent receives, and splits the compliance and broker review fee the same way. If one agent represents both the buyer and the seller, that fee is charged on each side.
When one Real agent refers a client to another, the referral becomes a second transaction, and Real charges the transaction fee on the main transaction and again on the referral transaction. An agent who has not capped pays the usual 15% split on their own part of the commission.