Moving
How to Join Real, Step by Step, From Any State or Province
Updated
Bottom line: You join Real in six steps: create an account, fill in the application, sign the Independent Contractor Agreement, pay the application fee, move your license by your state's or province's process, and move your board and MLS within 30 days.
Alexis Ruiz-Ney, Partner, Jumpstart Partners · Concierge Director, Houston Properties TeamOr call (713) 425-4194.
What do you need before you apply?
Real's join article asks for two things before you start: your real estate license information and a credit card for the fee.
Know which board and MLS you plan to join, too. The application asks for them, and Real says it cannot onboard you without them.
Real's US fee schedule lists a $249 sign-up fee per agent. Any fee your state or board requires is listed at the same payment step, and Real says you pay it before you can join.
Where do you name a sponsor?
In the application. You can name one sponsor or two co-sponsors, with each one's name and email, or choose not to name anyone. Real's join article is plain about the next part: once you select your sponsor, you cannot change it. The choice goes into your Independent Contractor Agreement (ICA) with the rest of your answers.
How does your license move to Real?
By the process of the state or province that issued it. Real's help center says a transfer is governed by your local division of real estate, and keeps step-by-step instructions for each state and each province.
Real's onboarding team reaches out within 48 hours with next steps. If your current brokerage has to release your license first, Real waits for that before it accepts the license, and the article says the transfer can take a few days, depending on your state or province.
What happens after you are approved?
Real sends a welcome email with the next steps, and an invitation to its live training events. The board and MLS move has its own deadline: 30 days from signing the ICA, worked out directly with your board and MLS, and at your own cost.
Step by step
What are the six steps to join Real?
- 01
Create your account
Use the join link from your sponsor, or Real's own, and set up the username and password you will keep using.
- 02
Complete the application
Real says it takes about 15 minutes. Name your sponsor here, or choose not to, and list the board and MLS you plan to join.
- 03
Sign the ICA
Your answers from the application, your sponsor included, are filled into the Independent Contractor Agreement for you to sign.
- 04
Pay the application fee
Real's US fee schedule lists a $249 sign-up fee. Any fee your state or board adds is paid at the same step.
- 05
Transfer your license
Follow the process for your state or province. Real's onboarding team reaches out within 48 hours.
- 06
Move your board and MLS
Within 30 days of signing the ICA, working directly with your board and MLS.
Standing answers
What does this library answer?
- How to Move Your License to Real, State by State and Province by ProvinceThe state or province that issued your license decides how it moves, and Real publishes a guide for each. In some you file the change yourself, in some your old broker releases the license first, and in some Real's team files it for you.
- Independent Brokerage Owners at Real: What You Keep and What Real Takes OnUnder Real's Private Label program an owner keeps the brand, the company and the office, and can keep offering agents the same splits and caps. The owner stops being the broker, and Real takes on the liability for new business.
- Moving to Real in Canada: The Six Provinces, the License Transfer and the FeesReal is a brokerage in six provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario and Saskatchewan. You apply online first, your license moves by your province's process, and Real sets its Canadian fees in Canadian dollars.
- Moving to Real Without Losing Your Listings and Pending DealsYour current brokerage agreement decides whether your listings and buyer clients move with you, and Real says it cannot step in. A pending deal closes with your old broker, passes through Real or transfers to Real, by your state's or province's rule.
- Moving to Real: What to Decide and Ask Before You SignBefore you sign Real's contract, decide who to name as sponsor, since you cannot add or change one later; when to join, since your join date starts your cap year; and whether to opt into the stock plan.
- Moving Your California License to RealIn California, you change your responsible broker to Real in the Department of Real Estate's eLicensing system, and Real's California broker confirms it. A renewal in progress or a restricted license can take four to six weeks.
- Moving Your Team to Real: The Team Leader's StepsA team leader starts with Real's New Team Request Form. A Team Specialist then walks the team through a discovery call, the roster, the leader's own application and Team Leader Addendum, training, and a license transfer day for every member.
- Moving Your Texas License to RealIn Texas, you request a sponsorship change to Real Broker, LLC in the Texas Real Estate Commission's REALM Portal, and Real's Texas broker accepts it. Texas also sets how Real's name and your team's name appear in your advertising.
- Private Label at Real: Keeping Your Brokerage Name on the DoorReal's Private Label program lets an established independent brokerage keep its brand as a trade name of Real, in the states where Real offers it. The owner stops being the broker, and every agent's license moves to Real.
- Real Brokerage FAQ for Agents in the US and CanadaShort answers to what agents in the US and Canada ask most about Real: what it is, what it charges, its tools, how to join and how sponsorship works. Each comes from Real's own published pages, and each section of this site has the full answer.
Questions & answers
What do agents in the US and Canada ask about moving to Real Brokerage?
How do I join Real Brokerage, step by step?
Fill in Real's application, including your sponsor's name and email if you are naming one, then sign the Independent Contractor Agreement and pay the one-time application fee. Your license moves next, by the transfer process for your state or province: Real keeps separate guides for the United States and Canada, and its onboarding team reaches out within 48 hours. Within 30 days of signing the ICA you affiliate with a board and an MLS.
Real's US fee schedule lists a $249 sign-up fee per agent, and any fees your state or board requires are listed at the payment step and paid before you can join. Real says the license transfer can take a few days, depending on your state or province. If your current brokerage has to release your license first, Real waits for that before it accepts the license.
How long does it take to join Real?
Real says the application itself should take about 15 minutes. After you sign the Independent Contractor Agreement and pay the application fee, the license transfer sets the pace: Real's onboarding team reaches out within 48 hours with next steps, and the transfer can take a few days, depending on your state or province. If your current brokerage has to release your license first, Real waits for that.
Board and MLS affiliation follows, and it has to be done within 30 days of signing the ICA. Real says it does not cover the cost or process of joining a board, association or MLS. Once your application is approved, Real sends a welcome email with the next steps and an invitation to its live training events.
I am in Canada and thinking about Real. Where do I start?
With your province. Real is a brokerage in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario and Saskatchewan, and its help center keeps a guide for each that starts with Real's application, ICA and fee and then sets out the license transfer. Real charges Canadian agents under a fee schedule of their own, in Canadian dollars.
Real's onboarding team reaches out within 48 hours of your application with next steps. The six provinces, who starts the transfer in each, and what a Canadian agent sets up in reZEN are set out on the page about moving to Real in Canada.