Independent Brokerage Owners at Real: What You Keep and What Real Takes On

What stays yours if you bring an independent brokerage to Real?

Your brand stays, under Real's Private Label program. Real's FAQ on the program says you can continue to operate under the brand you use now, with the same name on your signs, business cards and website, and that it needs no change to your corporate documents or your company. You may keep your LLC open, although it will hold no licenses and conduct no business, and you may elect to have revenue paid to the existing company under its EIN.

Your office can stay too. Real lets a brokerage keep its physical location, registered as a branch office of Real, and says it has no franchise or territory rules.

So can your agents' terms. Real says Private Label does not change what agents, teams or brokerages owe Real, but that an independent brokerage can overlay its own model on top of Real's, offering agents the same splits and caps as before. That is done through a ProTeam, set out below.

What does Real take on, and what do you hand over?

You stop being the broker. Real's broker of record becomes the broker over your trade name, every agent's license is held by Real, and Real's managing broker becomes the managing broker for all of them. You cannot use your trust account, because Real must control all client money, and you cannot sign documents on Real's behalf.

Liability divides at the date of the move. The Private Label Agreement is, in Real's words, an indemnification agreement: business done before the move stays the former company's liability, and Real takes on the liability for all new business after it. Real also provides errors and omissions (E&O) insurance for certain errors and allegations in a transaction, with the coverage set out in section 6.5 of Real's Independent Contractor Agreement (ICA), and some states require more.

A branch office carries its own costs. Real's guide to branch offices makes the office manager responsible for all of them, including the lease, office registration and renewals, board and MLS office costs and insurance, and an office needs the broker's and Real's approval first.

What does a ProTeam need, and which caps apply?

Real's ProTeams let splits, caps and fees be set agent by agent inside the team. A ProTeam needs at least two licensed agents and $5 million in closed sales in the prior 12 months, and the team leader receives a team split of at least 10% on each deal. Real's own caps sit underneath whatever the team sets, as the table shows.

Where is Private Label offered, and who can apply?

Real's list of states and provinces, last edited in August 2026, names 12 states where it can do Private Label and has groups in progress or operating, and lists no Canadian province as available yet. The program is for established independent brokerages joining Real, by application, and Real approves each one case by case on factors including production volume, how long the brokerage has operated and its E&O claims.

An owner whose brokerage already moved to Real without it cannot use the program for now: Real says it is only for new independent brokerages joining, and keeps a priority list for the others. The 12 states and the four stages of joining are set out on the page about Private Label at Real.