Who Should Be My Sponsor at Real? What Real's Rules Say a Sponsor Owes You

Who can be your sponsor?

Any current Real agent in good standing, in the US or Canada: that is who Real's co-sponsor article says may take part in sponsorship, and a broker may be named only case by case, with written approval from Real. Real's definition of a sponsor adds the condition that decides it: in your own judgment, that agent is the one who most influenced your decision to join.

Distance rules nobody out. Real's revenue share rules cover a sponsor in another country, converting the sponsor's share into their own currency on the day the deal is processed, so a Canadian agent can name a US sponsor and a US agent a Canadian one. A sponsor also does not have to lead a team: Real's article on sponsoring without a team says you can join as a solo agent with a team leader as your sponsor, and that the sponsor is paid either way.

What does Real say a sponsor owes you?

Support, over the long term. Real's article on how to sponsor an agent says sponsors are called sponsors because they have a responsibility to each agent they invited to the company to help them be successful. Its definition of a sponsor asks sponsors to take deep responsibility to be a great support system for the agents in their networks, at a minimum, and its co-sponsor article calls that support an assumed and understood cultural responsibility.

Before you join, Real asks a sponsor to know the model inside and out, to understand how joining works and be prepared to help you through it, and to state the facts without embellishment. It also asks them to tell you what brought them to Real.

Real does not set how often, or how fast. Its tips for sponsors are suggestions, among them a standing weekly coffee meeting with their agents as a group and one-on-one calls, chats and texts, and no Real article on sponsors names a response time or a minimum amount of contact. How quickly a sponsor answers is a question to put to them, and to the agents they already sponsor.

What should a sponsor not say to you?

Anything that ties an offer to your naming them. Real's guidance gives sponsors a test of their own: a sentence that begins “If/When you join with me…” is headed down the wrong path. Whatever a sponsor is willing to give someone who joins their network, Real says, should be offered equally to anyone in the Real community.

Real's guidance also tells sponsors not to compare Real with other brokerages or disparage them, and its Agent Attraction Code bars poaching a prospective agent from another Real agent.

When does the name become final?

When you sign your ICA. You name a sponsor, or two co-sponsors, in the sponsorship section of the ICA, and Real's article for sponsors says the joining agent has to designate them at the time of signing. An agent who helped you but is not in that section is not your sponsor at Real.

Coming back to Real has a rule of its own. Real's rule is that an agent who leaves and comes back within 365 days keeps the sponsor they had, even if they name someone new in the ICA. An agent who left more than 365 days earlier can name a new sponsor.

What happens to the name if your sponsor leaves, stops producing or comes back?

It depends on whether you named one sponsor or two, and on when they left. The table sets out each case as Real's help center gives it.

One sponsor or two co-sponsors?

Co-sponsors named since 14 August 2025 split the sponsor's share of Real's split 50% each, and Real counts a co-sponsored agent as half an agent toward each co-sponsor's tiers. The difference that touches you is in the table above: with one sponsor, Real's rules give you a way to name a new co-sponsor if that sponsor leaves, and with two co-sponsors they give you none.