• You earned the license - keep it active - even if you have no immediate plans to use it.
• Referral Realty means you won't be writing offers or listings; doing showings or open houses.
• This allows you to eliminate mandatory, costly, recurring fees - and optimize your time.
• You negotiate your own referral commissions, using industry norms as your guide.
Whether you're a seasoned pro, doing real estate as a side hustle, or just like the idea of having your license active for when the need arises (like buying your own place), Firelight has an easy, affordable, and streamlined solution. We also have recommended Sweet Spots below for maximizing your Firelight Membership.
Keep in mind, with your active license, you can transact residential and commercial properties - purchases, rentals, and leases. If you are unfamiliar with any component, such as commercial properties, or leasing, we have experts on hand at Firelight to help you.
• Referral Realty means you won't be writing offers or listings; doing showings or open houses.
• This allows you to eliminate mandatory, costly, recurring fees - and optimize your time.
• You negotiate your own referral commissions, using industry norms as your guide.
Whether you're a seasoned pro, doing real estate as a side hustle, or just like the idea of having your license active for when the need arises (like buying your own place), Firelight has an easy, affordable, and streamlined solution. We also have recommended Sweet Spots below for maximizing your Firelight Membership.
Keep in mind, with your active license, you can transact residential and commercial properties - purchases, rentals, and leases. If you are unfamiliar with any component, such as commercial properties, or leasing, we have experts on hand at Firelight to help you.
New Construction / Home Builders
You've seen the Master-Planned Communities with the flashy model homes and the big signs... these combine the 2 elements that make referral realty so lucrative: High Commissions and Very Little Hand Holding. In other words, once you refer a client to a regional or national builder, they generally take it from there. They have their own sales staff, lenders, closing departments, etc. There's not much for the referring agent to do after the first introduction - and that's a good thing. Expect commissions on these referrals to start at 5%, frequently at 6 - 8%, and sometimes as high as 10%. That's all for you - not split with their agents or any other cooperating entity.
Just for the sake of a little math, $400,000 new construction home with a 6% commission = $24,000 (you keep 90% of that). Not a bad day's work.
Also, get on their mailing lists. As many as you can... they offer periodic bonuses and incentives AND they throw the best marketing events - great food and generous door prizes - seriously, get on their real estate agent exclusive lists.
There are some useful links under Agent Services - accessible after Membership activation.
* You will likely have to accompany your client on the first showing/introduction in order to qualify for a commission and it's best to make an appointment first - on the builder's website or through their telephone marketing department. Note your name, that you're a licensed agent with Firelight Realty in Florida, and the names of those you'll be bringing. You will need to repeat this for every visit and every builder. It is the agent's responsibility to verify and confirm cooperating commissions with builders.
Just for the sake of a little math, $400,000 new construction home with a 6% commission = $24,000 (you keep 90% of that). Not a bad day's work.
Also, get on their mailing lists. As many as you can... they offer periodic bonuses and incentives AND they throw the best marketing events - great food and generous door prizes - seriously, get on their real estate agent exclusive lists.
There are some useful links under Agent Services - accessible after Membership activation.
* You will likely have to accompany your client on the first showing/introduction in order to qualify for a commission and it's best to make an appointment first - on the builder's website or through their telephone marketing department. Note your name, that you're a licensed agent with Firelight Realty in Florida, and the names of those you'll be bringing. You will need to repeat this for every visit and every builder. It is the agent's responsibility to verify and confirm cooperating commissions with builders.
Client Cultivation and Networking
The most traditional side of realty. You rely on your network, your sphere of influence, friends and family... you keep your eyes and ears open... someone in your orbit is probably thinking about buying or selling right now.
Since you are a real estate agent, you probably know others. You probably know other good ones. Refer the person in your orbit to that other trusted agent. Negotiate the referral commission with that trusted agent. For reference, it's usually 25 - 33%. Have that agent's brokerage sign the Referral Agreement (found under Agent Services on this website - see the top Navigation bar) noting the agreed upon referral commission and send it back to us.
If/when that, now referred client's deal closes, you are due your commission - which is their total commission times the negotiated referral percentage. Example, if your referred client sells a home for $400,000 and the referred agent's commission was 2.5% - the total commission is $10,000. If you negotiated a 30% referral commission, your share is $3,000.
Hmmm... so that other agent gets $7,000 and I get $3,000 you may be thinking. And we get that. Yes, you get less. Remember, you're not paying the MLS fees to be able to enter that listing into the MLS - which is very time consuming, by the way. Also, you're hands off at this point. All you did was complete 1 piece of paper - the Referral Agreement - and collected a commission.
Two other things to consider...
1) If you refer a transaction to a Firelight preferred broker, Firelight will guarantee a 40% referral commission back to Firelight Realty Agents. That would bump your commission in the previous example to $4,000 - we do not charge any commission on top of that.
2) If you think you can be closing multiple deals a year, and don't mind the work that goes into servicing multiple clients/listings, you should consider non-referral realty. Firelight Realty works on many levels for many types of individual agent goals, however, to be honest, it is not a suitable replacement for someone who may close a deal a month. In this event, we can certainly point you in the right direction, with a Firelight Realty preferred broker.
Since you are a real estate agent, you probably know others. You probably know other good ones. Refer the person in your orbit to that other trusted agent. Negotiate the referral commission with that trusted agent. For reference, it's usually 25 - 33%. Have that agent's brokerage sign the Referral Agreement (found under Agent Services on this website - see the top Navigation bar) noting the agreed upon referral commission and send it back to us.
If/when that, now referred client's deal closes, you are due your commission - which is their total commission times the negotiated referral percentage. Example, if your referred client sells a home for $400,000 and the referred agent's commission was 2.5% - the total commission is $10,000. If you negotiated a 30% referral commission, your share is $3,000.
Hmmm... so that other agent gets $7,000 and I get $3,000 you may be thinking. And we get that. Yes, you get less. Remember, you're not paying the MLS fees to be able to enter that listing into the MLS - which is very time consuming, by the way. Also, you're hands off at this point. All you did was complete 1 piece of paper - the Referral Agreement - and collected a commission.
Two other things to consider...
1) If you refer a transaction to a Firelight preferred broker, Firelight will guarantee a 40% referral commission back to Firelight Realty Agents. That would bump your commission in the previous example to $4,000 - we do not charge any commission on top of that.
2) If you think you can be closing multiple deals a year, and don't mind the work that goes into servicing multiple clients/listings, you should consider non-referral realty. Firelight Realty works on many levels for many types of individual agent goals, however, to be honest, it is not a suitable replacement for someone who may close a deal a month. In this event, we can certainly point you in the right direction, with a Firelight Realty preferred broker.
Rentals
Well, not as sweet as other spots as commissions on rentals have been on the ropes lately as major, national sites are dominating the market. BUT WAIT... there's still opportunities here. In fact, the founders of Firelight Realty both got their starts exclusively on the rental side of the Orlando market (and did well). If you have someone looking to rent, keep these thoughts in mind:
Many luxury apartment communities offer commissions of 1/2 month to 2 month's rent. Figure 75% of the first month's rent as a ballpark commission on apartment rentals. Lease term requirements vary, but usually are 7-13 months in order to earn a commission.
Many national home rental companies offer 1 full month's commission on signed leases of 12 months or more. Some offer bonuses on 24 month leases, but this is uncommon.
In both of the above cases, inquire of the apartment community or the home rental company about their commission policy for "A licensed agent who is responsible for referring a client who ultimately signs a lease and moves-in". You will get some disappointing responses and some pleasant ones.
If you see a rental home advertised on a major website, but listed by a local real estate agent or office, there WILL be a commission, as MLS mandates this... but it's usually $100 or less. Thanks, cheapskates. Still, if your client likes the place - make a call. Maybe the commission will be higher - we see $500 commissions and have occasionally seen a full month's rent as the commission on a locally listed rental home/condo. We've also seen $25.00 (that's the minimum) - just enough for two matinee movie tickets and a small popcorn - to share 🤔 Good news though... Our agents keep 100% on commission amounts less than $250.00.
* This is not referral realty - you arrange rentals all yourself. Rental sales cycles are very short, unlike buying or selling. You can absolutely make a quick $1,500 or more for a couple of hours worth of work - in the best of scenarios.
Many luxury apartment communities offer commissions of 1/2 month to 2 month's rent. Figure 75% of the first month's rent as a ballpark commission on apartment rentals. Lease term requirements vary, but usually are 7-13 months in order to earn a commission.
Many national home rental companies offer 1 full month's commission on signed leases of 12 months or more. Some offer bonuses on 24 month leases, but this is uncommon.
In both of the above cases, inquire of the apartment community or the home rental company about their commission policy for "A licensed agent who is responsible for referring a client who ultimately signs a lease and moves-in". You will get some disappointing responses and some pleasant ones.
If you see a rental home advertised on a major website, but listed by a local real estate agent or office, there WILL be a commission, as MLS mandates this... but it's usually $100 or less. Thanks, cheapskates. Still, if your client likes the place - make a call. Maybe the commission will be higher - we see $500 commissions and have occasionally seen a full month's rent as the commission on a locally listed rental home/condo. We've also seen $25.00 (that's the minimum) - just enough for two matinee movie tickets and a small popcorn - to share 🤔 Good news though... Our agents keep 100% on commission amounts less than $250.00.
* This is not referral realty - you arrange rentals all yourself. Rental sales cycles are very short, unlike buying or selling. You can absolutely make a quick $1,500 or more for a couple of hours worth of work - in the best of scenarios.
Leasing
Perhaps you have a client with rental properties who needs help finding a quality tenant. You can set the commission rate (we suggest 1 month's rent) and advertise it for free on many publicly available websites. There's one that starts with Z with which you may be familiar. There's another that Jeff Goldblum seems to like. You get the picture. You can suggest 3rd party tenant screening sites too - though it is the client who should decide the best tenant - not the agent. If you've never done leasing before, give us a shout... we'll walk you through it.
* This is also not referral realty - you handle leasing yourself. Again, if you time it just right, you can have it rented to the 1st or 2nd person who stops by. Leasing sales cycles are even shorter than rental sales cycles.
* This is also not referral realty - you handle leasing yourself. Again, if you time it just right, you can have it rented to the 1st or 2nd person who stops by. Leasing sales cycles are even shorter than rental sales cycles.
Referring an Agent to Firelight
You get $50 for each of the first 5 closed transactions (any type of transaction with a commission > $1,000; within 12 months of their joining Firelight) completed by any agent you refer to Firelight. There's no limit to that. If you refer 10 agents who all complete 5 transactions within their first 12 months, your bonus would total $2,500.
Buying your own place
If you are in the market for a place of your own, let's talk. You can either refer it, or you can keep the purchase in-house if you have experience in transacting a purchase. Either way, Firelight will see to it that you get the maximum buyer-agency commission back to you at closing. Even if you only ever use your Firelight Membership to buy your own home - that alone will net you 1000s of dollars for sure.
Selling Your Own Place
If you are selling your own place, and you have your license with us, a Firelight Realty preferred broker will list your property for 1.00% You set the buyer's agency fee. Let's call it 2.50% That's a total sell-side cost of 3.5% - you can't really beat that - and that's essentially a full-service listing. We just ask that you handle your own showings - you'll be set up with ShowingTime which makes notifications and scheduling of showings super easy) and host your own open houses, etc. There is no referral fee paid back to the Firelight Agent in this case - the listing commission is discounted as a perk to the Firelight Agent.
