Running a Real Estate Team on One Shared Commission Cap

Most brokerages cap each agent individually: once the brokerage has collected, say, $18,000 in split from a given agent this year, that agent keeps 100% for the rest of the year. A team cap works differently. It is one number the whole team works toward together.

If a three-agent team is on a $30,000 shared cap, the brokerage stops collecting a split from any of them the moment it has collected $30,000 between them, regardless of which agent generated it. Everyone on the team flips to 100% at the same moment.

Why teams use a shared cap

A shared cap is a recruiting and retention tool. It says to an agent joining a team: your production counts toward the same finish line as everyone else's, so you hit 100% sooner than you would on your own. For a high-producing team, the pool fills fast, and the back half of the year is close to full commission for every member.

It is also simpler for the broker to reason about. One number to track for the team instead of three or five separate cap ledgers that all reset on their own schedule.

What a team lead's cut looks like

A team usually has a lead: the person who built the team, generates the leads, or carries the brand. A team lead typically earns a percentage of each team member's commission on team deals.

In SplitRE that is a setting on the team: name the lead and a percentage, and on each member's team deal the lead earns that percentage of the member's commission. A few details worth knowing:

• The lead's own deals never pay a split to themselves.
• On a member's own sphere-of-influence deal, one the lead had no part in, you can turn the lead's cut off for that one deal, while the deal still counts toward the shared pool.
• Whether the lead's cut comes out of the member's share or the full commission is a choice. The member takes home the same amount either way; the difference is whether the brokerage's own cut absorbs the lead's portion or not.

What happens when an agent joins or leaves the team

While an agent is on a team, their individual cap is set aside and the team's shared cap is what applies. Their individual cap settings are not deleted, just paused.

When an agent leaves, you decide where their individual cap tracking picks back up:

• from zero,
• from the amount they personally contributed to the team pool this year, or
• from a custom figure you have agreed.

Disbanding a team that has closed deals under it does not touch those deals. Every member simply goes back to their own individual cap going forward; the history stays exactly as it was recorded.

A worked example

A two-agent team, $24,000 shared cap, no lead. Both agents are on a 70/30 split.

• Deal 1. Agent A closes a $500,000 sale at 3%. GCI $15,000. Broker takes 30%: $4,500. Shared pool: $4,500 / $24,000.
• Deal 2. Agent B closes a $700,000 sale at 3%. GCI $21,000. Broker takes 30%: $6,300. Shared pool: $10,800 / $24,000.
• Deal 3. Agent A closes another $500,000 sale. Broker's 30% is $4,500, and the pool has $13,200 of room left, so the full $4,500 is collected. Pool: $15,300 / $24,000.
• Deal 4. Agent B closes an $800,000 sale at 3%. GCI $24,000. Broker's 30% would be $7,200, but only $8,700 of pool room is left. The brokerage collects the full $7,200 (it fits), leaving $1,500.
• Deal 5. Agent A closes a $600,000 sale. Broker's 30% would be $5,400, but only $1,500 of the shared cap is left. The brokerage collects that last $1,500 on the first part of the deal; the rest of Agent A's share comes to her at 100%. The team is now capped.
• The rest of the year: every deal either agent closes is 100% to that agent, minus any flat per-transaction fees (E&O, transaction fee), which usually continue past the cap.

The math on any single deal is the same three stages covered in How to Calculate Real Estate Agent Commission. The only change is that the "cap" the broker cut is measured against is the team's shared pool, not one agent's personal number.

Setting it up

In SplitRE, teams are managed from the Teams tab: create a team, set the shared cap (and an opening balance for company dollar already collected this year), and add members. Full walkthrough in Teams and Shared Caps, and it is included on every plan. See Features.