Commission: Payout Process, Breakdown, and Deductions

This guide shows a timeline on how an agent can get paid commission from a transaction, how to read a commission breakdown/ email notice, and explanations of each deductions such as Additional Commission, Redwood Gives Back (RGB), Transaction Concierge Fee, etc.

To ensure faster processing of commission, agents must send the necessary paperwork to Paperless Pipeline. Click on this link to read the guide about where and how to send documents. The following steps are important guidelines, timelines, and answers to some frequently asked questions.

Step 1: What are the required forms?

Each state/jurisdiction has it’s own required forms. Click this link to redirect you to the guide for the list of required forms by state/jurisdiction/representation. The templates with required forms are also available in Zipforms (click here for the guide on how to use Zipforms templates).

Step 2: What is the timeline before I get paid?

Click on this link to show the detailed timeline of the commission payment process and below is the snapshot:

Step 3: What are the standard and common deductions taken from my commission?

Franchise Fee – This fee is applicable on all income transactions (Sales, Rentals, Miscellaneous Income such as Referral Fees, Termination Fees, Retainer Fees, etc) except for BPO or outgoing referrals that were placed by Redwood’s Relocation Department. The 6% franchise is deducted from the Agent’s gross commission after any applicable referral fees.

Company $ – This is the split charged by company after the Franchise Fee is deducted. Refer to your Commission Rider to show the split rate (%) of your personally generated leads. All company generated leads are charged as 50/50 split after applicable referral fees and franchise fee.

Transaction Fee –

In addition to the Franchise Fee, Broker charges clients a Transaction Fee on all real estate Sales transactions where the Broker is representing a buyer or seller (see specific rental transaction fee below). Where a program partner or the law prohibits Broker from charging clients the Transaction Fee, the Salesperson is responsible for paying the Transaction Fee. The Transaction Fee is charged according to the fee schedule set forth below:

Fee schedule:
- Fee is $395 for all transactions where the client is permitted to pay an additional fee.
- Fee is $200 on all transactions where the client is NOT permitted to pay any additional fee(s). Common examples include-
  - Relocation transactions from sources like the Realogy Advantage Network
  - Sales where buyer-side client is utilizing VA Financing
  - Listing-sides where the seller is Freddie Mac
Fee acknowledgement and collection:
- Salesperson is responsible for informing the client of the Transaction Fee, ensuring that client acknowledges such fee in the applicable Listing Agreement and/or Exclusive Right to Represent Buyer Agreement, including the Transaction Fee on the settlement statement, and ensuring that the same is collected at settlement.
- If the Transaction Fee is not properly acknowledged and/ or collected, the Broker will deduct the applicable amount from the Salesperson’s Split from the transaction.
- Broker retains the entire Transaction Fee (e.g. no commission is paid on the Transaction Fee).
Rental Transaction Fee
- In addition to the Franchise Fee, Broker charges clients a $75 Transaction Fee on all real estate Rental transactions where the Broker is representing a landlord or tenant. Where a program partner or the law prohibits Broker from charging clients the Transaction Fee, the Salesperson is responsible for paying the Transaction Fee. Broker retains the entire Transaction Fee (e.g. no commission is paid on the Transaction Fee).

BPOL – This is the license tax imposed and administered by local officials. Century 21 Redwood is collecting this tax from select offices (Arlington, Manassas, Montclair, Reston, Fairfax). The agents would be responsible for obtaining an individual business license if the brokerage was not paying it on their behalf.

TC Fee – If an agent is using Redwood’s in-house Transaction Concierge service, the basic charge is $125 for the whole package or a la carte menu for the Listing Process and $300 flat fee for Contract to Close. Click on this link to take you to the Overview of Transaction Concierge service.

RGB – Redwood Gives Back donation. Agents can sign up to have their donation deducted from their commission on one or every closing. Click here to sign up today!

Bill Deduct – Expenses billed to agents are deducted from the next commission. Sample expenses are copier charges, E&O, DocuSign, commission advances, overpayment, Google workspace and CRM & Website subscriptions.

Deduct 1– This is a flat fee deduction line if an agent choose to pay another agent (normally applicable to teams) a flat fee from their net. Applicable franchise and split will be charged to the primary agent and the Deduct Line 1 will show as an an income on the other agent. Examples can be TC charge for the Team’s Admin, Open House assistance, or any service fees.

Deduct 2 – This is a percentage (%) deduction line if an agent choose to pay another agent (normally applicable to teams) a split from their net (after franchise and company dollar is deducted from primary agent).