Agents: How would you *SPLIT* this Commission?

Jim,

    When I was in management I had that exact situation happen with two of my agents. I really felt for the agent doing the work but I told her she had to honor her original agreement. I had previously told her to be careful when getting into an agreement with any other agent. Make sure you have the terms clearly worked out. Although it seems unfair to give up what you feel is more than your fair share in the long run it's better. If you try to change the terms midstream you will get a reputation of not keeping your word and no other agents will want to work with you.

This is something that should have been agreed upon prior to taking the listing.   Division of work, who is responsible for what, sharing of comissions, etc should not be coming up after the fact.  That being said, 50/50 is fair considering nothing else appeared to be agreed upon prior to the listing.

Stick to whatever was initially agreed upon - let it be a lesson. Ask - what would you do differently the next time?

This is just one transaction. Joe needs to look at the bigger picture. Will he want Larry to assist him in the future.

I have to agree with Kris.  This is something that should have been agreed upon prior to the meeting.  Identify who will do what in exchange for the correct split.  If one person was doing more, then the split should show the correct percentage (or at least be agreed upon by both parties).  At this point, I think a 50/50 split is the only way to go.  If someone did some more work, that is a shame, but that is the cost of doing business when it was not clear in the beginning.

Are you Joe or Larry?

Hi Jim...I have to agree with the majority.  You should always agree before hand and honor whatever the agreement was. Sometimes there is always one who does more than the other, but your are a team for that deal and maybe next time he will pick up the slack on that transaction.

AJ

Splits are determined before you get into the deal, and they are put in writing.  2nd thing, I do not do short sales.  I like to be compensated for my work in a manner that alows me to pay the bills.  Agents working for half fees are going to have to ask themselves would you even be covered on O&E if something goes wrong?   Now you want to split the 1/2 a commission into a 1/4?  Do you hear yourself?

Jim,

Agreed that they should have both known their roles in the transaction...but you never know if Larry will get tired of "doing the paperwork" and these two seem like they compliment each other that they could work some deals together in the future...you never know what will come from it!

I agree that the work load is uneven, but the split appeared to be agreed upon at the start. You always need to honor your agreed fee structure.

The "who is doing what" needs to be decided prior to the transaction. The involvement in the transaction of each person should be the determining factor of the split. If you only need a translator to help with negotiations, maybe a referral fee would be appropriate next time. It appears from the senario that Joe knew that Larry was only there as a translator and open house helper. Joe shouldn't have agreed to a 50/50 spilt knowing this up front. At least next time he will think it through a little more...

Honor the agreement.

I think in the future an 80/20 sounds more like it.

Jim - Lots of interesting comments here.  Like many here if the duties of each agent weren't spelled out prior to taking the listing then it sounds like the 50/50 split has to be honored. Tough learning experience for Joe but hopefully a lesson learned for the next time.

i agree... the 50/50 must be honoured.  After all, Joe wouldn't have had the listing at all, had Larry not come along.

For future, if Larry is only going to be the interpreter, and not do anything else... then 75/25 seems more reasonable.