The brokerage broker fee
What the house keeps, and whose pocket it leaves.
The «Broker fee» is what the brokerage charges per closing on top of the split. It is configured under «Commissions & Network», and sales and rentals are set separately, each with its own amount.
The decision that changes everything: whose pocket
Each of the two fees has its own switch, «Deduct the fee from the agent's commission». Both positions leave the brokerage with the same money. What changes is who pays it.
- On: the fee is subtracted from the agent's commission after the split. The GCI divides the same; the money just moves pockets.
- Off: the fee is charged to the client outside the GCI. It does not touch the split or the agent's commission, and the brokerage keeps it on top.
- Either way it adds in full to the brokerage's retained revenue.
With our sale and a $500 fee: if it comes from the agent, they take $7,900 and the brokerage keeps $4,100 of the $12,000. If the client pays it, the agent takes their $8,400 and the brokerage keeps $3,600 of the GCI plus $500 on the side.
It freezes on confirmation
The fee that applies is the one configured when the closing was confirmed. Changing it today touches no earlier sale, and that is exactly what you want: a history that does not rewrite itself every time you adjust a setting.
Rentals have one more escape hatch: when closing the lead, the broker can set a different fee amount for that one closing without touching the general configuration.
The two bonuses on the same screen
Below you will see the recruit's first-sale bonus and the recruit's growth bonus. Those are amounts the brokerage pays and they belong to the recruiting program, not to this sale's split. They are covered in the Legacy course.