Commission structures vary widely by company. They even vary by office within the same franchise. So “what split will I get” rarely has one universal answer. At Keller Williams specifically, agents typically start on a split before hitting an annual cap. After that, they keep the remaining commissions for the rest of that anniversary year, minus a separately capped royalty fee. Once an agent reaches their cap, the remaining year functions close to 100% commission. Only smaller per-transaction or monthly fees apply after that, and those vary by market center.

Beyond the split itself, monthly desk fees, per-transaction fees, and E&O insurance costs all factor into real take-home pay. It’s worth asking for the full, itemized cost picture rather than just the headline split percentage.

No — you don’t need an existing license to begin exploring brokerages. Many brokerages, including Keller Williams through its KSCORE program, offer scholarship-funded pre-licensing coursework. Aspiring agents can complete state-approved education at no cost, paying only for state-level items like exam and application fees. Keller Williams pairs this with a career-readiness curriculum called KW Prep. It covers real-world skills the licensing exam itself doesn’t teach.

Completing a program like KSCORE doesn’t obligate you to join that brokerage afterward. Graduates are free to affiliate wherever they choose. Many stay anyway, because of the training relationship already built during licensing.

Training depth is one of the biggest differentiators between brokerages. It’s worth evaluating separately from commission split. Keller Williams provides live, local, and on-demand training year-round, plus mentorship pairing for new agents and large-scale industry events. It also runs a publishing arm, KellerINK, built around agent business systems. Independent agent reviews consistently cite training quality as a major reason agents choose or stay with a real estate brokerage — especially in the first two years, when income is typically lowest.

When comparing brokerages, ask a few pointed questions. Who actually delivers the training — a dedicated coach, or a busy broker-owner with limited time? How are new agents paired with mentors? Is coaching free, or a paid add-on?

Technology access varies enormously by brokerage. Some offer just a basic CRM; others provide a full marketing and lead-routing platform. Roughly a third of agents nationally report spending $50–$250 per month on their own real estate technology, on top of whatever the real estate brokerage provides. Social media has also become the most commonly cited primary lead source for active agents. Both facts are good reasons to ask a brokerage exactly what’s included versus what you’d need to buy yourself.

Good questions to ask any real estate brokerage: Is the CRM free, or an add-on? Does the brokerage supply leads, or only tools to generate your own? How much support exists for building an online or social presence?

Not every real estate brokerage offers this, so it’s worth asking directly. Keller Williams operates a Profit Share program. It distributes a portion of each market center’s profits to agents who have recruited other productive agents into the company. Payouts happen monthly, across up to seven tiers, depending on how those recruited agents perform. The exact percentage varies by market center profitability. It isn’t fixed or guaranteed — it depends on office performance, not a flat company-wide rate.

If passive income potential matters to you, ask specifically for the tier structure. Find out how many levels deep it pays out, and how the payout percentage is determined. Those mechanics matter more than the headline concept of “profit share” alone.

The widely repeated claim that 87% of agents fail within five years doesn’t trace back to a verifiable NAR source. It’s treated as industry folklore rather than a documented statistic. What NAR’s 2025 Member Profile does document is more nuanced, but still sobering. Members with two years or less of experience earned a median of just $8,100 in 2024. And 62% of agents in that early bracket earned under $10,000. Separately, the share of NAR members with two years or less of tenure has been falling year over year. That’s consistent with meaningful early-career attrition, even without a precise “failure rate” figure.

The honest takeaway: the first one to two years are financially difficult almost everywhere. A brokerage’s training, lead support, and mentorship structure has an outsized effect on whether an agent survives that window. That’s why it deserves more weight in your decision than commission split alone.

Culture is consistently the hardest thing to assess from outside a real estate brokerage. Career coaches specifically warn new agents against choosing based on commission split alone, without weighing support, mentorship, and day-to-day environment. Recommended diligence steps include touring the office in person and sitting in on a live training session. Also talk directly with current agents, not just the recruiting broker, about turnover, staff support, and how slow periods get handled.

A useful diagnostic question: ask how easy it is to leave if the brokerage stops being a fit. Brokerages confident in their value proposition generally don’t need to lock agents in with punitive exit terms.

Commission split is only one line item. Most brokerages also charge monthly desk or technology fees, commonly $75–$125 a month industry-wide. Per-transaction fees add more, ranging from roughly $50 to $400 or more per closing. There are also separate costs for E&O insurance and MLS membership. Franchise-affiliated brokerages typically layer a royalty fee on top of the local split, though it’s often capped annually.

Fee structures differ, even within the same franchise brand. Comparing brokerages purely by advertised split percentage is misleading. Always ask for the fully loaded annual cost at your expected production level.

Most real estate agents are independent contractors, not employees. Because of that, most brokerages don’t provide employer-sponsored health insurance or retirement plans by default. Larger franchise networks increasingly negotiate group-rate marketplaces agents can opt into on their own. Keller Williams, for example, partnered with a benefits firm to launch “Real Agent Perks,” a health care plan marketplace for affiliated agents. Nationally, a notable share of real estate professionals go without health coverage in a given year. That’s exactly why it’s worth asking a prospective real estate brokerage what marketplace or group-rate options they offer, even though the agent still covers the cost.

Don’t confuse basic membership perks — lockbox access, MLS discounts — with real benefits. Ask specifically about health, dental, vision, and retirement options when comparing offices.

Texas requires licensed sales agents and brokers to complete 18 hours of continuing education every two-year renewal cycle, through a TREC-approved provider. That total must include the 4-hour Legal Update I and 4-hour Legal Update II courses, plus a required contracts course. Any supervising broker also needs a 6-hour Broker Responsibility course. First-time renewal is different: new sales agents must complete 98 hours of Sales Apprentice Education, or SAE, instead of the standard 18-hour CE package. Missing the deadline doesn’t cancel your license outright. But it can trigger a CE deferral fee, or force a switch to inactive status until requirements are met.

A good brokerage will proactively flag CE deadlines rather than leaving you to track TREC’s renewal calendar entirely on your own.

As an independent contractor, no real estate brokerage can legally dictate your hours. Plenty of licensed agents work real estate part-time around another job or family responsibilities. That said, brokerages differ in how much they prioritize full-time production. A high concentration of part-time agents in an office can sometimes mean less availability for client-facing support and slower response times on shared leads. It’s a fair question to ask directly: what percentage of agents here are full-time, and how does that affect responsiveness?

The median REALTOR® nationally reports spending roughly 35 hours a week on the business. That’s a useful benchmark for what “full-time” production actually requires.

Turnover is one of the more reliable signals of office health, because it reflects lived experience rather than marketing. A brokerage that consistently loses agents within a year or two is worth probing further. Is it the training? The leads? The culture? Or simply an industry-wide pattern? Nationally, roughly 15% of NAR’s membership turns over as new in a given year. The association’s own data also shows the share of members with two years or less of experience has been declining — consistent with real attrition industry-wide, not something unique to one company.

Ask a real estate brokerage how long their agents typically stay. Be willing to talk to current agents directly, not just leadership. That’s one of the most useful diligence steps available to you.

Brand recognition tends to matter most early in an agent’s career, before an independent reputation and referral base exist. A well-known brand can shorten the trust-building process with a buyer or seller meeting the agent for the first time. Over time, as an agent’s personal track record grows, the brokerage’s brand typically matters less to clients. It ends up mattering more to the agent’s own recruiting and retention story instead. It’s a reasonable factor to weigh — but it shouldn’t outweigh training, support, and fit. Those are what determine whether you’re still in the business long enough for brand recognition to matter at all.

A real estate brokerage that only measures success by individual transaction volume can leave experienced agents with nowhere to go, once they’ve built a stable business. Better offices offer multiple growth tracks. You could build or join a team, move into training or coaching, or mentor newer agents. Some franchise models with a profit-share style program also let you earn ongoing income from agents you’ve helped recruit and develop. When interviewing a brokerage, ask what happens to top producers a few years in. Is there a defined path beyond “keep selling”?