Ask about four things and refuse to sign until you get all four in writing: the split after every fee, the lead numbers, the mentor’s name and schedule, and the exit terms. Teams that answer these four questions plainly are usually worth joining, and teams that deflect are usually not, because almost every agent who regrets joining a team says the warning signs were sitting right there in the first interview.
This is the question agents in the Brainerd Lakes Area bring to me more than any other right now, and it is everywhere online: in r/realtors threads, in the comment sections under “Why I left” broker reviews, and in the People Also Ask boxes under every recruiting article. So I will answer it the way I answer it across a table in Baxter or Crosslake, with the questions that separate a real team from a promise, and I will be honest about our own shop in the process, because this checklist applies to us too.
The Short Answer
Ask about the split after every fee, the lead numbers, the mentor, and the exit terms, and get all four in writing. Skip any team that will not commit numbers to paper or name a current agent you can call. Most regrets come from signing on a promise, not on paper.
Why is this the question agents are asking right now?
Because teams are multiplying faster than the coaching inside them, and agents have been burned enough to get careful. The Close’s 2026 reader survey found more than 73 percent of agents have been affiliated with more than one brokerage, and roughly one in eight active agents switched in a single year. With that much movement, the market for agents is full of shops recruiting hard, which means the honest questions are the only thing standing between you and a contract you will be reading with regret in twelve months.
The research on why agents leave points at leadership and culture, not pay: in a HousingWire survey of 600 agents, 43 percent cited leadership and relationships as their top reason to stay, versus 13 percent who cited compensation. Teams grow because solo agents want support, but a team that sells support without naming the specifics is just a split with a slogan. The questions below are how you find out which one you are being offered.
What should you ask about the commission split before joining a team?
Start here, but do not stop at the headline number. A team can quote you a great split and quietly leave you keeping less than a bad one, because the real question is what comes off the top, and in what order. Ask for the split at each tier, and ask what is deducted before the split even applies.
| Ask about | What the honest answer looks like | Write it down |
| Split on team-provided leads | A common range is around 50/50, the agent keeping roughly 40 to 50 percent on leads the team generated | The exact percentage, and what counts as a team lead in writing |
| Split on your own leads | Self-generated business commonly pays the agent more, often 60 to 80 percent, sometimes tiered by volume | The percentage at each tier, and when it changes |
| What comes off the top first | The brokerage split, then the team split, then fees. The order decides your net, so make them say it out loud | The exact order, because stacked splits shrink fast |
| Cap, if there is one | Whether a cap exists, what counts toward it, and when it resets each year | The dollar amount and the reset date |
| Transaction, tech, E&O, and admin fees | Itemized in dollars per side, not waved away as “small fees” | The dollar amount you will actually pay on each closing |
Definition: What does “off the top” mean?
“Off the top” means money deducted from the gross commission before your split is calculated. It is how a quoted split becomes a real one. The classic example agents keep getting burned by: a team offers 50 percent, and the brokerage takes a 70/30 split first, so you receive 50 percent of 70 percent, which is about 35 percent of the commission, before any transaction fee. That stacking is exactly why the headline number is the least useful number on the page.
One honest warning from the data: a higher headline split can be the worse deal, because closings come from leads and systems, not from percentages. A capped 70/30 with a real lead flow often nets an agent more than a flat 100 percent with nothing behind it. We wrote the full net-income math in is a higher commission split actually better, and it is worth reading before you let any recruiter quote a number at you.
What should you ask about leads before joining a team?
“We provide leads” is the single most overused sentence in real estate recruiting, and it is why this is the question to push on hardest. Ask for counts, not vibes. How many leads entered the pipeline last month, from which channels, and how many of them were buyers versus sellers? What does your share look like in a slow month in a seasonal market, because central Minnesota is exactly that: Crow Wing County runs on an April-to-August rhythm, and a team that cannot keep a pipeline moving in November will not save you in summer either.
Then ask the question nobody asks: who owns the leads after you leave? Some teams treat every lead as the team’s asset and every contact you bring in as theirs by contract. If the pipeline you are promised evaporates the day you walk out, you are not building a business, you are renting one. Read the independent contractor agreement before you consider the brochure. We covered how to keep a pipeline alive all year in finding consistent leads in a seasonal market, and the same multiple-channel logic applies whether you are on a team or not.
What should you ask about training and mentorship?
Treat “you’ll learn by being around the office” as a red flag, not a mentorship plan. Experienced agents are blunt about this on Reddit and in real conversations: some teams say the words “mentorship” and “coaching” and deliver a login. Ask for the mentor’s name, whether they are a producing agent, and how often you actually meet. Ask what happens in the first 90 days, week by week, and who is accountable for your training when a deal gets tense.
There is also a cost question hiding here. Mentorship programs at several large brokerages take a percentage of your early commissions, and the details live in the income disclosure, not the recruiting page. eXp’s own published income disclosure shows the mentor program takes an additional share of commission during the roughly three-transaction mentorship period, which means a new agent’s effective split on those first deals is lower, not higher. That is not a reason to avoid mentorship, it is a reason to ask the exact percentage in writing before you sign, because the honest number is what lets you plan.
What should you ask about leadership and accountability?
The people are the product, so ask about the people directly. Who leads this team, what did they actually close last year, and will you ever work with them, or with the two agents who happen to share the office? How many agents are on the team, and what is the turnover? Can you call a current agent, not a recruiting brochure, and ask hard questions?
Is the leader a producer? Verify production directly. There are documented cases of agents joining a team because the leader claimed to have built eight-figure teams, only to discover the leader had never produced a deal. Ask for closings, not trophies.
What is actually required of you? Required office hours, meetings, and evening or weekend commitments are one of the biggest regrets agents report, because they were never mentioned in the interview. Ask directly what the calendar really looks like.
How are you held accountable? Teams that work have a rhythm: pipeline reviews, CRM input, weekly numbers. Ask who reviews your activity and what happens when the numbers dip. A team that cannot describe its accountability does not have any.
You can score the leadership of a team you are already on, or one you are considering, without a recruiter in the room. The Team Value Scorecard rates a shop from 1 to 10 across 15 categories, from leadership and leads to transaction coordination and culture, and it is the same instrument I hand agents in person.
What should you ask about leaving before you join?
The most expensive question is the one agents are embarrassed to ask: what happens when I leave? Read the exit clause before you consider the entrance, because it decides whether the team is a partner or a landlord. What happens to your database, your sphere, and your pending listings if you go in a year? Is there a non-compete, and does it cover the towns where you actually work, Nisswa, Crosslake, Pequot Lakes, Baxter, or a region so broad it keeps you out of the whole county?
A team that helps you transition to your own business on the way out is a team that is confident in what it delivers. A team that locks your book of business is a team that will always have leverage over you, and leverage is not a culture, it is a clause. Read the full contract before you sign, and if a leader hesitates to hand it over, that hesitation is your answer.
What red flags do experienced agents warn about?
Experienced agents are unusually consistent about the warnings they pass on. Here is the list, gathered from agent forums and real conversations, that I think every agent should carry into an interview:
Aggregated team stats. “We sold 500 homes last year” may count every agent on the team, and you may never work with the leader who does the selling. Ask how many of those were closed by the person you will report to.
Recruiting is the business model. Some teams are built to recruit agents, not to sell houses, with revenue that comes from adding bodies rather than closing deals. Ask what the team’s actual income is, and where it comes from. If the answer is “more agents,” that is a flag.
“Leads” that are really an email list. “We provide leads” sometimes means low-quality registrations that need weeks of follow-up, not ready clients. Ask for conversion numbers, not volume.
Golden handcuffs. Equity or profit-share programs sound generous until you do the math on what they cost in split and fee structure, and how complicated they make leaving. The median agent earns close to nothing from the equity and revenue-share layers, and that includes ours.
The dependence trap. An agent who survives only on team leads can lose the self-sourcing skill entirely, so if the leader leaves or the team dissolves, the pipeline goes with it. Ask what the team does to build your own ability to generate business, not just feed you closings.
None of these flags alone is disqualifying. Two or three of them in the same conversation usually are. And remember the reverse: if a team gets defensive when you ask honest questions, that defensiveness is data too.
How do you verify a team before you sign?
Run this sequence in order, and do not skip steps. It is the same checklist I give every agent who sits down with me, including the ones who decide a different answer is right for them:
Step 1: Get every number in writing. Split at each tier, the order fees are taken, the cap and its reset date, monthly lead counts, the mentor’s name, required hours, and the exit terms. Unwritten promises are the number one reason the next move is already being planned.
Step 2: Run your own numbers. Model your real GCI, split, expenses, and the percentage of business the team would provide with the team vs. solo calculator. It tells the truth even when the truth is “stay put,” and that is the point.
Step 3: Talk to a current agent, alone. Ask for one current member you can call without the leader on the line. Ask how many leads they got in their first 90 days, who their mentor was, and what happened when a deal fell apart. If the team cannot produce one, that is the data.
Step 4: Read the full contract. Independent contractor agreement, lead ownership, non-compete, and exit clause. Read it before you consider the brochure, and if anything contradicts what was said in the interview, believe the contract.
Step 5: Time it right. If you are leaving a current shop, move after your last closing funds and before you sign new listing agreements, so no in-flight commission is at risk. We wrote the full timing and switching framework in should I switch brokerages.
What does a team need to put in writing before you join?
This is the part most recruiting content will not print, so here it is: the demands an agent is entitled to make of any leadership before signing. You are the asset, and you are allowed to ask for specifics:
The split at every tier, and the order fees come off. If they will not itemize it, they have already told you everything.
The cap, what counts toward it, and when it resets. A cap you never reach is a marketing number, not a benefit.
Lead volume, source, and ownership. Counts per month, where they come from, and who owns them if you leave.
The mentor’s name, their production, and your meeting cadence. If leadership cannot name who is accountable for your training this week, it is not training.
Required hours and meetings. The real calendar, in writing, before you sign.
Exit terms: your database, your clients, your leads. How the team helps you transition if you leave, and what stays yours.
So should you join a team at all?
The honest answer is sometimes no, and you deserve to hear it. A team is right for an agent whose ceiling is leadership, leads, and systems, who would rather plug into an operating system than invent one alone. Solo is right for the self-sufficient producer bringing 20-plus sides a year with their own database and their own proven process, because for that agent a flat-fee, no-cap shop can beat any team on net income, and you should go run that comparison and take the result.
The decision between the two is the fork every other question papers over, so do not let a brokerage tour settle it for you. Should you join a team or go solo walks that fork honestly, including the real case for going solo, and the built for more conversation covers what to do when you are productive and still feel something is missing.
What would you actually get at Elevate Group? Ask us these same questions.
Since I lead Elevate Group inside eXp Realty, you get the same honesty about us that I am asking you to demand of every shop, because this checklist is exactly what you should run on us. eXp’s published plan is an 80/20 split until a $16,000 cap each year, after which you keep 100 percent, with an all-inclusive monthly technology and training fee and per-transaction fees, and those exact figures change, so ask for the current schedule in writing and hold us to it. The team layer adds its own lead flow, weekly coaching, and transaction coordination on top.
And here is the truth some recruiters skip, including in our own industry: eXp’s revenue share is a real seven-tier program, but the median agent earns close to nothing from it, and it is not a reason to join anything. A capped plan, real leads, coaching, and transaction coordination are the substance. The rest is garnish, and I would rather you know that before you sign than discover it later.
If you run this checklist on us and the honest answer is that a flat-fee solo setup wins for your numbers, I will tell you to go take that deal, and I mean it. If your answer is that you want a team that can name its numbers, score it first, then talk to us with the questions in hand.
Decide on These Four Questions, Not a Brochure
1. What did you keep per side last year, after every fee? If you cannot answer in dollars, that is your bookkeeping, and no team fixes it.
2. Which of the four answers did the team put in writing? Split, leads, mentor, exit. If the answer is none, that is your answer.
3. Is your real problem a team problem or an activity problem? Be brutally honest. No team prospects for you in November if you are not in motion.
4. What does your database say you are capable of? The business assessment scores your real bottleneck in about ten minutes, with no recruiter in the room.
The bottom line: joining a team is a partnership, and partnerships start with questions. Ask the split after every fee, the lead numbers, the mentor, and the exit terms, get them in writing, verify with a current agent, and read the contract. A good team answers all of it gladly, because a good team has nothing to hide, and if you have not decided whether a team is right for you at all, settle that fork before anyone else settles it for you.
Noah Goedker
Team Leader, Elevate Group at eXp Realty
Noah Goedker is a third-generation real estate agent and lifelong resident of the Brainerd Lakes Area who leads Elevate Group inside eXp Realty. He built the team around one rule agents can hold him to: give the real numbers, net income, fees, caps, and closes, and let the agent decide, even when the answer is to stay put.