Why Change Real Estate Does Not Allow Real Estate "Teams"

Published: October 2026  ·  6 min read

With more than 300 transactions under my belt (personally) and an additional 150+ transactions as the Broker of Record for the agents in my office, I have a pretty strong aversion to "Real Estate Teams."

Mind you, I am not talking about the informal teams that come together on specific transactions. Agents in my office work with each other to cover showings and open houses, and they help each other promote listings. I am specifically talking about teams of agents "organized" (or disorganized, more often than not) under a single "team lead."

Where Did Teams Come From?

Typically the team lead has been doing real estate for 5+ years (in some cases, 1 year or less), and maybe they hit a wall with their "sphere of influence" marketing or just ran out of ideas for getting leads. In some cases they wanted to do the right thing for their clients and host open houses (see my piece, Real Estate MYTH: Open Houses Don't Sell Homes) but didn't want to host them alone, for safety or other reasons. In some cases their "real life" away from real estate got too busy (kids, family, aging parents, etc.). In some cases they followed the advice of some coach they saw online... No matter the reason, they made the leap, set up the "Jane Doe Team" and started recruiting agents.

The Pressure to Find Leads

A funny thing happens when you have people working for you: they want to make money. So now these team leads not only have to feed their own families, but also figure out how to feed the agents who work for them. They thought putting together a team would bring in more leads. Instead, it brought the team lead more pressure to FIND more leads.

So... naturally, they sign up for Zillow Flex or Realtor.com's "Real Estate Leads for Agents" program and agree to send 40% of any commission earned from those leads to big companies that dominate the SEO space and, in turn, have the attention of a vast number of consumers. Okay... no big deal, right? They will have more leads, and they are "paying for performance," meaning they only pay when a lead closes.

What they are NOT getting is quality leads. They are not getting vetted leads with pre-approvals. They are getting casual internet users who see a nice home, decide to play "real estate dreamer" for the day and ask a website to make that tour happen. Agents spend vast amounts of (unpaid) time contacting these leads, scheduling showings and connecting them with lenders, only to find out that the "lead" will likely always be a renter.

Unprofessional and Unethical Behavior

I can't tell you the number of times Redfin has called (not agents, mind you, but unlicensed assistants) to schedule showings at my listings, and then the "buyer" just doesn't show up. Or the buyer cancels last minute with whatever agent they were assigned, and that agent never lets me know the showing is cancelled. My sellers have cleaned up, turned on the lights, taken their dogs out and vacated the home, only to be told the buyer was a no-show.

Recently, a "team member" made an offer for her buyer client on one of my listings. The offer asked the seller to pay the Buyer Broker Fee at 3%. My seller had a very specific (and reasonable) net she wanted to achieve. Before writing a counteroffer, I asked the buyer's agent about her buyer's willingness to negotiate, and I mentioned that any counter would offer a 2% commission (matching the 2% I am earning as the listing agent).

The agent told me (out loud): "No. That won't work. This buyer is a Zillow Flex lead, and we have to pay Zillow 40%, and I am part of a team, so I have to give 50% of my commission to the team. I would rather take my client to another property."

Seriously. She said that out loud! This kind of financial pressure is unhealthy for EVERYONE in the real estate business. It puts pressure on buyer agents. It puts pressure on sellers. It puts agents in the position of pushing clients to accept less than they might have gotten if the agent on the other side of the deal wasn't part of a team.

Who Actually Does What on a Team

To make matters worse, the "team lead" often gets involved only to make sure her MLS number gets credit for the deal. She does not help the agent at all, other than passing along the buyer lead and taking 50% of the remaining commission. She hires an unlicensed transaction coordinator under the guise of providing organization and structure, but that transaction coordinator gets in the way more often than they help: sending redundant emails, and replying "Received, thank you" to every email and burying the original message that had action items for various recipients.

Worse still, "team leaders" sometimes act as if they are Brokers without the authority or legal responsibility to do so. They assign leads, set commission splits, tell agents on their teams how and when to market (making team members cold call, door knock or post to social media) and even set hours for their team. Not only do they act outside their authority, but they also treat team members like employees rather than independent contractors. In some cases, teams create their own websites, logos, social media and branding that appear completely independent of the brokerage they belong to.

What Consumers Don't Know

Do buyers or sellers know that the "Jane Doe Team" is not an independent brokerage? Do they know who the broker of record is, and who they should speak to if the agent they are working with is behaving unethically or unprofessionally? Very often they do not. Who do they go to when something goes wrong? When a date is missed? When a material defect called out by a home inspector gets minimized by the buyer's agent to keep the buyer in the deal?

The "No Teams" Policy at Change Real Estate

I am the broker of record for Change Real Estate. While I absolutely encourage the agents in my company to work together when needed, I do not allow formal real estate teams. I look over every transaction. I want to protect every client. I spent the last two years building and refining the TransactionMinder platform specifically so I have full, instant visibility into the status of every transaction my agents are working on.

I think real estate teams and rollup companies / referral platforms like Zillow and Redfin do a lot of harm to consumers. So I would recommend that you choose very carefully before you put your trust in a team for your next purchase or sale.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a real estate team?

A group of agents organized under a single team lead inside a brokerage. The team lead usually hands out leads and takes a share of each agent's commission, often 50%, even though the brokerage and its broker of record are the ones legally responsible for the agents and their transactions.

Why doesn't Change Real Estate allow real estate teams?

Because the stacked fees from lead platforms and team splits put pressure on agents that ends up hurting buyers and sellers, and because consumers often don't know who the broker of record is when something goes wrong. Our agents still work together informally to cover showings and open houses.

How do lead fees and team splits affect a negotiation?

An agent who owes 40% to a lead platform and 50% of the rest to a team keeps about 30% of the fee. That can lead an agent to steer a client away from a home rather than negotiate.