What the filings say about the franchise model, and what Real Brokerage publishes
Leaving Coldwell Banker for Real Brokerage: What Changes for a Houston Agent?
Updated
Bottom line: Coldwell Banker's published economics are the royalty its offices pay the brand rather than the split its agents get. Filings put that royalty at 6 percent of gross commission income, or 5.5 down to 3 percent on the tiered model.
What does a Coldwell Banker office pay the brand?
A royalty on gross commission income, and the filings describe more than one model. Certain brands use a volume-based incentive model with a royalty fee rate initially equal to 6 percent of the franchisee's gross commission income, subject to reduction based upon volume incentives, while certain franchisees, including some of the largest, have a flat percentage royalty fee generally less than 6 percent.
The Coldwell Banker residential franchise business began offering a tiered royalty fee model in 2021, generally set at an initial rate of 5.5 percent and decreasing in steps during the calendar year to a minimum of 3 percent as the franchisee's gross commission income reaches certain levels. Marketing fees sit alongside the royalty (Anywhere Real Estate Form 10-K for FY2024, filed February 2025).
The same filing says the company's owned brokerages pay intercompany royalty fees of approximately 6 percent and marketing fees. That is a charge on the office rather than on an agent, and it tells you about your broker's costs rather than about your income.
What does the agent get, and is any of it published?
The remainder, under a contract of their own. The same filing says the remainder of gross commission income is split between the broker and the independent sales agent in accordance with their applicable independent contractor agreement, and that it varies by agent. No agent split and no cap is published anywhere.
Coldwell Banker's own franchising page carries no fees, royalty rates or splits at all, only a line saying that franchise offerings are made by a Franchise Disclosure Document (read September 2026). So an agent asking what the brand costs them has a filing describing the office's charge, a company page describing nothing, and their own agreement in between.
Who owns Coldwell Banker now?
Compass, since the Anywhere merger closed in January 2026. Compass now operates Coldwell Banker as both an owned brokerage and a franchise brand, and its own filing says franchisees pay monthly royalties based on the percentage of the franchisee's gross sales commissions, and certain other fees such as marketing and technology fees depending on the brand. After the merger certain franchisees have a flat percentage royalty fee, and certain brands use other models, including a royalty fee model capped at a set amount per agent per year, or a tiered model (Compass Form 10-K for FY2025, filed 27 February 2026).
For an agent the practical consequence is that the royalty model behind your own office may be any one of several, and which one applies is a question for your broker rather than for a filing.
What does Real Brokerage publish instead?
One schedule, for everybody at the same cap level. Real Brokerage takes 15 percent of each commission until you cap and 0 percent for the rest of your anniversary year. The caps are $12,000 for an individual agent, $6,000 on a team and $4,000 on a team with over $100M in volume. Beside the split sit a $900 annual fee, $50 on each transaction and $285 on each sale after capping, and there is no monthly office or desk fee.
How do you compare when one side publishes no split?
With your own agreement and your own year. The royalty percentages above are what an office pays, so what decides your income is the split in your independent contractor agreement. The only comparison that means anything is that split run against your last twelve months, then the same twelve months run against the schedule above.
This page states both sides as their own documents state them and stops there. What you keep when you move, and the order to move in, are set out elsewhere on this site rather than summarized here.
Questions & answers
What else do Houston agents ask?
Does Coldwell Banker publish an agent commission split or a cap?
No. The filings say the remainder of gross commission income is split between the broker and the independent sales agent under their applicable independent contractor agreement, which varies by agent. Coldwell Banker's own franchising page shows no fees, royalty rates or splits, only that offerings are made by a Franchise Disclosure Document.
What is published is the royalty an office pays the brand: initially 6 percent of gross commission income subject to volume incentives, or a tiered model since 2021 starting at 5.5 percent and stepping down to 3 percent, plus marketing fees. That is your broker's cost rather than yours. A 2020 Franchise Disclosure Document circulates through a reseller site and a typical agent split circulates on blogs; neither is used here. Real Brokerage's published split, caps and fees are on the cost of joining page.
How much is the Coldwell Banker franchise royalty?
Filings give more than one model. A volume-based incentive model with a royalty rate initially equal to 6 percent of the franchisee's gross commission income, reduced by volume incentives; and, for the Coldwell Banker residential franchise business since 2021, a tiered model starting at 5.5 percent and stepping down to a minimum of 3 percent during the year.
The royalty is paid by the franchisee, which is the office, rather than by an agent, and marketing fees sit alongside it. Certain franchisees, including some of the largest, have a flat percentage generally less than 6 percent instead. Since the Anywhere merger closed in January 2026, Compass has described further models across its brands, including a royalty capped at a set amount per agent per year. None of it tells you your own split, which is why a comparison starts with your contract. What a franchise move looks like in practice is on the page for agents leaving one.
Who owns Coldwell Banker after the Anywhere merger?
Compass. The Anywhere merger closed in January 2026, and Compass's Form 10-K for 2025 says it now operates Coldwell Banker as both an owned brokerage and a franchise brand. Franchisees pay monthly royalties based on a percentage of gross sales commissions, plus certain other fees such as marketing and technology fees depending on the brand.
After the merger certain franchisees have a flat percentage royalty fee, and certain brands use other models, including a royalty capped at a set amount per agent per year and a tiered model. For an agent the consequence is that the arrangement behind your own office may be any one of several, and which one applies is a question for your broker rather than for a filing. Neither the filing nor the brand's franchising page states an agent split. What Compass publishes about its own agents, which is also not a split, is on the page for agents leaving it.