A national fixed-fee agency will now offer a full-fee option, giving agents a choice of how they are paid, with commission splits of up to 75 per cent.
Upside Realty, which launched in 2017, said ‘Upside Performance’ would be an agent-driven pricing model with three distinct options for agents.
Option one is an employment model where the company pays the agent as an employee with inclusions such as super and sick leave.
Option two is a sub-contractor agreement, which allows the agent to run their agency to transition into their own business, and the third model is a business unit.
Under the business unit model, agents would use Upside like a franchise for their own independent agency.
“We’re expanding our fixed-fee agency model, enabling us to also work with agents who want to set their own pricing,” Upside Realty Chief Executive Officer Adam Rigby said.
“Depending on whether they’re a subcontractor or a direct employee, we’re offering agents a 70 to 75 per cent split which is much higher than the 50-50 they would get in a traditional office.”
Mr Rigby said back office, leads and campaign management support would all be offered to help agents grow their business.
“We have an extremely efficient back office, and I think it’s going to be attractive for agents to know that we can streamline their business and increase their net margins,” he said.
“They can take advantage of the scale of Upside and all the tech that comes with it.
“We’re also giving our agents access to their commission earlier at the point of exchange, rather than settlement, which is weeks or even months later.”
Mr Rigby said some agents would still choose Upside’s original fixed-fee selling model.
“This is about giving our agents more choice over their business model,” he said.
“It’s a highly uncertain and volatile market at the moment – we want our agents to have as much flexibility as possible.”
