Hey BP, I've got an interesting scenario that I'm needing clarification on. I'm a licensed realtor in Texas and I've got an investor who is wanting to pay me a finders/referral fee for finding mobile home parks that they can do seller financing on. Since I hold an active license in Texas, is this illegal for me to receive a referral fee from the investor (unlicensed) that is not through my broker (aka not splitting it)? I would ask my brokerage but I'm concerned they might have a biased perspective. I'm trying to do this 100% legal so please let me know your suggestions! Thanks!

@Bryce Jackson Zachary

In Oklahoma, that would be considered a real estate licensed activity, and only legally paid through the broker. The only difference here is that the buyer is paying instead of the seller. 

Zach,

Thanks for your response. Is this because I have a license that I can't receive a "birddog" fee? 

Originally posted by @Bryce Jackson Zachary :

Zach,

Thanks for your response. Is this because I have a license that I can't receive a "birddog" fee? 

 Correct.  As a agent, all commissions/referral fees are paid to your Broker and passed to you based on your split

Thanks Greg. Are there any laws that prohibit me as an agent from assigning a contract to that investor? Essentially, I would get the park under contract with the seller and disclose that I was assigning it to another investor. @Greg H.

Sounds like you're trying to collect some kind of referral/bird dog fee instead of just having a normal commission agreement with the buyer which, yes, would have to be paid through your broker.  Why is that? Are you simply trying to cut out your broker? Does the buyer want to pay a much smaller fee than a typical 3% to a buyer agent, and you're willing to do that?

It's hard to believe you are a licensed agent and didn't already know the answer to your original question......very basic state real estate reg.s that you normally learn in your prelicensing course.

@Wayne Brooks Correct in that I'm trying to get paid for work that I'm doing. The issue is it's a commercial transaction and my broker doesn't allow agents to do both. The investor doesn't want to use another agent. I've got my broker in the loop now so my intentions were not to go behind them but to hear different perspectives on the matter. It most definitely was material I learned in my licensing exam. I was simply wanting to clarify based on the situation. Thanks for your input. 

@Bryce Jackson Zachary

There is nothing legally that prevents you from doing that.  However, consult your agreement with your broker as to any monies that may be do for a personal transaction

It seems odd to me that a broker would only allow you to do commercial or residential transactions