The value of co-broking is simple: your buyer gets access to stock you do not have, and your listing reaches buyers you have never met. The risk is just as simple: you hand a client to someone you cannot hold to their word. Finding a co-broker is easy. Finding one you can trust takes a few checks.
Where to look
- Brokers you have already closed a deal with. A broker who paid your share last time is the best co-broker you have.
- Brokers who work the property's locality. A broker who works the area is more likely to know its prices, its title questions and its buyers.
- A broker directory. On this site, Find Brokers lets you search for brokers and their listed properties by city.
- A broker network. On the Brokers99 network you can post your client's requirement without the client's name, and brokers with matching stock reply. Matches show listings from brokers you are connected with; anyone else, you connect with first.
Check them before you share a client
1. RERA registration
If the property is in a project registered under RERA, a broker who facilitates its sale needs an agent registration under section 9 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, and section 9(5) requires the agent to quote that registration number in every sale they facilitate.[1] Section 34(d) requires each state Authority to keep a public database on its website of real estate agents who have applied and registered, including those whose registration was rejected or revoked.[1]
So ask for the registration number, then look it up yourself on your state RERA authority's website. Do not rely on a screenshot of a certificate. A registration that was rejected or revoked should show up in the Authority's own records.
2. Who they are
- Full name, firm name and office address, and a PAN for the agreement.
- GSTIN, if they will invoice you for their share (see GST on brokerage).
- A reference from another broker you know who has worked with them.
3. Their mandate
If a broker says they have the property, ask what authority they have from the owner. A broker who has only "seen" a property cannot deliver it, and a deal built on that is a deal that falls apart at the seller's door.
Red flags
- They will not put the split in writing.
- They want your client's name and number before anything is agreed.
- They cannot give a RERA registration number for a sale in a registered project, or the number does not appear on the Authority's website.
- They are vague about who holds the mandate, or the seller has never heard of them.
Agree first, share second
The order matters. Share the requirement first and the client last:
- Share the requirement or the listing without the client's identity.
- Agree the total brokerage, the split and the payment trigger: see how to split commission between two brokers.
- Put it in writing: see what to put in a written co-broking agreement.
- Get your own client's consent to bring in another broker.
- Only then share the client's name and number.
The Brokers99 network is built around the same order: the split is agreed and locked before you share a client, network posts carry no client name, and client numbers stay hidden until you reveal one with your PIN.