Referring a California Client to the Raleigh Area
Sending a client to a market you do not work is an act of trust, and the part that keeps you up is not the fee. It is whether the person on the other end will represent you well. Here is exactly what happens when you send someone my way.
The terms, plainly
Paid broker to broker at closing.
Signed before contact. The referral agreement is executed before your client and I speak, so nothing about the arrangement is open to interpretation later.
Covers the whole move. Every transaction arising from the referral, including a second purchase, for twelve months from our first conversation with your client.
No going around you. No marketing, no mailing list, no contact about future business while your side of the move is still in progress.
What your client actually gets
Carolina Triangle Estates is a solo practice by design. Whoever you hand off is the person who takes their first call, walks the homes, negotiates the contract, and sits beside them at closing. Buyer representation runs through closing and is never referred out again. Your name is attached to that experience, so it gets handled the way you would handle it yourself.
A good share of my clients are three hours behind me. Your client will not be waiting until noon their time for a callback.
Not a listing link and a phone photo. Someone standing in the house answering what the photographs are hiding, so the trip they do make is spent on a short list rather than a long one.
Mine was from the Bay Area to Raleigh about ten years ago. Your client’s questions about timing, equity, and what the first year actually looks like get answered from experience rather than from a relocation brochure.
What you get
When we first connect, when they are under contract, when due diligence closes, and at closing. More often if you want it, and you are welcome on any call.
Should your client want you involved throughout, that is easy to arrange and frequently the best version of it. Nobody here is trying to replace the person they already trust.
Clients heading west, and Triangle sellers who need to buy in California, get sent to the agents who work with me. The relationship is meant to run in both directions.
The work I actually do here
Worth knowing so you can tell whether your client is a fit. Three areas make up most of my business.
Families and individuals moving to the Raleigh-Durham region, usually with a home to sell on the other end and two timelines that have to be made to fit.
Explore California RelocationWake and Durham counties, both new construction and resale. Del Webb, Toll Brothers, Epcon, Lennar, and the established resale communities, each written up in detail on this site.
Explore 55+ CommunitiesMy own neighborhood, where I both live and list.
Explore Brier CreekBefore real estate came more than 25 years of running my own businesses, which is the reason a referral gets an owner’s accountability rather than an employee’s.
When I am not the right fit
Should your client be headed to Charlotte, Wilmington, Asheville, or anywhere outside the Raleigh-Durham region, they need someone who works that market daily. Happy to point you toward the right person rather than take a referral I cannot serve properly.
Should your client need a large team with a dedicated transaction department and same-day showings across four counties, a solo practice is the wrong shape for them. Volume is not what this is built for, and saying so is more useful than finding out in week three.
Common questions from referring agents
What is your referral fee?
25%, paid broker to broker at closing, documented in a written referral agreement signed before your client and I speak.
What happens if my client buys more than one property?
The referral covers every transaction arising from the move, second purchases included, for twelve months from our first conversation with your client. Relocating buyers do sometimes buy twice, and that should not turn into a disagreement later.
Will you market to my client afterward?
Not while your side of the move is in progress, and not as part of any list or campaign during the referral period. After the move is finished and they are living here, they are simply someone in my market, the same as any other neighbor.
Can I stay involved through the process?
Yes, and it usually helps. Your client already trusts you, and having you on the calls tends to make the hard decisions easier for them rather than harder.
Do you send referrals back to California?
Yes. Clients moving west, and sellers here who need representation in California, go to the agents who work with me.
How to start a referral
Call or text 919-500-6159, or email carolyn@cteliving.com with your client’s name, the market they are leaving, their rough timeline, and what they are looking for here. The referral agreement comes back the same day, and nothing happens with your client until it is signed.
Prefer to talk first? Book a time at calendly.com/carolyn-cteliving. Agent conversations are welcome outside business hours, including on Pacific time.
Carolina Triangle Estates at Keller Williams Elite Realty
245 NC-54, Ste 101, Unit-01, Durham, NC 27713
Call or text: 919-500-6159
Email: carolyn@cteliving.com
Schedule: calendly.com/carolyn-cteliving Living starts here.
