App builder

Build a referral tracker for agent-to-agent deals
and see which fees are due at closing.

Tell Netiva’s agent who you refer clients to and it builds a web app that logs each referral, keeps the signed agreement on file and shows what’s owed once the deal closes.

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Starter prompt

Build a referral tracker web app for a real estate team that sends and receives agent-to-agent referrals. Store partner agents with brokerage, license number and state, markets served and email. Log each referral as outgoing or incoming with the client, buyer or seller side, market, status and partner agent. Attach the signed referral agreement with its fee percentage and expiration date. Partner agents sign in, see only their own referrals and update status and expected closing. Show a fees-due list that marks each fee receivable or payable and works it out from the contract price, the side commission rate and the agreement percentage.

Build it in Netiva Paste the prompt into a new workspace and adjust it to your business.
Overview

Who this referral tracker is for

Referrals are some of the warmest business an agent gets, yet most live in an inbox and someone’s memory. A client relocates, you send them to an agent three states away, and eight months later nobody knows whether the house closed or where the signed agreement went. A real estate referral tracker built with Netiva keeps every outgoing and incoming referral, the partner agent, the agreement and its fee terms together. Partner agents sign in to post status updates, and a fees-due list shows what each closing owes your brokerage and what your brokerage owes out.

Key features

What your referral tracker can do

  • Outgoing and incoming referrals

    Every referral records which way it went, the client, the side they’re on and the partner agent, so what you’ve sent out and what’s been sent to you sit in separate filtered views.

    • Statuses from Sent and Accepted through Under contract and Closed
    • Saved views for outgoing, incoming and stalled referrals
    • Client side, market and team agent on each record
    • The full referral history for every partner agent

  • Signed agreements on file

    Upload the referral agreement both brokers signed and keep its fee terms, signing date and expiration next to the referral, so the terms are easy to find when the deal finally closes.

    • The signed PDF stored on each agreement record
    • Fee as a percentage or a flat amount, as the agreement states
    • Agreements nearing their expiration date listed first
    • An email reminder before an agreement lapses

  • A sign-in for partner agents

    Partner agents sign in and see only the referrals linked to them. On a referral they received they post a status, a note and an expected closing date. On one they sent you they follow progress without waiting for your next check-in call.

    • Referrals they received are theirs to update, referrals they sent are read-only
    • Status and expected closing date kept current by the partner
    • A weekly email listing each partner’s open referrals
    • Status changes emailed to the referring agent

  • Referral fees from contract to check

    The fees-due list works out each fee from the contract price, the commission rate on the receiving side and the agreement terms, then follows both what partners owe you and what you owe on referrals you took in.

    • Expected fee shown while the deal is under contract
    • Fees you are owed and fees you owe out in separate views
    • Unpaid fees flagged 30 days after the closing date
    • Year-to-date totals by partner agent and by market
Data model

The collections behind it

Netiva keeps your records in built-in collections. Here’s a starting structure — the agent adapts it to your prompt, and you can change it any time.

Partner agents

The agents you send clients to and receive clients from, in every market.

  • Name (required) Text
  • Brokerage (required) The firm that pays or receives the fee Text
  • License number Confirm it’s active on the state regulator’s lookup Text
  • License state (required) Two-letter state code Text
  • Markets served Cities, counties or ZIP codes they cover Paragraph
  • Email (required) Also the address the partner signs in with Text
  • Phone Text
  • Default fee The percentage they usually agree to, prefilled on new agreements Number

Referrals

Each client passed between your team and a partner agent, in either direction.

  • Client name (required) Text
  • Direction (required) Outgoing or incoming Text
  • Partner agent (required) Relation to Partner agents
  • Team agent (required) Who on your team sent the referral or is working it Text
  • Client side (required) Buyer, seller, tenant or landlord Text
  • Market City and state where the client is buying or selling Text
  • Status (required) Received, Sent, Accepted, In contact, Under contract, Closed, Lost, Expired Text
  • Expected closing Kept current by the receiving agent Date

Agreements

The signed referral agreement behind each referral and the fee terms it sets.

  • Referral (required) Relation to Referrals
  • Signed agreement PDF signed by both brokers File
  • Fee type (required) Percentage or flat amount Text
  • Fee value (required) Percent of the receiving side’s commission, or the flat amount Number
  • Signature status (required) Drafted, Out for signature, Fully signed Text
  • Signed on Date
  • Expires on End of the term the agreement sets — the expiry reminder only fires when this is filled in Date

Fees

The fee on each referral that reaches a contract, from the first estimate to the payment in or out.

  • Referral (required) Relation to Referrals
  • Fee direction (required) Receivable on a referral you sent out, payable on one you took in Text
  • Contract price (required) Replaced with the final sale price at closing Number
  • Side commission rate (required) Gross commission rate on the receiving agent’s side, as a percent Number
  • Fee amount (required) Worked out from the agreement; editable if final figures differ Number
  • Closed on Date
  • Payment status (required) Expected, Due, Invoiced, Received, Paid to agent, Paid out Text
  • Payment record Commission disbursement authorization, or a check copy with the account details redacted File

Required field. Types are Netiva collection field types.

Screens

Pages and screens to start with

A typical first version. Ask the agent for more, or annotate the preview to change any of them.

  • Referral board

    Open referrals in columns by status, with outgoing and incoming filters and the partner, market and expected closing date on each card.

    Your team

  • Referral detail

    One referral’s client, partner agent, signed agreement, status history and expected fee, with a button that emails the partner for an update.

    Your team

  • Partner directory

    Partner agents filtered by state and market, with their brokerage, license number, default fee and how many referrals you’ve exchanged.

    Your team

  • Partner updates

    A signed-in partner agent sees only their own referrals: on the ones they received they update status and expected closing, on the ones they sent they follow progress and the fee.

    Signed-in users

  • Fees due

    Referrals under contract or closed, split into fees partners owe you and fees you owe out, grouped by payment status with anything unpaid after 30 days at the top.

    Your team

  • Refer a client

    A public form where an out-of-area agent sends you a client: their brokerage and license, what the client needs and when, plus the client’s okay to share.

    Public
How it works

From prompt to a live referral tracker

  1. Describe your referral network

    Tell Netiva whether you mostly send referrals, receive them or both, which markets your partners cover and how fees are paid in and out. The agent drafts collections for partners, referrals, agreements and fees.

  2. Add the agents you already know

    Enter the partner agents you trade referrals with in the collection grid, then ask the collection assistant to tidy brokerage names and state codes across every row.

  3. Check what partners will see

    Open the partner updates screen and the fees-due list in the live preview. Annotate a column or button you want changed, or @mention a file, and the agent reworks it.

  4. Publish and invite partners

    Publish in one click, send partner agents the sign-in link and switch on the Monday email. If a later edit breaks the fee math, roll back to an earlier checkpoint.

Why Netiva

Netiva vs a traditional build

Building a referral tracker with Netiva compared with a traditional build
Criterion With Netiva Traditional build
Referral status updates Partners sign in to update each referral and get a weekly email listing the ones still open Calling or texting the receiving agent every few weeks to ask whether the client has bought yet
Collecting referral fees A fees-due list built from contract prices and agreement terms, with unpaid fees flagged Hoping the receiving broker remembers the agreement when the deal closes months later
Getting started Describe what you need in chat and watch it take shape in a live preview Hire developers, or stitch together templates, plugins and a hosting plan
Content and data Built-in collections with nine field types, bound straight to your pages Set up and connect a separate database or CMS
Making changes Ask the agent; every change is checkpointed and reversible File a ticket, wait for a sprint, redeploy
Hosting and domain Global hosting and automatic SSL; connect a custom domain from the Starter plan Buy hosting, then install and renew SSL certificates yourself
Code ownership Clean production code you own and can export Locked into a template, plugin or agency setup
Examples

Ways teams use it

  • A solo agent in a military town

    Clients get new orders and move every few years, so most referrals go out. Each move is logged with the receiving agent and the client’s timeline, and the fees-due list shows which ones have closed.

  • A referral-only licensee

    This agent has stopped selling but keeps the license active with a brokerage that allows referral-only work. The app tracks past clients passed to other agents, the signed agreements and which fees the broker has received.

  • A team that takes relocation referrals

    Out-of-state agents refer buyers through the public form. The team lead assigns each one to a team agent, and the referring agent signs in to follow progress until your brokerage pays the fee at closing.

Good to know

Before you build

  • Fees move broker to broker

    In many states a referral fee must be paid by the receiving brokerage to the referring agent’s brokerage, which then pays its agent. The app records who owes what and when; it doesn’t move money or decide whether a payment is allowed.

  • Check the license before a fee goes out

    Many states bar sharing a fee with someone who is unlicensed or whose license is inactive. Keep license numbers in the partner records and confirm status on the state regulator’s lookup before paying.

  • Agreements are signed elsewhere

    Netiva doesn’t include e-signature. Use the referral agreement form your brokerage or state association provides, sign it in your usual tool and upload the PDF, or connect an e-signature provider’s API.

  • Clients’ details travel with the referral

    A referral shares a client’s name and contact details with another agent. Get the client’s okay first, and tell them about the referral fee where your state or broker expects that disclosure.

Compliance note

Referral fees between licensees follow state license law and your brokerage’s policies, and RESPA permits fee splits between real estate agents and brokers only where everyone is acting in a real estate brokerage capacity. They’re usually paid broker to broker under a written agreement, and many states bar paying an unlicensed or inactive agent. The app records agreements, statuses and fees; it doesn’t make a payment compliant or replace your managing broker’s guidance.

FAQ

Questions about building a referral tracker

How do receiving agents send me updates on a referral?

They sign in to the partner updates screen with their own account and see only the referrals you sent them, each with a status, a short note and an expected closing date they can change. A Monday email reminds every partner of their open referrals with a link back, and you get an email whenever a status changes, so you stop chasing updates by phone.

How does the referral tracker work out the fee due at closing?

You describe the rule and the agent builds it. A common setup multiplies the contract price by the commission rate in the receiving side’s agreement, then by the agreement percentage — on a $400,000 sale, a 25 percent referral fee on a $12,000 side commission comes to $3,000. Commission rates are negotiated deal by deal. Flat-fee agreements skip the math, and the fee amount stays editable if the settlement statement shows different figures.

What do the rules say about paying a referral fee to someone who isn’t licensed?

State license law generally bars sharing a commission or referral fee with an unlicensed person or an agent on inactive status, and RESPA’s exemption covers cooperative brokerage and referral arrangements only between real estate agents and brokers acting in a brokerage capacity. Rules differ by state, so ask your managing broker before a fee goes out. The app can flag partner records with no license number, but it doesn’t decide what’s allowed.

Can partners sign the referral agreement inside the app?

Not with a built-in signature tool. Most agents use the referral agreement form their brokerage or state association provides, sign it in their usual e-signature service and upload the PDF to the agreement record. If your e-signature provider offers a REST API, you can ask the agent to send agreements out for signature from the referral page, with the API key stored securely.

What happens when a referral agreement expires before the client buys?

The expiration date sits on the agreement record, and a scheduled job can email you 30 days before it arrives. Whether a fee is still owed after that depends on the agreement’s wording, which the app doesn’t interpret. Many agents renew the agreement or mark the referral Expired, so the fees-due list only shows referrals that are still covered.

Can out-of-area agents send me referrals through my own website?

Yes. Ask for a public referral form where an agent enters their name, brokerage, license number and the client’s needs. Each submission becomes an incoming referral with the status Received, and the team lead gets an email. Connecting your own domain needs the Starter plan or higher, and hosting and SSL are handled automatically. See Netiva’s pricing page for current plans.

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Drafted with AI assistance from Netiva’s product pages and reviewed by the Netiva team. Example data models, screens and prompts are illustrative starting points, not customer projects.

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