" I also wouldn't feel comfortable passing on that lead to another agent for a referral fee."

You are missing out on some easy money!  Anyone with an IDX on their website will have listings from a large area for viewers to look at. And, they will all show you as the contact person (under Broker Reciprocity). If you have an IDX, what are you doing with someone asking about one of those listings? When I get a lead from an area I don't physically service, I set them up on auto-listing updates and once they are ready to start looking at some of the properties I simply tell them that I will have a colleague meet them to show them homes in that area. I then call one of the listing agents who have always been anxious and willing to show their listings and pay me a referral fee.

I have agents in my area that think this way too, BUT:

1) some people moving into the area don't care that much exactly which city they are going to end up in they are just looking for the right neighbourhood and house. i.e. early retirees. Showing what is in the region could be helpful.

2) people looking to move away might use your web site to find these distant houses as they first start to think about moving and will have you list their house where you are and maybe get the referral as well. I don't know about you but I usually earn my referral fee because picking an agent that you might not know requires some research to make sure that your client is looked after so that you get that fee.

There are a couple of items you should concider here. One the multi listings look like yours and some buyers think you have all those listings and must be doing good. After explaining it to some buyers I just say we are just networking together to help clients sell their homes. It's a win win situation for everyone. A lot of buyers come from out of town. Secondly why turn down money that you can make simple by calling the listing agent and sending out a referal form.

A lot of agent in our office hold license in Florida and sell in both areas. You have to use your license to your advantage and make the most of it. Networking is a great tool!

I do not want listings on my website outside my service area. If there was one on my site and I did not want to service it, I'd have them call the listing agent directly without asking/initiating any type of referral fee.

Referral fees used to be 20%, now, some are asking 35%, which I think is unreasonable.

I display on my site handshake listings from all areas available. The more there is, the better. For the local communities, I have separate pages set up to display just those listings. As to the "far-away" areas, I'd take my time to do the research and refer out the prospect ... If I am to spend time working on my website and as a result it brings clients in, why not collect my paycheck?

Carol and Steve

I do place handshake lisitngs from outside my selling area and even in other provinces as a result of handshake contacts elsewhere in Canada.

I set up separate pages for these cities and rotate the cities from time to time. People move, they move a lot in Canada and U.S.A.

Philip

There are Brokers in our trading area who restrict their sales associates from participating in Handshake but they do not realize that they are hurting their associates, themselves, but most of all, their clients by limiting exposure on their listings. It's an added selling feature when you can tell tell your listing prospects that their home will be promoted through the Point 2 Agent Community. After all, the market today is global and you never know where the buyer may originate from. We have buyers relocating from all over the world to work in our oil industry and expatriate Newfoundlanders who return home and want to find property in their hometowns. If I get inquiries on rural properties outside our trading area, I refer them on to associates who work these areas for a referral fee. the only associates I do not participate in Handshake with are those restricted by their Broker, those with poor or inaccurate site content, and those with a low Performance Index.

I always accept all handshakes even from those who will not show my listings. Referrals are great and very easy to get if you are advertising enough homes. I have a listing now that a point2 member has referred a potential buyer to me directly since the buyer saw my listing on their site and the agent does not work here. I figure even if they do not buy mine they will probably buy a different one with me anyways. Think of it like this. If you had someone ask you to get them the name of an agent in a state you had no contacts in wouldn't you get online and make a few calls to find them one?

Carol,

I share your trepidation as regards this type of referral.  When I do little more than pass off the name and phone number of a buyer/seller with whom I have no working relationship to another agent, I do not ask for any compensation.  I'm up front with them and let them know exactly what I do and do not know about the person.  If I have an established relationship of professional (and/or personal) trust with the prospect then I ask for compensation.... but for a "name and number"????

Having been on the receiving end of a number of these type referrals, I have to question their value.  Now, I am not suggesting there is NO value in the "name and contact info" of a potential customer.... but 20% to 30% of the commission???? (Maybe a few hundred bucks) Typically, these "referrals" aren't much better than making a cold call.  

The scenario often goes like this:

Agent calls and tells me they are working with a buyer that needs to sell their home in Jacksonville.  Would I be interested in paying a 25% referral for the contact?  Sure, send the paperwork to my broker and I will contact them immediately.  (Paper work is completed and I get the contact info.)

I place the call:  "Hello, Mr. Seller, this is Tim Fennell.  Mr. BuyerAgent in Miami asked me to call you regarding selling your home in Jacksonville.  Is now a good time to talk?"

Seller:  "Who? What? Huh?"

Me:  (I go through the scenario of how I got their name, etc. again)

Seller:  "I'm sorry. I met with 3 different agents in Miami.  I do remember one of them asking if I planned to sell my home in Jacksonville but....  you say it was a man?  We only met one male agent and he didn't even show us any houses.  He was kind of creepy to tell you the truth."

Me:  "Oh, I'm sorry.  I don't know him, personally but he told me that you were expecting my call.  Again, I apologize and don't want to be intrusive.  However, if you are planning to sell your home, do you mind giving me a few minutes of your time to discuss your needs and try to determine if I can assist you?"

Well, it typically goes downhill from there BUT if the contact is indeed even planning to sell and hasn't already decided on a listing agent I can often get an appointment with them (often they tell me they are just "thinking" about moving.... in a few years, yada, yada....).  The appointment then becomes a typical situation where I am competing with several other agents.  I did not get 'in the door' because of the referral.... all I got was a name and number - not a REFERRAL.

My chances of winning that listing are NO HIGHER because of the "referral" than they would be otherwise.... but now I'm at a slight disadvantage because I owe the referring agent 25% of my earnings. (I need to up my commission a quarter point to cover that cost.)  And for what?  

Frankly, I've started turning down referrals unless I have reasonable assurance that the prospect is expecting my call and I have a 'foot in the door' already because of the relationship already established with their referring agent.  

I fully expect that I must still "earn" the opportunity but for me to give up that much money, the referral ought to at least make the job a bit easier.

That's my 2 cents.