I recently got my loan officer license and joined One REAL Mortgage with their REAL Originate program, and it completely changed how I look at the opportunities inside a transaction.
In this article, I’m going to break down why I did it, the 3 additional streams of income available to agents who do, and the biggest benefits to your clients for you doing it.
What is REAL Originate?
REAL Originate is a program by One REAL Mortgage that allows real estate agents to unlock three additional streams of income into their businesses by getting their Loan Officer licence and becoming loan originators at One REAL Mortgage.
With this program, they are then partnered with an experienced Internal Loan Officer Partner.
The agent’s role is to originate the loan. This means they send the loan application to their clients and answer questions they may have during the application process.
After the client’s information is inputed, the loan is “originated” and then passed off to the Internal Loan Officer Partner, who then processes and sets up the loan, locks in the rate, and coordinates the closing.
With the REAL Originate Program, the Agent will earn .5% of the loan amount in addition to their buyer agent commission.
They can also earn commission by originating refinance loans with their past clients.
EXAMPLE: If you close 2x $500k loans, your .5% would be an additional $5,000 in addition to your real estate commission.
If over the course of a year, you originated 10x $500,000 loans, you would add an additional $25,000 to your annual income, while working with the exact same number of buyers.
Passive Income For Attracting Other REAL Originate Agents
The second stream of income available to agents with REAL Originate is what they call their Level Up Program, which financially rewards agents for every loan originated by agents you bring into the company and mentor, going down 5 levels.
For every agent you directly sponsor into the REAL Originate program, you will earn 12 BPS (Basis Points) for every loan they originate. This is equivalent to .12% of the loan amount.
So if they originate a $500,000 loan, they will earn $2,500, and you will earn $600.
This is applies to both purchases and refinances.
A big difference between this and REAL’s revenue share program is that revenue share stops after an agent caps. With REAL Originate, there are no limits to how many loans you can earn from.
So if your tier 1 agent were to close a $500,000 loan through One REAL Mortgage every month for an entire year, they would make $30,000, and you would make $7,200 for sponsoring them into the company.
Earn On 5 Tiers
Not only that, but you can actually earn on an unlimited number of loans from any agents they bring in, going down 5 tiers.
On a tier 2 agent, you will earn 8 BPS, or .08% of the loan amount. On a $500,000 loan, this is $400.
On a tier 3 agent, you will earn 3 BPS, or .03% of the loan amount. On a $500,000 loan, this is $150
On a tier 4 agent, you will earn 2 BPS, or .02% of the loan amount. On a $500,000 loan, this is $100.
On a tier 5 agent, you will earn 1.5 BPS, or .015% of the loan amount. On a $500,000 loan, this is $75.
Use my REAL Originate Level Up Calculator to see how much you could be earning.
Unlocking Additional Tiers
Similar to REAL’s revenue share program, you do need to unlock the benefits of tiers 2-5. You do this by having a certain number of producing originators or Loan Officers in your tier 1.
5 to unlock your tier 2
10 to unlock your tier 3
15 to unlock your tier 4
20 to unlock your tier 5
2 Additional Paths To Free Stock With Originate Loans
The second stream of income the REAL Originate Program offers is REAL stock awards. There are two paths for earning free stock with REAL Originate.
$15,000 Stock Award: If you close $20M in volume through REAL Mortgage, you will be awarded $15,000 RSUs in REAL stock.
$500 Stock Award: If an agent or lender you sponsor into REAL Originate closes a transaction in their first 90 days, you will be awarded $500 RSUs in REAL stock.
Benefits To Your Clients
There are a few benefits to your clients for your participation in the REAL Originate program.
First, One REAL Mortgage is currently offering a $1,500 closing cost credit for any client who uses a REAL Agent and REAL Mortgage (This promotion may change)
One REAL Mortgage shops at 24 different lenders to find the best rates for your clients.
Your clients will also have a more seamless experience working with an agent and lender at the same company who are both using the same platform.
Because of the back-end efficiencies of the agent and lender using the same platform, REAL Mortgage can provide a clear to close far faster. They have provided them in as little as 14 days.
Your clients will also be working with a 5-star company with over 1,200 positive reviews on Google.
Frequently Asked Questions About REAL Originate
Q: How am I paid?
A: REAL Originate actually pays you as W2 employees, not as 1099 independent contractors.
Q: Are there any other requirements?
Yes, because it costs them money to have your LO license with them, they want agents to have closed at least 6 buy-side deals in the previous 12 months, so they know you are at least generating opportunities to refer clients to ORM.
Q: Is this legal?
A: Yes. This is fully legal and compliant with RESPA and all other regulations. The REAL Originate agents are fully licensed MLOs and participating in the loan process, which entitles them to a commission.
Q: What states can join REAL Originate?
A: REAL Mortgage’s goal is to be in all 50 states + DC, as of March 2026 we are in the following states: CT, PA, NJ, DE, MD, VA, NC, SC, GA, TN, AL, MS, FL, OH, MI, IL, WI, MN, LA, TX, CO, AZ, CA, OR, WA, MN. Check One REAL Mortgage website for the most up-to-date list.
If One REAL Mortgage is not available in your state, you can help us open in your state by finding an experienced loan officer in production to open up the state for REAL Mortgage.
Q: Do I have to be a loan officer to participate?
Yes. You need to be a licensed loan officer to join the REAL Originate program. It’s easier to get licensed than you think. However, you will be fulfilling the role of a Loan Originator, not Loan Officer. This means your role will only be to get the loans started and the Loan Officer you partner with will do all the backend work.
Q: How do I get my Loan Officer license?
You need to complete 20 hours of continuing education and pass the SAFE exam to become a licensed loan officer. Because there is a large overlap between agent and lender, real estate agents tend to find the test and classes pretty easy. I have more content coming that will walk you through this process step by step.
Q: How do I join REAL Originate?
To join the REAL Originate program, you need to first get your Loan Officer licence. Check out my step-by-step guide to joining REAL Originate for help.
Q: What’s the next step to Join REAL Originate?
If you want to learn more, schedule a 1-on-1 video call with me. I’ll walk you through what you need to do next, give you my advice, and help you join One REAL Mortgage after you are issued your license.
Schedule a 1-on-1 call with me here. I will answer all your questions, tell you about my experience and we can even start the first few steps together on the call.
