United Real Estate is one of the bigger brokerages in Louisville. RealTrends lists its Louisville operation with 261 active agents across two offices and 1,462 transaction sides in 2025. Nationally, United has grown mostly by merging other brokerages into it.

United's pitch is the flat-fee model: agents keep 100% of their commission and pay a monthly fee plus a flat fee on each closing, with the amounts set by each local office. If you're at United, or you're thinking about it, here's an honest way to look at that model next to ours.

Flat fee is about cost. Ask what the cost buys.

A flat-fee brokerage is built around one idea: you bring your own business, and the brokerage stays out of your pocket. If you have a big sphere and a full pipeline, that can work.

But the fee is only half the math. The other half is what you get for it. Here's the question I'd ask any brokerage, including mine: if I pay you this, how many deals do you help me close that I wouldn't have closed on my own?

Run your own numbers

Take your last 12 months. Add up what you paid your brokerage in monthly fees and per-deal fees. Then count how many of your closings came from leads, buyers, or listings the brokerage handed you. If that number is zero, you're paying for a license holder and a desk, and that's fine if it's what you want.

For context: one extra closing on a $250,000 house at a 3% commission is $7,500. Two extra a year is $15,000. That's the number a brokerage has to beat, not just the fee.

What's included at Winner Realty

• Leads every morning. We own a data company, Property Partner, so our agents get residential and commercial leads in their inbox at 6:30 a.m. When a lead we hand you closes, there's a referral fee to the company. On business you bring yourself, our $595 plan has no split at all.
• A buyer list most brokerages don't have. Our private investor marketplace, OffMarket.deals, has 70,000+ buyers. Your listings can go in front of them, plus a shout-out in my newsletter.
• Commercial deals in-house. Anything with two or more units is commercial here, and Winner Commercial backs you on it.
• Three plans: $595 a month and keep 100%, $100 a month on an 85/15 split, or $50 a month on a 60/40 split for newer or part-time agents. Every plan is $295 per closed deal plus a one-time $100 setup.
• Contract-to-close help on every deal, and a 15-minute response rule when you text us.

The real question

If you only want the lowest possible fee and you'll never need anything from your brokerage, shop on price. If you want a brokerage that puts deals in front of you every morning, let's talk.

Grab a time with me at robbergeron.youcanbook.me or see all three plans at thewinnerrealty.com/join.

— Rob Bergeron, Owner–Realtor, Winner Realty

Sources: RealTrends Verified, United Real Estate Louisville profile; RISMedia on United's 100%-commission model; RealTrends on United's merger growth.