Agents ask us this more than almost anything else: if I send you a lead, what happens to my commission?
It's a fair question. It's actually the right question. And I'd rather answer it plainly than let the uncertainty sit there and become a reason nobody calls.
Here's what working with Redfern actually looks like from an agent's side — what we protect, what we can't promise, and where the relationship gets complicated (because it does, sometimes).
The Commission Question, Answered Directly
When an agent brings us a property — a seller who's inherited a 1960s rancher in Cape May Court House, say, or a family trying to figure out what to do with a dated Cape in a flood zone — that agent stays in the deal. We're not trying to work around anyone. We don't operate that way, and honestly, we couldn't build the referral relationships we rely on if we did.
The structure depends on what the property becomes. If we purchase the home outright, the selling side commission is what it is — same as any transaction. If the owner wants to joint venture instead of sell, meaning they stay on title and share in the upside of a new build, then the agent's position shifts a little. There's no traditional sale commission on a JV because there's no traditional sale. What we do in those cases is talk through a referral arrangement at the front end. That conversation happens before anything is signed.
We evaluate most submissions within 48 hours. So the turnaround from "I have a client who might be interested" to "here's what we'd offer" is fast. Agents aren't waiting three weeks to give their client an answer.
(The one thing I'd say to any agent reading this: if commission protection is your first concern, bring it up on the first call. Not the second. First. We'd rather set expectations clearly than have anyone feel blindsided later.)
What the JV Track Actually Means for Your Client
Joint ventures aren't for every seller. They're not even for most sellers.
But for the right family — the one that's been holding a tired 1950s cottage on a bay-view block for thirty years and can't quite stomach giving it away in a soft season — the JV can be a genuinely different outcome than a traditional sale.
The structure we use typically involves the owner contributing the land, us contributing construction capital and management, and the net profit at sale being split — typically 25% to 50% depending on how the deal is structured. From demolition to a sale-ready new build runs approximately six months. That's not a weekend project. Your client needs to understand that the money doesn't come fast.
And here's the thing I always say that probably undercuts my own pitch: some owners are better off selling. If someone needs liquidity now, or if the property has complications that would eat into the upside — a flood zone issue, a title situation, a setback that limits what can be built — sometimes a clean sale is just the smarter move. We'll say that. We've said it.
There are also scenarios where an aged shore home is too far gone structurally to make a JV pencil at all. Agents who send us those properties aren't wasting our time — we evaluate everything and respond honestly — but I don't want anyone walking into a client meeting thinking every old house on a bay block is a JV candidate. It isn't. The most common mistakes owners make with aged shore homes often show up in exactly the properties where a JV conversation starts to feel appealing.
How We Actually Work Together
Jim Colahan leads every project. That's not a tagline — he personally coordinates from the initial evaluation through construction decisions. Agents who bring us a property aren't handing off to a project manager they've never met. They're talking to the same person through the whole thing.
We're a family-owned company. Forty-plus years in this market. Over 150 builds along the Jersey Shore. The referral relationships we have with agents have been built over years of doing exactly what we said we would do.
That said — here's the friction — we are slower to make some decisions than a cash flipper would be. We're not a fix-and-flip operation. Our builds are finished products: engineered hardwood, composite decking, quartz countertops, epoxy grout in wet areas. When space permits, larger islands. When overhangs allow, front porches. When the client wants it, warm-tone LVP throughout. This is not a six-week renovation. It's a ground-up build with a finish level that competes at the top of the resale market, and that takes time. If your client needs to close in three weeks and move on, we can often still purchase outright and close in as little as 10 days — or on their timeline — but the JV track is not that.
Agents who've worked with us before understand the pace. For agents who are newer to the relationship: the 48-hour evaluation window is real, the 10-day close on a direct purchase is real, the six-month JV timeline is real.
If you're advising a family trying to decide between holding, selling, or rebuilding, the earlier you loop us in, the more options we can actually walk through together. Waiting until a listing is live and sitting limits everyone's choices.
One more thing that doesn't get said enough: agents who work with us on JVs often get to the listing side too. The new build has to sell when it's done. That's a listing. It doesn't automatically go to the referring agent — we don't make promises we can't keep — but it's a conversation we have, and we have it honestly.
What that looks like for your specific client, on a specific block, in a specific price range —
Tell us what you're working with and we'll evaluate it within 48 hours. Start here.