There is no published rate card for this role. Coordinators price independently, and what you are quoted depends on your market, your volume and how much of the work you are handing over. What follows is the shape of the market and, more usefully, how to do the arithmetic on your own numbers.
The three pricing models
| Model | Typical shape | Works when |
|---|---|---|
| Per closed file | A flat fee per transaction that closes, commonly in the low-to-mid hundreds of dollars | Volume is modest or uneven, and you want cost to track revenue |
| Per contract | A fee per file opened, whether or not it closes — usually lower per file | Your fall-through rate is low and you want the work covered regardless |
| Employed or retained | A salary or a monthly retainer, with overhead on top for an employee | Volume is high and steady enough to keep one person busy |
What pushes the price up
- Scope. Listing-side coordination, compliance packaging and client communication each add work.
- Your systems. A coordinator working out of your inbox and a spreadsheet costs more per file than one working in a transaction system, because it takes longer.
- Your responsiveness. A coordinator who has to chase you is doing two jobs.
- Market complexity. Association-heavy inventory, new construction and unusual financing all add hours.
- Volume commitment. Per-file rates usually come down with a steady pipeline.
The costs that are not in the quote
Files that do not close
On a per-closing model the coordinator works terminated contracts for free, which is priced into their rate. On a per-contract model you pay for them directly. Either way, your fall-through rate is part of the cost.
Onboarding
The first few files are slower and involve more of your time. Hiring a person means teaching them your preferences; this is real and it is rarely counted.
Software they still need
A coordinator is not a substitute for a system of record. If the answer to "where does this document live" is still "an email thread", you have bought labour, not leverage.
Coverage
One person takes holidays and gets ill. Per-file coordinators usually have a bench; an employee has you.
Working out your own break-even
The comparison worth doing is not "TC versus software" in the abstract — it is your own annual volume against two cost curves. One is linear in closings; the other is flat.
Count closings, not contracts
Take last twelve months of actual closings. Use the real number, not the one in your business plan.
Multiply by the per-file quote
That is the annual coordinator cost at a per-closing rate. Twenty closings at $400 is $8,000.
Put the software cost beside it
A per-agent system is flat regardless of volume — Nexus is $500 a year per agent, with the AI coordinator included and no per-transaction fee. See pricing.
Then price what is left
Software does not make judgment calls or pick up the phone. If you need a person for those, the right comparison is software plus a smaller coordinator scope — which is usually cheaper than either alone.
| Closings a year | Per-file coordinator | Flat per-agent software | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | $2,400 | $500 | $1,900 |
| 12 | $4,800 | $500 | $4,300 |
| 24 | $9,600 | $500 | $9,100 |
| 40 | $16,000 | $500 | $15,500 |
Questions to ask before you sign
- What exactly is in scope, listing side and buy side?
- Per contract or per closing, and what happens when a file falls through?
- What systems do you work in, and do I provide them?
- What will you send without asking me first, and what will you never send?
- Who covers you when you are away?
- How do you track deadlines, and what happens when one changes?
- How many files are you carrying right now?
The honest answer on software
Software wins on cost at almost any volume, and it is not close. What it does not do is exercise judgment, handle an unusual case, or be a human voice to a nervous client at nine on a Friday night. Most agents in the six-to-thirty-deal band are better served by a system than a hire; above that, the question is usually both — and the coordinator you hire is worth more when they are not doing data entry.
Questions
Commonly in the low-to-mid hundreds of dollars per closed transaction, varying by market and scope. There is no standard rate; ask two or three locally.
If you are missing deadlines or turning down business, yes — something has to absorb the work. Whether it should be a person or a system depends on your volume and on whether the work you are offloading needs judgment.
Arrangements where a coordination fee appears on the settlement statement exist, but they depend on disclosure and on local practice and brokerage policy. Ask your managing broker before assuming it.
$50 per agent per month or $500 per year, flat, with unlimited transactions and the AI coordinator included. At twenty closings a year that is a fraction of a per-file coordinator — and it is a different purchase, not a replacement for judgment.