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Q:  “I have an agent with my brokerage who has expressed interest in creating a real estate team with an agent at another firm.  Is that allowed?”

A:  No, a real estate team cannot be composed of agents from different firms. Virginia Code section 54.1-2100 defines a real estate team as two or more individuals, one or more of whom is a real estate salesperson or broker, who (i) work together as a unit within the same brokerage firm, (ii) represent themselves to the public as working together as one unit, and (iii) designate themselves by a fictitious name. Agents from different brokerages, therefore, cannot come together to form a real estate team. Agents must be affiliated with the same firm, and meet the other statutory criteria, to qualify as a team. 

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