Self-employed earnings for SEP

If a real estate partnership pays commissions to the two partners which are reported on Form 1099, is the 1099 earnings considered self employed earnings for sponsoring a SEP on behalf of each individual partner? A partner is not considered an employer for SEP purposes but a 1099 individual is considered an employer for SEP.

Are these real estate agents? If so, they are self-employed and can have their own plans on their own income from self-employment.

I generally ask if they are paying self-employment taxes on that income.  If so it should be fair game.  It's mildly eyebrow-raising that they would be getting both a 1099 and a K-1 from the same employer.