Why Join eXp Realty - What Pushed Me Over the Cliff

Why I joined eXp Realty

I got pitched eXp 83 times before I finally joined. Heck, I am sure I was one of those eXp Realty Negative Reviews! I was SO tired of the eXp Realty Pitch… It gets really annoying when people pressure you when you aren’t soliciting their opinion. I have mentioned this before, but really find this as one of the most annoying things about the company. That being said, again… I get it. This mindset has made a lot of people in this company multi multi multi-millionaires… That is How eXp Realty Works.

I joined eXp when I was ready to. I reached out to (what ended up being my sponsor) the agent with questions… My sponsor abruptly joined eXp. He was an independent agent with a large and VERY successful company. I was at his office a month earlier for a Mastermind. When he joined, it turned my head. And made me pick up the phone and call him to say “what the heck, I thought eXp Realty is Bad?”… That is when I think I had my first very real conversation about the eXp opportunity.

Revenue Share that my wife can inherit

I had been talked to… or maybe it was talked AT numerous times about the virtues of eXp. It’s amazing because no one ever took the time to learn what was important to me. If they had, then they probably would have been able to better articulate the virtues of eXp.

To understand me, you first need to understand that my father passed away when he was 50 years old. Whether right or wrong, this has been something that has hung over me for the better part of my life. One of my biggest fears is leaving this world and leaving my young family unsecure. While I do have life insurance, because my Dad died so young… It is VERY expensive.

Back to the agent I called. I asked him why he is leaving the Real Estate Bliss of being independent and going to eXp. That’s when the conversation that had happened 82 other times started and continued “eXp is amazing… All eXp Realty Bad Reviews are Bull”…BLAH BLAH BLAH… Then somewhere in the conversation that I wasn’t a 100% listening to he mentioned that “the Revenue Share can be inherited by your spouse”. He said it as if it was almost a footnote and didn’t really matter. I stopped him and told him to “back this train up and unpack this please”.

He explained that any revenue share that I build up not only acts like a pension while I am alive (which I knew), but one that my wife could inherit it. As I mentioned earlier, God taking me early and leaving my family without the resources to continue to live the life they have become accustomed to is my biggest fear. At this point I stopped the conversation (because I had heard it all) and asked him the next steps in signing up.

People talked AT me for nearly two years about the stock and the revenue share and how great it is… BLAH BLAH BLAH. Then someone just fell on the nerve that is my biggest fear… I had filled out the application within 15 minutes after our call.

Reduced amount in fees

As I have mentioned before, I am a High D personality. Pretty much everything is calculated and is a dollar and sense calculation.

At RE/MAX I paid a TON in fees. What is crazy was RE/MAX was the place with the lowest cost of operation (aside from going independent before eXp came around). My team was on track of paying $100,000 the year I left RE/MAX. I pay $22,000 a year all in at eXp. All things being equal in running the same business, that is a savings of $78,000 a year. Is eXp Realty Worth it? The savings don’t lie.

Low enough monthly fee to have agents on team pay

Being a team at RE/MAX is tough. The monthly fees are quite frankly a killer. All the risk of bringing on a new agent really fell on the team, not the franchise, regional franchise or the international organization.

I know the amount per agent varies per region for RE/MAX, but it was about $300 a month per agent. So a team of 10 would be $3,000 a month in regional fees (before the independent franchise fees). Not to mention a lot of times it can take 6 months to figure out if a new agent has what it really takes and whether they will “make it”. That is $1,800 in regional fees. Like I said, I as the team leader at RE/MAX carried all the risk! eXp Realty Massachusetts changed all of that. Those numbers make it very difficult to grow a team.

At eXp the monthly fee is $85. This fee is small enough that I find you can very easily pass it along to the agent rather then the team being saddled with the monthly fee. I believe this alone makes it easier for a team to grow. The eXp Realty Brokerage model works very well for teams.

Stock

Stock. Everyone talks about the stock. eXp Realty Stock this. Stock that. eXp agents are singing its praises. Competing agents are saying it is worthless or that it will be worthless or that the three years while it vests are worthless. Whatever.

As I mentioned earlier, the stock was not the reason I joined eXp Realty. This has however turned out to be a great bonus. But people could have talked to me until they were blue in the face about the stock and I would have never moved… It just wasn’t enough to motivate me (And for the record I am an ICON Agent who receives the yearly grants).

While it did not factor into the reason why I moved, it was a positive factor when weighing the opportunity. After 10 years at RE/MAX and having won all the awards up to Hall of Fame (I believe the next one was Circle of Excellence where I had to be there for 25 years)… I had been given zero ownership in the company. I bled the Balloon… Heck, I was even a franchise owner at one point! I knew that my next 10 years at RE/MAX would result in $0 in equity being given to me at RE/MAX.

So I evaluated the eXp program. I figured worst case scenario the stock goes down to $0 (which would mean that I would be going independent or back to RE/MAX) and I would be exactly where I was if I stayed at RE/MAX.

I also figured that if I was granted $16,000 in stock (at the time I thought you got $16,000 in stock for hitting ICON which isn’t true. It’s really $12,000 if you do the culture requirement. You can get another $2,000 per conference you attend for up to $16,000) for 10 years and the stock didn’t appreciate then I would have $160,000 in stock ($112,000 of which would be vested). So $112,000 of vested stock at eXp Realty vs. $0 at RE/MAX after 10 years.

I never dreamed or put into my calculation the eXp stock appreciating…. Let alone like it has. The first shares I was originally granted were at $8 a share. The stock has since split and is now worth a LOT more. In one year, worth of ICON stock awards, I could fully fund my kid’s college education. And for the record, I have not bought one single share of eXp stock. Working for eXp Realty has been a good thing for my family.

Speed of getting paid

Money management is essential when it comes to running a small business. We need revenue and we need that revenue when it is generated. At RE/MAX I felt I was always waiting for my checks (Heck, when I owned the brokerage I think I was the worst at paying myself…Everyone else got paid first!).

At eXp Realty Massachusetts we are paid by wire transfer (My wife LOVES not having to go to the bank for each check) and within two business days after the file has all the necessary paperwork loaded into skyslope. It is also better than music to my ears not having the agents on my team complain about them not receiving their commissions in a timely fashion….

If you are curious to know more about eXp Realty and are looking to have an honest conversation talking about eXp Realty Prose and Cons, then it would be a pleasure to do so. Obviously, our conversation is 100% confidential. eXp is not an opportunity for everyone and I think within a 15-minute conversation we could figure out if doing a cost benefit analysis of your current brokerage and eXp makes sense. You can reach me by email at [email protected] or go to BookChubb.com. Our office number is 617-480-2600.

If you fell on this site and were really looking for an application, then Click here to go to the eXp Realty Application. And if you are interested in eXp Realty and don’t have a sponsor, then it would be a pleasure to chat with you!

Other Articles on eXp Realty that May Interest You:
-        eXp Realty Bad Review – What I Don’t Like About eXp
-        Is eXp Realty Really Worth It? Why I Decided to Stay
-        Lies Being Told About and By eXp