eXp vs. Boutique for a new agent

[David Ackley]

Hey all,

I just passed my licensing exams for the state of KY and am trying to decide which broker I should hang my license with.

A bit of a unique situation because i've had the opportunity to intern with an eXp team in LA for the last 6 months who's production is in the top 1.5% nationwide.

I'd love to join the team because theyre great to work with and the value is unmatched. However; I'm having trouble determining if it's still in my best interest considering that I'll be moving across the country to KY in the beginning of March which means i'll be a solo agent with the rest of my team in California.

After interviewing with several brokerages in town I've now narrowed it down to signing on with the eXp team vs. a local high producing boutique.

I understand that the two are drastically different but having no real experience as an agent i'm finding it difficult to determine if I'll get more value & be able to scale faster while learning directly from the eXp team which seems like a great way to stand out in my small KY market considering that i'll be able to keep up with what's working in LA before my market responds to a change a year or two later.

Heres a quick rundown on how the numbers stack up:       

            eXp:                                                                                 Boutique:

Split:            - 75/25 ($8,000 cap)                                                                - 75/25 ($12,000 Cap)

CRM:           -Follow-up Boss Provided                                                      - Not Provided

Mentor:      - Assigned for 1st 3 transactions for an                              - Assigned at will, mentor receives 5% of the broker's cut

                       extra 20%

Tools provided: - Breakthrough broker, eXp suite                                - Docusign

Fee:            - $50/Month Desk fee ($600/yr)                                                           - $85/Month Cloud brokerage fee ($1,020)

Transaction Coordinator: - Yes                                                                 - No

Floor time/Phone duty:     - No                                                                 - No 

The boutique doesn't really provide any training & only has meetings every other thursday due to all of the agents being a bit older & having been in the business for years but they do seem to have a good mentorship program where I can be assigned directly to one of them who's a top producer in our market.

What would you deem more important in this given scenario?

The local support that the boutique has to offer OR the amazing training & virtual support offered with a top 1.5% exp team???

TIA

[Holly Barrett]

@Marcus Auerbach

Just my two cents. I started as a new agent with EXP and love it! It is not the best fit for everyone, but I think the training is extensive. There is so much training opportunity that the problem really becomes having a good mentor and guide to streamline and clarify critical training over the “fluff” or add on trainings that perhaps should come later while putting the foundation together in a timely fashion.

Everyone seems to share this opinion that exp focuses on recruiting. I really do not agree with that. Some do, some don’t, And only if you want to grow a team or down line of agents would you participate in those trainings. The vast majority of training is focused on the day to day business of being realtors.

That said I have seen many new agents come and go, but I suspect the same dynamic occurs at other brokerages with similar complaints being heard.

At the end of the day the brokerage is the tool and the agent must have the mindset of “I am creating my own business” and if they aren’t ready for that they definitely would want to join a team that they properly vet. Even still some teams appear amazing from the outside and once they join the looks can be deceiving! It still comes down to the agent… perhaps reading Jacko’s Extreme Ownership should be required reading for all new agents. ;)