Time to eat some crow - eXp Realty

[Charlie MacPherson]

Some time ago, there was a post asking for opinions on eXp Realty.  I shared in not-so-gentle terms how I had been pitched HARD by one of their agents. 

That pitch was completely focused on how I could make future income by recruiting others into my "downline".  It was like every Amway or other MLM pitch I've ever heard, and it was obnoxious.

Fast forward.

My wife and I are relocating to Maine, so I got my real estate license there (like Mass, an incredibly easy exam), and signed on with Keller Williams in April 2019.  That's where it got interesting.

I was assigned a mentor/guide of sorts.  Nice guy, but he's a young kid who just got his real estate license a few months ago. Now I'm not the world's foremost expert, but I've been in sales and sales management for decades.  I've built and lead sales teams across North America and I've been full time in real estate for over 5 years now.

He's very good at posting on Facebook to promote KW, but failed at virtually every commitment he made to me.  Missed meetings, missed conference calls, unanswered emails - and if I wanted to talk with him, I had to schedule an appointment online. 

It finally came to a head yesterday as I was writing an offer for our new home in Maine.

I asked for somewhat urgent support as the offer forms, terms and procedures in Maine are somewhat different than in Mass.  I was writing an offer in a competitive situation and needed help immediately.  I was promised a phone call at 3:10 PM, which, unsurprisingly, never came.

I saw this coming and had decided to start interviewing other brokerages a few weeks ago.  I evaluated five, comparing fees, commission splits, caps, expenses, tools offered and who would be available for support.

On a sample sale with a $2000 gross commission, here's what I found as the net commission to me:

Better Homes & Gardens - $1130
KW - $1316
Bean Group - $1351
VHB (small regional) - $1400
eXp - $1510

So it's time to eat some crow. 

As much as I was put off by the initial pitch and had a seriously bad taste left in my mouth, I had a couple of long conversations with the Designated Broker and signed on with eXp yesterday.

It's simply a better financial decision for me - and it turns out that crow doesn't taste all that bad when chased with a nice single-malt Islay scotch!

[Mike Cumbie]

@Marian Huish There are higher ones as well :) The business model works well. You find them something under 50K, they fix it and you sell it for them at 150K when done. Other agents wont touch those properties. Then cry when they don't have anything in the pipeline. You also get to find buyers in advance, get an agreement and the flipper let's them choose colors and things. Never makes it to the MLS. Sure you only get 1200 -1500 up front, but sometimes you get to double end the backend for 8- 9000. Of course you make agreements with investors for different rates with minimal advertising costs. (All sides being fully disclosed of course). Our average home sale is only $120,000. If we had a bunch of 300,000 houses it would be different (There wouldn't be a bunch of sub 50K properties)

Like I said though, not a conducive model to a per transaction fee brokerage agreement.

@David Bell

Looking at the U.S Presentation on the join EXP presentation slide 32. It says I go down to an 80/20 until I hit 16,000 cap and in little notes there is a $250 transaction fee that is capped at $5000 then goes to $75 a transaction. 

Not trying to disparage EXP at all, it just does not appear based on where I am at now vs where I would be to be worth it for me to leave. For many agents in my market it would most likely be a good option to look at. I don't have a cap to reach either. I am a 95/5 on January 1st and a 95/5 on December 31st. Selling and moving sub 50K properties at an 80/20 makes you slow down on those as well. 

I honestly wish everyone at EXP great success. It just doesn't fit my model. Which is absolutely OK.