All Forum Posts by: Charlie Cameron

Congrats on taking the plunge @Donald C Cox!  

As an agent who started new at eXp, I got SO much more than I expected from it.  I joined just because I needed a part time friendly option and found so much value, community, collaboration, and opportunity for growth that it's moving me toward my goals faster than before.  

There is a long list of pros, not a lot of cons except ONE: it isn't always the best model for new agents who want to go full time.  It's great for investors, perfect for part timers, awesome for experienced agents, built for broker/owners and teams, but the only category it isn't always the best fit for is the newbies who want to go full time.  

I say that because there is so much value, training, etc., that sometimes it's easy to get lost or overwhelmed.  And while you are assigned a local mentor to walk you through the first few transactions, you don't usually have an office to go in to.  You can get support in so many ways (support staff, sponsor, broker, mentor) but the mostly digital format doesn't fit everyone.  

If you like to hustle and you like technology, you can do great!  You can be successful anywhere with enough hustle and support - and fail anywhere without it.  For me, eXp is ENABLING me to go full time, as well as help other newbies do the same.    

Happy Hustling!

@Trent Hardy howdy! I only own one long term rental in the area but there are a lot of BRRRR type activities here. While you CAN do okay with smaller townhome style long term rentals in FWB, BRRRRs tend to be a lot more profitable (and in some cases necessary to have a decent cash flowing rental). Also a great short term rental market from Okaloosa island FWB through PCB.

Our team runs an investor meetup (search Niceville meetup) once a month. Would love to see you there! 

@Mark Ham if all you desire to do is use your license for your own flips and don't think you'll need any support, training or other opportunities (serve other clients, nationwide referrals, build an agent team, etc.), then you can search for a fee only based brokerage to hang your license at.  Just realize you'll have very few avenues for support. To me it's less about saving a buck or two and more about what value do I get - that's true for just about everything I approach in life and real estate!  There ARE a few good part time options where you can get high value of support, training, mentorship, and opportunities without breaking the bank or feeling like your broker doesn't care because you are a part timer.  I was in the same boat and thought I'd only use my license for investing but have found to much more fun and opportunity from it.  You might find the same!

@Aaron Louis The right brokerage really depends on your goals.  What do you plan to accomplish with your license?

@Matt Brock Just to add on to what Marian said, yes you CAN keep your office, branding, etc., you and your whole team would just be brokered by eXp. Think of it as a partnership. This is actually how eXp started to support teams. You’d still be on the hook for office overhead unless you want to switch to shared spaces.

@Kevin Mele What are your goals with your real estate license? For example, I needed the flexibility to start part time so that drove my decision, plus I wanted it to be investor friendly and provide growth opportunities. What are your goals/desires for using your license?

@Harrison Sharp Got it.  You want more growth as well as a 10K raise.  I like to think in terms of value and abundance. I can see how paying $12K a year for no value would be frustrating.  You SHOULD be getting a TON of value for that.  And you can.  You have two paths you can walk: forgo support entirely and jump to a fee only option.  You can make some more commission there and grow your own business but that's it.  You're not going to get support, training, tools, or multiple different avenues for growth in different ways.  The other path is still paying a cap but actually getting the value you seek.

If you take the abundance mindset, you can pair up with a place that provides value and figure out how to make up for the cap.  For example:

• Generate just a few more clients per year to make up the cost
• Generate leads and start a team, splitting commission with those agents that don't know how or don't want to do lead gen (and as an added bonus, you can get others to cover the cost of the ads)
• Become a top producer and get your entire cap back
• Get your cap back for growing the company by just a just a handful agents
• Use a national referral network to either get a few more clients or get a few more referral checks by finding agents for clients out of your market

Just some ideas for ya.  Best of luck in your search, happy to help if I can.  Cheers!

@Harrison Sharp You're doing pretty well already as as part timer.  I guess my question for you is, why the switch?  It doesn't sound like you're having any issues, unless what you're looking for (based off what you said) is either access to more training or opportunity for more growth.  

I certainly believe there are more opportunities for growth at a larger brokerage firm.  I don't know much about REAL.  I ended up at eXp for the need to train, get support, and have a mentor outside of work hours so that when I was taking time off it was for showings, appointments and contracts - activities directly related to serving clients.  But I've learned the benefits are certainly much greater with a national/global referral network, opportunities to work with other agents and even trade investment deals with that network, now I can learn the commercial side, the ability to build a local team without a broker's license, revenue share is an interesting income stream where you succeed when you help the organiation you build succeed, the ability to earn your cap back as a top producer, etc.  I don't think I could have done everything I've done anywhere else, but not everyone wants all that.  

So that brings me back to: what do YOU want and what are YOUR goals?  

@Joshua Shamah Why not find some fee only or cloud based brokerage where you really can just build your own business but use the resources when/if you want to?

@Eric B. What do you mean exactly? Link you up with wholesale deals? Get a copy of a buyer’s contract used with a wholesaler? They are usually custom per wholesaler. What would you need it for?