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1 Year After Leaving eXp Realty for REAL – Was It Worth It? · Massive Agent Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_01: One year ago today, after six years, I left EXP Realty.
0:04
SPEAKER_01: I joined Real.
0:05
SPEAKER_01: Today I'm breaking down whether or not that was a good move or not.
0:08
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so one year later, has Reel delivered on everything I hoped for.
0:12
SPEAKER_01: And when I make the same decision again today, let's jump into it.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: The massive agent podcast.
0:19
SPEAKER_00: We need generation tips and strategies to give you more leads and sell more homes.
0:24
SPEAKER_01: I love to buy houses.
0:26
SPEAKER_01: I like to sell houses.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: I've said better.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I got your attention now.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: Here's your host, Dustin Brome.
0:43
SPEAKER_01: What is up, guys?
0:44
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to episode 378 of the Massive Agent Podcast.
0:47
SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Dustin Brome, here in Salt Lake City, Utah.
0:51
SPEAKER_01: Uh, this episode has been a year in the making, literally, because a year ago I made one of the biggest decisions, the biggest moves, the biggest pivots in my entire career.
1:01
SPEAKER_01: And um a lot has changed in the last year, and I'm gonna go a lot has changed over the last year, and I'm gonna be going over that today.
1:07
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna break down the good, the bad, the ugly, and the frickin' beautiful.
1:13
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm gonna be honest.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: And if you heard my episode a year ago where I announced that I was leaving EXP and that I was joining real, the same thing applies today.
1:23
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna step on some toes, not intentionally, but because I have opinions that you know aren't necessarily favorable to one or the other.
1:31
SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna be honest.
1:32
SPEAKER_01: These are my opinions only.
1:34
SPEAKER_01: These are this is my experience only.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: And um so if no matter where you're at, even if you're not looking for a brokerage change, there's some things in today's episode that will absolutely help you think deeper about the business model you're building, help you wrap your head around the direction you want to go.
1:52
SPEAKER_01: So no matter what, this is gonna be a great episode.
1:55
SPEAKER_01: And if you are looking for a different home or a different brokerage or a different business model to build your business on top of, uh, this will be extra helpful.
2:04
SPEAKER_01: So let me start out with with um, I'm gonna go through like each of the big concerns or each of the categories, if you will, that I that I had a year ago.
2:14
SPEAKER_01: Right.
2:14
SPEAKER_01: So I told you, um, I'm not gonna start here today, but what really got me looking elsewhere, right?
2:22
SPEAKER_01: I spent six years at EXP for perspective.
2:25
SPEAKER_01: I had 340 agents in my organization, in my network there.
2:30
SPEAKER_01: Now, over those six years, I had like 700 agents come through.
2:33
SPEAKER_01: And when I left in what March of last year, March of 2024, I had 340.
2:41
SPEAKER_01: It's a large network.
2:42
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, revenue share was you know five figures a month plus.
2:47
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, uh, does it make any sense to leave that behind and start over at zero?
2:53
SPEAKER_01: It freaked me out.
2:54
SPEAKER_01: So, like revenue, the revenue share part of my business is what really I started getting frustrated with for a lot of reasons, and I'll and I'll uh recap those again today.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: That's what started me on this journey of looking elsewhere, of uh, and because I didn't want real to be the answer.
3:11
SPEAKER_01: Having had my exp jersey on so tight for six years, I was like, real sucks.
3:16
SPEAKER_01: You know, reels that you know, they're just cheaper, but they're not any better.
3:19
SPEAKER_01: They're just you know, they just ripped us off, you know, blah, blah, blah.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: Um, that whole thing.
3:24
SPEAKER_01: And I never, if I'm being honest, I never bothered to really look at are they building anything credible?
3:31
SPEAKER_01: Like, are is there like why are they getting so many great people?
3:34
SPEAKER_01: I never bothered to look until the revenue share uncertainty and the revenue share um uh like the the issues that I had around that part of the model, uh, that's what got me looking to is there a better solution?
3:50
SPEAKER_01: And then it opened up all the other stuff that matters way more to you, probably.
3:54
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna start with this the cultural shift and community.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: So EXP, it's a it's a much larger company than Reel.
4:02
SPEAKER_01: So like today, I I think the last few quarters, they've been hovering between 80 and 85,000 agents worldwide.
4:08
SPEAKER_01: Not all of them in the US, because I mean they're in like 20-something countries.
4:12
SPEAKER_01: And so um, I'm like, well, am I gonna get collaboration?
4:16
SPEAKER_01: Am I gonna get training?
4:17
SPEAKER_01: Am I am I gonna get the support that I need?
4:19
SPEAKER_01: When I started to look at what Reel was doing, I quickly saw.
4:23
SPEAKER_01: Now, of course, this started with me first deciding that I'm gonna look with an open mind at what Reel is doing because they're obviously getting good people.
4:32
SPEAKER_01: This is my thought process a year ago.
4:34
SPEAKER_01: They're obviously getting a lot of great people, they're keeping great people, they seem to be having fun, people seem to be thriving over there and loving it.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: So, like, why?
4:43
SPEAKER_01: And for the first time, I decided I want to know what that answer is.
4:49
SPEAKER_01: And uh when I started to look at collaboration, training, support, and all that, I quickly saw, wait, I believe that's better than what I had at my previous brokerage.
4:59
SPEAKER_01: Because at EXP, the way that it works, it now there's there's pros and cons to what I'm about to say.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: You're you're you're picking a silo to join, so to speak.
5:08
SPEAKER_01: Like you're you're picking a certain like group of people to join, almost like a brokerage within a brokerage, I guess.
5:15
SPEAKER_01: And uh so I felt the pressure, as did my mentor and some other people I was connected to, that like we had to build our own thing, our own silo, so that agents wanted to be a part of ours rather than somebody else's.
5:28
SPEAKER_01: Because there are so many great, powerful, um, like really well-built communities and groups and silos within EXP that I had to compete with.
5:37
SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, hey, no, you don't want to join them, you want to join me.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: And you know, that in looking back, that just creates it, it's not as collaborative.
5:50
SPEAKER_01: It's just not as collaborative, it's not as um inclusive.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: And so real does it differently.
5:57
SPEAKER_01: I saw this pretty quick.
5:58
SPEAKER_01: Reel outlaws those silos.
6:00
SPEAKER_01: Like you cannot say, hey, if you join me, I'll give you a bunch of free stuff and free training, I'll pay for your office space and free coaching, but if you join somebody else, you don't get it.
6:10
SPEAKER_01: We don't play by that at Reel.
6:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's it's outlawed.
6:13
SPEAKER_01: Like they'll literally kick you out of the company if you insist on doing that.
6:18
SPEAKER_01: And I was worried about that.
6:19
SPEAKER_01: I was like, well, how would I get anyone to join me versus picking somebody else?
6:24
SPEAKER_01: I learned pretty quick that the collaboration, training, and support, because it's one big community at Reel, where no matter who you join, no matter who your sponsor is, uh, you get access to everything from everybody.
6:38
SPEAKER_01: So no more of this, hey, um, I want to join your mastermind, but I'm not part of your downline.
6:43
SPEAKER_01: And they're like, sorry, you're not part of it.
6:45
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't happen here.
6:46
SPEAKER_01: No matter what, if you are an agent at Reel, you are included, you are invited, you get access no matter what.
6:54
SPEAKER_01: So I love that.
6:55
SPEAKER_01: And I saw that pretty quick.
6:57
SPEAKER_01: I worried about you know the attraction part of it, but I'm like, as far as the average agent goes, that is so much better for agents because no longer would somebody get stuck with a bad sponsor who was stuck on an island without any access to masterminds and training and coaching just because they they chose their sponsor wrong.
7:13
SPEAKER_01: Like that, that's just that's just shitty.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: Uh and and in hindsight, like I this is my opinion.
7:21
SPEAKER_01: I can't believe that I settled for that for so long.
7:24
SPEAKER_01: And I heard so many agents come out of the woodwork over the last year saying, hey, that happened to me.
7:28
SPEAKER_01: I got stuck, like I chose my sponsor wrong, and you know, I don't have access to training, they won't let me go to their events.
7:34
SPEAKER_01: I can't get into this mastermind because I'm not part of their group.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: And it it just pisses me off.
7:39
SPEAKER_01: That can't and won't and doesn't happen at real.
7:43
SPEAKER_01: And so the the community that put one in the win column for real as far as the community.
7:50
SPEAKER_01: Even though we are a smaller company, we have about 26,000 agents today.
7:53
SPEAKER_01: When I joined Reel a year ago, I want to say we had 12,000, maybe between 12 and 14,000 agents.
7:59
SPEAKER_01: Today we have 26,000.
8:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, so still like much smaller than EXP, but because the oneness, the openness, I believe it's it's much more inclusive and collaborative for the average agent for sure.
8:12
SPEAKER_01: Has the culture at Reel matched or exceeded my expectations?
8:16
SPEAKER_01: Once I started to see the culture and how like everybody was legitimately like, hey, you're on our team.
8:22
SPEAKER_01: No matter who who you came through, you're on our team.
8:25
SPEAKER_01: We don't have separate teams.
8:26
SPEAKER_01: I saw that pretty quick, but as I've seen it play out, as I've watched that play out over the last year, I'm like, holy shit, that is better.
8:34
SPEAKER_01: And so I will say the culture at Reel, from the leadership on down and the agent leadership on down, and just agent to agent, everybody like if you're on the team, you're on the team.
8:46
SPEAKER_01: Reel has dramatically um exceeded my expectations as far as the culture goes.
8:52
SPEAKER_01: It gets better every day, in my opinion.
8:55
SPEAKER_01: So another check in the in the win column for Reel.
8:58
SPEAKER_01: Number three, or sorry, number two, Reels stock model, the differences between EXP and Reels equity program.
9:04
SPEAKER_01: Was I concerned about stock value, vesting, and company growth?
9:07
SPEAKER_01: All right.
9:08
SPEAKER_01: So EXP, to their credit, they were one of the first, possibly the first, I think actually the first in the industry who, in addition to revenue share and commission, they're like, hey, we're whenever you sell houses, whenever you help us to build this company, we're gonna give you equity in the company.
9:26
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna give you literal ownership in this company.
9:28
SPEAKER_01: So there's stock awards and stock options, and you can like amazing.
9:34
SPEAKER_01: And and to their credit, it is amazing.
9:37
SPEAKER_01: Reels, they take it a little bit further.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: It's a little bit more generous.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: Well, in some ways, it's a lot more generous.
9:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, and and so I believe exp stock equity program is fantastic.
9:50
SPEAKER_01: I believe Reels is better, it's more generous.
9:53
SPEAKER_01: Um and and here's the thing like I was building a business at EXP, getting stock and and purchasing stock in the company was was obviously part of it.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: And I got over the last couple years that I spent there, I started to not believe that it was the best investment.
10:11
SPEAKER_01: And I stopped, I stopped investing in the stock because I didn't think it could it would continue to grow.
10:16
SPEAKER_01: We're having a lot of stagnation, a lot of issues, uh retention problems, um just a big hole in the bottom of the bucket, so to speak, that you know, if you're to keep one agent, you got to bring two in.
10:29
SPEAKER_01: That that's just how the numbers played out over the six years I was there.
10:31
SPEAKER_01: And hopefully it's gotten better, but I I I don't know.
10:35
SPEAKER_01: And um and so I'm like, I don't, I wouldn't buy exp stock.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: So like I didn't like that.
10:42
SPEAKER_01: And when I looked at real, I'm like, okay, they're building this platform, they have financial technology they're coming out with with the real wallet, they're growing, they're gaining.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: Like over the last, I want to say five or six months, we've been growing a thousand agents per month at Reel.
10:55
SPEAKER_01: And that's that's nuts.
10:57
SPEAKER_01: Like, that doesn't happen in the industry.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: It hasn't happened in the industry, uh, except for what we're doing.
11:03
SPEAKER_01: And and that's been great.
11:05
SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, okay, if I'm going to buy one of these brokerages stocks, like which one would it be?
11:10
SPEAKER_01: So real, again, another another notch in a wind column there for uh the future opportunity of the stock, in my opinion.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: And so before I even left EXP, I started to buy real stock.
11:23
SPEAKER_01: And when I left, I sold all my exp stock, I bought real stock with it, and I'm continuing to invest in the company today because I believe there's a real chance of doubling, maybe tripling of our stock.
11:33
SPEAKER_01: And I don't see that in the cards at EXP.
11:36
SPEAKER_01: Again, my opinion, you may not like me for it, but that's that's that's the way I see it.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: Um brand credibility and recognition.
11:46
SPEAKER_01: Let me see.
11:46
SPEAKER_01: Do I need to mention anything more about the stock?
11:48
SPEAKER_01: Um the stock performance and opportunity compared over the last year.
11:52
SPEAKER_01: I mean, on over the last year, both stocks have kind of been, you know, just stagnant.
11:57
SPEAKER_01: Reels has gone from like, I think real was down to like a dollar something before I came, unfortunately.
12:03
SPEAKER_01: But I think when I when I went to real, it was like three bucks a share.
12:06
SPEAKER_01: It went all the way up to like 650-ish.
12:08
SPEAKER_01: And I think now it's floating around five dollars a share as of the time of recording this in mid mid-March.
12:14
SPEAKER_01: So like there's been some ups and downs and some some really cool stuff happening with real stock.
12:19
SPEAKER_01: EXPs has just kind of been doing the same thing, going sideways.
12:22
SPEAKER_01: So I believe that's really due to industry trends and like the overall market and how they're looking at real estate brokerages.
12:31
SPEAKER_01: And uh there's so much happening in the the in the macro economic picture that are affecting our stocks much more than like individual company performance.
12:40
SPEAKER_01: So I I think I think that's kind of a wash as far as like the stock performance between exp and real over the last year.
12:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, I it's not gonna stay that way.
12:50
SPEAKER_01: I gave you my opinion on what I think is gonna grow and what won't.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: Um we'll see how that plays out.
12:55
SPEAKER_01: And if I'm wrong, please, you know, shoot me a message, remind me that I was wrong, and I'm I'm happy to happy to eat crow on that one.
13:02
SPEAKER_01: Uh training and agent support.
13:08
SPEAKER_01: My one of the major pillars of my business model, revenue share makes possible, right?
13:14
SPEAKER_01: So the brokerage pays me a little bit, they share their revenue with me every time I help to grow the company.
13:22
SPEAKER_01: Whenever we bring agents to the company and they sell houses, the brokerage shares some of their revenue with me and the others who are responsible for bringing those people to the company.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: And because of that, it that lets me just support agents all day long.
13:38
SPEAKER_01: That to me, that's that's the business model that I want.
13:41
SPEAKER_01: My coaching, my training, my mentorship, and support.
13:44
SPEAKER_01: I don't have to distract myself with buyers and sellers during the day.
13:48
SPEAKER_01: I am helping agents, I am talking to agents and supporting agents literally all day, every day.
13:53
SPEAKER_01: That is now my business.
13:55
SPEAKER_01: The revenue share model makes that possible.
13:58
SPEAKER_01: And um and so with that, I'm like, okay, I have to not think about me as a builder, but I have to think about what's best for these agents.
14:09
SPEAKER_01: And um, when I started, when I looked at the brand, the credibility, the reputation at EXP, part of the issue that I had with them at the time, part of my frustration that was mounting, was a deterioration in the reputation of the company.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: Reels, in my opinion, just kept getting better.
14:30
SPEAKER_01: It just kept looking better, it was more attractive, it was hotter.
14:33
SPEAKER_01: EXP, because of some sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations and lawsuits, um, that I'm not, I'm not here to speak to those today.
14:41
SPEAKER_01: Like those are legit issues that um are very serious.
14:47
SPEAKER_01: The New York Times started to write about this stuff.
14:49
SPEAKER_01: Like EXP's reputation in the in the eyes not just of our industry, but in the public, started to sour dramatically.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: There was one time within the last month I was there, I had an agent who they were in Seattle.
15:02
SPEAKER_01: One of their sellers would not let them put up an EXP sign in their front yard because they didn't want to be associated with the brand.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: They're like, you can list our house, but we don't want that sign up because of the brand.
15:13
SPEAKER_01: You know, hope you understand.
15:15
SPEAKER_01: I heard that two or three more times.
15:17
SPEAKER_01: Not, not basically that same story as they're like, hey, we just don't want to be associated with that because of the negative, the negative publicity.
15:25
SPEAKER_01: And uh when that's when that crept from agent to agent into like consumer thinking, that really was like, okay, there's a big problem here.
15:35
SPEAKER_01: It I don't know how they're gonna fix it.
15:37
SPEAKER_01: They got to do something big.
15:38
SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, just being honest, uh, and I was one of these people early on at EXP before I knew any better.
15:46
SPEAKER_01: I was a recruiter.
15:48
SPEAKER_01: I didn't think of myself as one, but I would I would just do like the slimy thing and slide into somebody's DM, like, hey, look, you want to talk about EXP?
15:56
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you why it's so great and why you should leave your company.
15:58
SPEAKER_01: Nobody likes to be approached like that.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't work.
16:01
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't work.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna share some numbers with you here in a minute of you know what's happened, what my growth has been like here versus the six years at EXP.
16:10
SPEAKER_01: And um, so I've learned what works and what doesn't for sure, and I have the results to show.
16:15
SPEAKER_01: That chasing people down thing and the hard sell and just like the slimy recruiter breath, you know, revenue share breath, uh, you know, to use a version of Tom Ferry's Commission breath, it doesn't work.
16:28
SPEAKER_01: It has the opposite effect.
16:29
SPEAKER_01: And agents, a lot of agents would tell me, we'd love to work with you, we'd love to be partners with you, but not at that company.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: A lot of other agents I'm associated with had the same experience.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: So coming to real, it's been so much easier to establish to establish credibility and brand recognition with agents I'm talking to, agents that I want to work with and partner with.
16:52
SPEAKER_01: First off, they already have a positive for for the most part, like I'd say 99.99%.
16:58
SPEAKER_01: I can't even think of the 0.001.
17:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm just hedging my bets here.
17:04
SPEAKER_01: Pretty much everybody has already known Reel.
17:07
SPEAKER_01: They've liked what they saw.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: It was attractive to them.
17:11
SPEAKER_01: And they're they're like, hey, like, how do we be a part of that too?
17:14
SPEAKER_01: It's been so much easier to bring great people here because of Reel's growing name recognition, which is all positive and attractive for the most part.
17:26
SPEAKER_01: So um at the old company, I felt like I was swimming upstream, like I was trying to fight with one hand tied behind my back just to get anyone interested in coming to partner with me.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: And it's been literally the opposite at Reel.
17:39
SPEAKER_01: I feel like um I've just had to be the connection between great people and this great company, and then I just like help them get started.
17:49
SPEAKER_01: So as far as agent attraction, it's been night and day difference.
17:54
SPEAKER_01: It's been 10 times easier than I ever imagined it could be.
17:58
SPEAKER_01: So I give I give credit to the brand credibility, the reputation, and um it's absolutely contributed, not just to what I've helped agents do here and what I've been able to do here, but in the thousand agents a month we've been growing, it's absolutely contributed.
18:14
SPEAKER_01: Our great reputation within the industry, with our leadership, like Charron being out there, especially around the NARD changes that happened mid-last year, and and Charron was really one of the leaders in the industry.
18:27
SPEAKER_01: I will say EXP was also a leader in this when all the NARD changes happened within with the lawsuits and the rule changes.
18:34
SPEAKER_01: EXP absolutely stepped up and led, no doubt about it.
18:37
SPEAKER_01: So did Sharron, so did Real, creating a bunch of training and and resources to help agents of any brokerage.
18:44
SPEAKER_01: And I feel that that's really given us goodwill within the industry.
18:48
SPEAKER_01: That's made agent attraction that much easier.
18:51
SPEAKER_01: Let's talk training and agent support.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, if I'm going to be bringing agents to this company, there better be a good training program.
18:58
SPEAKER_01: There better be a good support system.
19:00
SPEAKER_01: I what's funny, I used to look at EXP and Reel as being so similar.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: And now looking back, the only thing similar is that, I mean, sure, we have stock options and awards.
19:12
SPEAKER_01: There's revenue share at both of our companies, and we sell houses.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: It it they're so dramatically different.
19:19
SPEAKER_01: I didn't see it at the time though, but um so training and agent support, EXP had a bunch of training.
19:27
SPEAKER_01: They had like 70, 80 hours of live training every single week within EXP University, and it was good stuff.
19:32
SPEAKER_01: The problem was finding it.
19:35
SPEAKER_01: And then if you missed it, finding the replay for it.
19:38
SPEAKER_01: It was like technology-wise, it's just it was just a cluster.
19:42
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if they've improved this over the last year.
19:45
SPEAKER_01: I hope they have.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: But um they had great training.
19:49
SPEAKER_01: It was just so difficult for the average person to find it.
19:53
SPEAKER_01: And the this isn't just my opinion.
19:55
SPEAKER_01: The feedback that I've received from so many agents uh over the last year have told me the same thing.
20:00
SPEAKER_01: They're like, it is it's impossible to find anything, it's impossible to know where to go.
20:05
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then if you want to watch replays, like it, they like hide them over somewhere in workplace.
20:10
SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know.
20:12
SPEAKER_01: Nobody knew.
20:13
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's the problem.
20:14
SPEAKER_01: I could be wrong on that, but that's what we thought because there was no central place for training.
20:19
SPEAKER_01: And um, so was I worried that Real wouldn't be able to match that level of support?
20:26
SPEAKER_01: No, because I was shown real academy.
20:30
SPEAKER_01: It's so simple, and and I I laugh when I look at this.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: We we have one central place called Real Academy, where literally every training, every course, every mastermind is housed.
20:41
SPEAKER_01: There's the live ones, there's the courses that are on demand, there's masterminds happening.
20:46
SPEAKER_01: If you miss it, every replay, they record every single thing and they just put the new replay on the page in Real Academy for that particular mastermind.
20:54
SPEAKER_01: Like if it's Eric Hatch's CEO Connect, which by the way, if you're at Real and you want to build a business, you should be going on Mondays to Eric Hatch's CEO Connect.
21:03
SPEAKER_01: It's one of the best free trainings I've ever seen.
21:06
SPEAKER_01: Very high, like high-level tactical stuff for team builders and team leaders.
21:12
SPEAKER_01: So if you miss one, like like today, I miss CEO Connect today, but I can go and watch the replay later tonight because they record everything all in one central place.
21:21
SPEAKER_01: It's so simple.
21:22
SPEAKER_01: It's not fancy.
21:24
SPEAKER_01: And that's why I say I laugh at how simple it is, yet, everyone that I've shown it to, every agent that I've shown our training platform, Real Academy to, has been blown away at its simplicity and just how common sense it is.
21:39
SPEAKER_01: So that's been great.
21:40
SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about the compensation plan, the splits, the financials, the economics between the two company, uh, between the two companies, similar in cost structure.
21:51
SPEAKER_01: So EXP has an 80 20 split, Real has an 8515 split.
21:55
SPEAKER_01: So your split is a little bit less.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Reel has a$12,000 cap.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: So less of your commission checks is going to the company and you're going to cap a lot faster at$12,000 versus$16,000.
22:08
SPEAKER_01: We have no monthly fees here.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: EXP has an$85 a month fee in the US.
22:13
SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, but Reel does have a couple other fees that if you're it depends on how many homes you're selling.
22:20
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it becomes a wash, sometimes not.
22:22
SPEAKER_01: Then you have to factor in stock incentives and everything like that.
22:25
SPEAKER_01: For the most part, to oversimplify, it is more financially attractive for 99% of agents to be at Reel.
22:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, I am yet to come across a scenario in less I'm yet to come across a scenario where it doesn't make sense for someone to join real.
22:44
SPEAKER_01: That's okay, that's not entirely true.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: If you are there's been certain brokerages that have been looking at like just joining real and you know, and rolling their brokerage into real, if you have like a super low flat fee model, that's harder to pair with what we have going on.
23:02
SPEAKER_01: So that doesn't always work, right?
23:04
SPEAKER_01: When we're talking like the brokerage level.
23:06
SPEAKER_01: But agent, like an individual agent, for the most part, real is less expensive, more financially advantageous, lower splits.
23:14
SPEAKER_01: It eliminates the monthly fees, no monthly fees at all, which I've really grown to appreciate because I remember losing agents at DXP because they they weren't selling a lot, they weren't producing a lot, like they were they were in building mode.
23:30
SPEAKER_01: But they they're like, look, I'm not selling anything, I don't have anything in the pipeline.
23:34
SPEAKER_01: This 85 bucks a month is killing me.
23:36
SPEAKER_01: And so they left.
23:37
SPEAKER_01: So it's nice to not have that monthly drip, drip, drip from the brokerage.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: So if you need time, if you're starting out or you're you're in a uh a lien period, or you're in building mode and you have a gap in your production, you're not you're not paying anything to the company until you sell houses, which has been great.
23:56
SPEAKER_01: Uh this is okay, this is a big question.
23:58
SPEAKER_01: I wrote a bunch of notes and I'm just blowing through them.
23:59
SPEAKER_01: Do I feel like I'm better off financially now than I was at EXP?
24:04
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
24:04
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I do.
24:07
SPEAKER_01: Uh now when I left EXP, I had to leave a certain amount of stock behind.
24:13
SPEAKER_01: It was not a small amount, it was not a super huge amount either.
24:16
SPEAKER_01: But it was it was not an insignificant amount of stock that I said goodbye to because it was not vested yet.
24:23
SPEAKER_01: Um, I believe I more than made up for it.
24:26
SPEAKER_01: And I will okay, I'm gonna answer this a little bit more at the end when I give you some of the real numbers that's happened after this year.
24:32
SPEAKER_01: I'll tell you exactly how long it took me to uh, you know, to get back to even as far as revenue share and stock.
24:41
SPEAKER_01: I'll tell you what the the growth has been like.
24:43
SPEAKER_01: I'll tell you what my final numbers are over the the first year here in just a second, but let's talk about the tech and systems between the two companies.
24:52
SPEAKER_01: Part of my part of agents' frustration with EXP is that they don't really like they have a lot of different technology platforms, but they're all just kind of bolted on.
25:04
SPEAKER_01: And so there's the there's this one website where you go and there's like all these different tiles, and you're just like, okay, uh, and you don't even know what half of them are.
25:12
SPEAKER_01: Most agents that I've spoken with, it drives them nuts because they're like, I don't, there's too many options.
25:17
SPEAKER_01: There's too many things bolted on, and I don't know what any of them are.
25:20
SPEAKER_01: It's overwhelming.
25:21
SPEAKER_01: Real has a completely different back-end system.
25:24
SPEAKER_01: We built our technology from the ground up.
25:27
SPEAKER_01: You have one app, one login to manage your entire business.
25:31
SPEAKER_01: E-signature, transaction management, uh, even like marketing content.
25:36
SPEAKER_01: There's AI built into it, an AI assistant that'll like pull a you know, pull a data point from three years ago, or it'll tell you like how much how much uh commission you've earned so far this year, when your license expires, you know, whatever.
25:50
SPEAKER_01: Like if you need the inspection report for a house you sold three years ago, it just grabs it for you.
25:54
SPEAKER_01: So the technology, without question, is so much better at real.
26:00
SPEAKER_01: I mean, exp is basically said as much, like they're not gonna make the same investments and prioritize tech the way real has.
26:07
SPEAKER_01: I think that's a mistake, especially when AI is concerned.
26:10
SPEAKER_01: I think that's a big mistake.
26:12
SPEAKER_01: So nine out of ten agents that have come to Reel, especially those that came from the old company to the new one, have said the technology is infinitely better.
26:24
SPEAKER_01: It takes them less time to manage their transactions, they can be more efficient.
26:28
SPEAKER_01: There's just there's just less crap and tedious stuff to deal with, which lets them focus more on money-making activities.
26:34
SPEAKER_01: So super cool around the tech.
26:37
SPEAKER_01: The fight, like I'm not gonna get into the real wallet and the credit lines and the banking platform that Real has launched.
26:44
SPEAKER_01: Like, I I used my real debit card earlier today for my real wallet bank account.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's on Apple Pay now, so that that's always fun for me.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: So, as far as the tech and the systems, without a doubt, another another check in the win column for real.
27:02
SPEAKER_01: Um broker support leadership, broker support.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: We have some great brokers.
27:08
SPEAKER_01: We've had some issues with brokers.
27:10
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I want to say that as far as broker support, it's been a wash with EXP.
27:15
SPEAKER_01: Um, some states have a great broker, some don't.
27:18
SPEAKER_01: Uh the ones that don't, they have to be replaced.
27:20
SPEAKER_01: That can get a little messy in the short term while they while they find a new broker, but it's the same one designated broker per state that EXP does.
27:29
SPEAKER_01: And there's pros and cons to that.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: So very similar as far as that goes.
27:33
SPEAKER_01: The leadership of the company itself, when you look at Sharon Shravatza, when you look at Tamir and Pratesh, who who's our tech, our CTO, Jenna, who's basically runs the company, is the COO, like the and then the agent leadership here.
27:49
SPEAKER_01: I think that I think it's obvious and shows in the results of our growth that our leadership is superior at the person level, and then just like what what those leaders focus their time on, what initiatives they think are important, what they what they invest their time doing.
28:11
SPEAKER_01: Like ex I started to get frustrated looking at EXP.
28:15
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, why are you trying to like buy these search portals to compete with Zillow and Realtor.com?
28:20
SPEAKER_01: Like that that's just a distraction.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: Real doesn't do any of that.
28:24
SPEAKER_01: Like the only things that Real does moves the needle for the average agent.
28:29
SPEAKER_01: Real only cares about going deep.
28:32
SPEAKER_01: I felt like exp was just concerned about going wide and just adding a bunch of new things on, acquiring businesses and blah, blah, and just growing wide.
28:40
SPEAKER_01: And I felt like that didn't serve the average agent, and it actually reduced the revenue share and reduced profitability of the company, in my opinion.
28:49
SPEAKER_01: So at real, we don't do all that crap.
28:52
SPEAKER_01: Like we do certain things and we just go deep and it and if we're gonna do it, to our to our, you know, our leaders have been great with this.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: They don't even consider doing something that's not gonna be that's truly gonna move the needle for the average agent.
29:06
SPEAKER_01: If it doesn't truly move the needle for the average agent, we're not gonna do it.
29:10
SPEAKER_01: And I love and respect that.
29:11
SPEAKER_01: And I believe the proof is in the pudding with the growth over the last year that shows one is better than the other.
29:18
SPEAKER_01: Um growth potential.
29:22
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
29:22
SPEAKER_01: EXP, let's see.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: I was very concerned that once I started to look at real, I started to check all these boxes.
29:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, that's better, that's better, that's better.
29:36
SPEAKER_01: For my people, like for the agents that I that I'm in business with, the agents I have a responsibility to, the agents who I want to work with, I started to go down the list.
29:44
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, everything's better here, but there's this one selfish point that I can't get past.
29:49
SPEAKER_01: If I leave, I have to leave 340 agents behind.
29:53
SPEAKER_01: I have to leave the you know, the$10,000 to$25,000 a month in revenue share.
29:58
SPEAKER_01: I have to leave that behind and start over at zero.
30:02
SPEAKER_01: How fast?
30:03
SPEAKER_01: Now, of course, that freaked me out, but I'm like, well, how fast would it take me to get back to that point?
30:08
SPEAKER_01: Because I can't go six months or eight months, you know, of this giant you know, interruption in my finances.
30:16
SPEAKER_01: Uh so that freaked me out.
30:19
SPEAKER_01: I will say this.
30:20
SPEAKER_01: It took me 40 days, 40 days to earn as much revenue share from Real as I was earning after six years at EXP with 340 agents.
30:32
SPEAKER_01: That validated so fast that I made the right decision financially.
30:37
SPEAKER_01: And what it also meant was agents were coming here to Reel, they were selling houses, they were enjoying it, they were becoming more productive, and they weren't freaking leaving.
30:48
SPEAKER_01: We we lose so few people here.
30:50
SPEAKER_01: That hole in the bottom of the bucket that was giant at the other company, it's so small now.
30:56
SPEAKER_01: People come here, they plug in, they become more productive, they sell more, they make more, they're happier, they they network and make more friends, and they're not going anywhere.
31:05
SPEAKER_01: And then they naturally turn around and tell their friends, and their friends come join.
31:09
SPEAKER_01: So even though I left 340 agents behind, that took me six years to accumulate.
31:15
SPEAKER_01: In the in the first year at Reel, the first 12 months, I I have an agent network of 725 people.
31:23
SPEAKER_01: 725 agents have partnered with me somewhere along the line at Reel.
31:29
SPEAKER_01: 50, I'd say 55 of them in the first year I've personally brought.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: And and I brought 72 personally to EXP over six years.
31:38
SPEAKER_01: 72 agents personally over six years, 55 in one year at Reel.
31:45
SPEAKER_01: Yes, it's it's been a better financial decision for me because it's been a better financial decision for those 725 agents.
31:54
SPEAKER_01: That's the part that I think a lot of people miss is they're thinking about themselves as builders and not about those who they're trying to build with.
32:02
SPEAKER_01: If you focus on those you try that you're building with and you help them to build their sales, help them to build their business, help them to be happy and thrive, that's gonna help you as a builder.
32:13
SPEAKER_01: So that's been incredible.
32:16
SPEAKER_01: One year later, has real delivered on what I hoped for?
32:19
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely yes.
32:21
SPEAKER_01: There's been some issues with brokers in certain states and some onboarding snafu that you know like this one month, we were growing we grew a thousand agents in two weeks instead of a thousand agents over a month, and and some stuff started to fall through the cracks.
32:35
SPEAKER_01: Well, we've since patched them because we have great people who are competent, but it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows.
32:42
SPEAKER_01: Like there's there's been some issues, there's been some people get their feathers ruffled, onboarding issues, brokers who are good or bad.
32:50
SPEAKER_01: Like, I think that's gonna happen anywhere.
32:53
SPEAKER_01: But they've been smoothed out, they get fixed and resolved quickly.
32:57
SPEAKER_01: Real has absolutely delivered on what I hoped for.
33:00
SPEAKER_01: And to answer the question, would I make the same decision again today?
33:04
SPEAKER_01: 1,000% yes.
33:06
SPEAKER_01: I fight the urge to say I wish I would have done it sooner.
33:09
SPEAKER_01: However, I feel like it happened when it was supposed to because I was not ready.
33:15
SPEAKER_01: I was not the person I needed to be to take advantage of this opportunity until I did.
33:20
SPEAKER_01: So it's easy to say, I wish I would have done this two years ago.
33:23
SPEAKER_01: I talked to agents that came to Reel two, three, four years ago, and they're like, no, no, no.
33:28
SPEAKER_01: Like you didn't want to be here four years ago.
33:29
SPEAKER_01: It was a shit show, it was a mess.
33:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I've heard some of those stories.
33:35
SPEAKER_01: That stuff's been ironed out.
33:37
SPEAKER_01: Those growing pains are in the past.
33:38
SPEAKER_01: So um the last year has been absolutely incredible, not just financially, but there's so many great people that felt the way that I felt from at EXP who were there with me, some of them who I didn't even know, that heard my podcast a year ago.
34:00
SPEAKER_01: It resonated with them because they felt the same way.
34:02
SPEAKER_01: They had the same issues, they had the same concerns.
34:05
SPEAKER_01: And uh, by the way, if you haven't heard that yet, I will link to it in the description.
34:09
SPEAKER_01: I'll put it in the show notes here of the pod.
34:11
SPEAKER_01: If you if you haven't heard that first episode from a year ago, I'll link to it so so you can.
34:16
SPEAKER_01: But uh, so many of my closest friends and business partners today, I did not even know when I was at EXP.
34:24
SPEAKER_01: And we were at the same company.
34:25
SPEAKER_01: And now we're partnered together here.
34:28
SPEAKER_01: The relationships that I've that I've built over the last year has been the biggest silver uh magic, what's the word?
34:35
SPEAKER_01: Silver lining, yes, has been the biggest silver lining that I could have ever imagined.
34:40
SPEAKER_01: So, yes, financially it's been a very wise decision and continues to be so for all of my 725 plus agents in my network.
34:50
SPEAKER_01: But it's it's those relationships with those great people that uh are truly incredible.
34:56
SPEAKER_01: So I'm happier.
34:58
SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm just I'm just happier.
35:00
SPEAKER_01: Every time I go to an event, every time I I reach out to the, for lack of a better term, the real family, other agents of the company.
35:10
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's it's just it feels right.
35:12
SPEAKER_01: So for me, not everyone will feel this way, but for me, I feel like I was doing the right thing in the wrong place.
35:19
SPEAKER_01: And now I feel like I'm absolutely doing the right thing in the right place with the right people.
35:23
SPEAKER_01: And when you get your butt in the right seat that's in alignment, magic happens.
35:29
SPEAKER_01: And stuff just starts growing and it takes off, and you're like, I don't even know what's happening anymore.
35:35
SPEAKER_01: So if you're in a place where you feel like you're doing the right thing, but maybe in the wrong place or with the wrong people, magic will happen when you get yourself in the right seat with the right people, wherever that is for you.
35:49
SPEAKER_01: So I hope that was helpful for you today.
35:54
SPEAKER_01: The last year has been one of those years where it feels like a decade happened.
35:57
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's absolutely true.
36:00
SPEAKER_01: But um I'm so much happier.
36:03
SPEAKER_01: And and it's because those 725 agents are happier and thriving and selling more and starting to invest in real estate for the first time because they can now, and it it it's just it's been truly incredible.
36:17
SPEAKER_01: So thank you for letting me share this one year recap with you uh of why one year ago I left EXP and joined Reel.
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37:29
SPEAKER_01: If you found this episode helpful, please share it with somebody.
37:33
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37:37
SPEAKER_01: A rating.
37:38
SPEAKER_01: Like a rating or a review on Spotify, on Apple, or whatever you listen to.
37:43
SPEAKER_01: And share this with somebody that needs to hear it.
37:46
SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you listening.
37:47
SPEAKER_01: I'll see you again next week.
37:49
SPEAKER_01: Take care.