If you've visited our main site - Teampinto.com - recently, you might have noticed a small change - Team Pinto has joined eXp Realty. After a number of wonderful years as an award-winning part of the ReMax Group - years we have thoroughly enjoyed - it was time to branch out and do something different, and for us, joining the eXp Realty family made the most sense.
Very little will change about working with Team Pinto from a client point of view. Even as a part of ReMax we made use of our own brand of service to Waterloo Region homebuyers and homesellers, one that focuses on putting the client first, being responsive 24/7 and never resting until the client is happy and in their new home, or have a signed contract on the one they are selling.
Why We Love to Do Things Differently at Team Pinto
Team Pinto has always done things a little differently. Take this blog. We were blogging long before it became a 'thing' and do so not just for SEO and exposure, but to share helpful, reliable information about the homebuying and homeselling process, as well as homeownership in general with everyone looking for it, even if they don't live in our region and might never become our clients. And we love to make videos for our clients that are as fun and engaging as they are great at showcasing their homes for sale!
We get great feedback about it all the time, and sharing what we know, and learn, is something we enjoy, and love knowing that others value what we offer here.
Then there is our commitment to staying on the cutting edge of technology. Drone photography and drone videography, something else just getting 'hot' in the real estate business right now, is something we have offered to every client selling a home for years. We also had podcasts and video blogs long before others, and have even begun to make use of virtual staging to help our clients with vacant properties showcase them to the best possible effect.
Basically, if we feel something will help our business grow, help our clients sell their home faster and for more, or find that Waterloo Region home for sale of their dreams and actually win a bid for it, we'll try it.
Neither of us are strangers to taking chances and change - Angelica moved all the way from Bogota, Columbia to Waterloo to follow her heart and her dreams after all, and Aron made a big switch from tech exec to real estate broker - and we love to embrace the new and exciting if we believe it will make our lives, business and ability to serve our clients better. And we think our move to EXP Realty will do just that.
eXp Realty - What's the Real Deal?
While very little will change for our clients now that we are a part of EXP Realty, our lives are changing. We are now a part of something that's new to us, and meeting new people all the time (Aron just met a ton of them down in faraway Dallas, Texas, and had a blast doing so)
What is also changing is that as a part of this newer, dare we say more advanced, real estate business model, we hope to work more collaboratively with other real estate agents and yes, help some of them make the big move too, so the rest of this post is really addressed to them.
Who Are eXp Realty?
The chances are good that you had heard the name ReMax before. They are, after all, one of the biggest names in the North American real estate business and beyond. You may not, however, have heard much about eXp, or if you have, the things you might have seen or heard might be a little confusing.
In a nutshell, from a very practical point of view, EXP is the perfect answer for real estate agents and brokers in the 21st century because it, unlike lots of traditional real estate companies, really embraces modern technology. Through the use of an innovative cloud-based platform in place of traditional brick and mortar offices, they have redefined the world of conventional real estate.
From a real estate client's perspective, little changes. But for us? Everything does. The pandemic taught us, and pretty much everyone else, that you could do business as a real estate broker without a formal office, and all the hassles and expensive overheads that go along with it.
Our business is about working with clients, and most expect you to come to them, not the other way around, so remembering why we had a formal office in the first place is getting harder to do!
A remote office is nothing new to us, thanks to COVID-19 we already had a great set-up at home, and while eXp is very welcoming to those who prefer to work from home, we're excited that as eXp expand in Canada we'll be the first to have the chance to work in the brand new 16,000 sq ft eXp office that will be opening in Kitchener by end of year!
The flexibility will allow us to spend more quality time as a family with our growing up too fast sons, something that is absolutely priceless, as well as work in what are set to become the most impressive real estate offices in the region!
Working with eXp, which is fast becoming a truly global brokerage, we are also expanding our horizons in terms of our network. Which really appeals to that love of knowledge sharing and collaboration we mentioned earlier. People often say that real estate is a dog-eat-dog business, but it does not have to be that way, and often working together is the far better way to go, which is what eXp Realty is all about.
Which brings us to the most 'controversial' aspect of working with eXp: revenue sharing.
eXp Revenue Sharing Basics
The other thing that sets eXp apart from a traditional real estate brokerage is its revenue sharing model. And that's something that we found, as we did our research before making this move, lots of folks just don't understand. And some others want to muddy the waters about.
In very basic terms, eXp revenue sharing changes the way that real estate agents earn their money, and even makes doing so easier and more efficient.
The eXp Revenue Share program is a major value proposition eXp agents like us can use to recruit and sponsor other real estate agents and teams into the brokerage.
Agents join eXp Realty for a variety of reasons, including the company's revenue-share programme, which is fundamentally different from a profit-sharing programme (and does not even include the other big perks of becoming an eXp agent like more generous commissions and the possibility of stock rewards).
The idea itself isn't new. Profit sharing has been a part of the real estate business for years. Profit-sharing in a traditional real estate brokerage is simply when the business gives its agents a percentage of the revenue produced by the agents they sponsored. Until you discover that earnings are only divided after all costs have been deducted from revenue, this idea sounds generous.
That covers expenses like rent, insurance, utilities, employee wages, and other high overhead costs. In a profit-share model, sponsored agents can be successful, but there will be little to no profit-share if the office or franchise is not successful. Which means that even if you are a top seller, you'll still be dependent on others to help ensure your real financial success potential.
The unique aspect of eXp's revenue-share model is that it divides 50% of the Company Dollars it receives from each transaction, before expenses are subtracted. This means that whenever an agent closes a sale that brings in money for eXp, the agent who "sponsored" them can make money.
When a new agent joins eXp, for instance, they identify the agent who "sponsored" or "recommended" them to eXp. The sponsor will get a share of the money made by the sponsored agent's sales activity once the new agent starts closing deals. It is dynamically calculated, depending on gross commission income (GCI), and paid each month. One thing to keep in mind is that the share is paid by eXp, not the new agent, and comes from the company's portion of the commission.
Participants can get a piece of the money from transactions completed by agents they directly sponsor as well as the transactions of agents sponsored by those agents, and so on for up to seven tiers. It's a fairer way for everyone to get paid, and encourages healthy cooperation rather than cut-throat competition!
There's a lot more to joining eXp, and the benefits that doing so offers, than we've covered here. As a team that believes that personal communication is everything in our business, the best way for us to explain even more to you, and how eXp might benefit you, whatever stage you are at in your real estate career, is to chat with you.
Why not book a Zoom call with Aron here, so that in as little as 15 minutes you can get the lowdown on what becoming an eXp agent is really like, and what it really has to offer? If you want to find out more right now, you can call us too, we'll be happy to talk right away! You really have nothing more than a few minutes of your time to lose, and potentially an awful lot to gain!