I’ve talked with countless people about brokerages, and I’ve been with a few different ones myself—@properties first, then Keller Williams, and now eXp. What I’ve come to realize is that, with respect to methodology and culture, you as an agent must find a brokerage that suits you well. You’re not the same as every other agent out there, so you may not jive with what every brokerage out there has to offer. Before getting caught up in all the high-tech resources and training today’s leading brokerages offer, ask yourself what’s really most important to you. What type of environment would be most conducive to your success?

Perhaps you want a dependent brokerage that essentially does everything for you, where someone at the front desk prints out all the documents and brochures you need and listings are entered into the MLS for you. With a dependent brokerage, you can expect higher fees, meaning you’ll give away more of your split. At this point in your career, you may view that trade-off as a worthwhile investment in convenience and structure. 

“Personally, with the ownership opportunities afforded us by eXp’s publicly traded stock, I’m thankful that I’ve been able to put away some funds for my future.”

Keller Williams and eXp use more of an interdependent model. That means they offer some fantastic support for agents (eXp especially) while also allowing them to operate their businesses however they want. It’s up to us what we want to negotiate on; our commission payouts are ours. Our splits are lower than probably anyone else’s, and additionally, we at eXp have ownership opportunities. That said, we don’t have somebody who will always be there to print out our brochures and enter our information in the MLS for us; we’re expected to handle more of our own logistics. 

If you pride yourself on running your business with little to no reliance on others in your brokerage but still want access to advanced resources, then eXp could be a good fit for you. Personally, with the ownership opportunities afforded us by eXp’s publicly traded stock, I’m thankful that I’ve been able to put away some funds for my future. Again, that doesn’t mean eXp and similarly-structured brokerages are a good fit for everyone, so I’m more than happy to just throw some different ideas your way.  

If you want to have an earnest, no-gimmicks chat about dependent, interdependent, or independent brokerages, reach out to me by phone or email anytime; I’d love to have that conversation and hopefully empower you to take a step in the direction that’s best for you!