By sheer necessity, Anpi Poudyal became a real estate agent in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, in February 2019 simply to help his fellow Bhutanese, Nepalese, and Indian nationals buy a home.
While the average new agent completes two or fewer sales in their first year, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), in Poudyal’s first year as a real estate agent at eXp Realty, he completed 31 transactions for more than $8.8 million in gross sales, vaulting him to ICON Agent status at eXp — a formidable accomplishment for any agent, let alone someone brand-new to the business.
Poudyal credits his ability to achieve such success so quickly to eXp’s eXpand Mentor program, in which new agents are assigned a mentor and are required to complete eXp’s core training and coursework. Poudyal was given hands-on guidance from his mentor, Tina Faleshock, prior to, and during transactions.
“She helped me a lot,” said Poudyal. “She helped me thoroughly on my first three transactions and is still helping me. If I have any questions, I go to her.”
Faleshock said Poudyal is a joy to work with and marveled at his commitment to his community in which he achieved ICON status exclusively through deals on the buy-side. She continues to mentor him, even though she is only compensated for the first three transactions.
“He’s a very humble man,” Faleshock said. “Not only was he their Realtor, but also their interpreter. He has a special place in our hearts. We are very proud of him.”
Poudyal also credits his eXp sponsor, Neil Bhandari, with helping him get started.
“We were already good friends and he explained the model to me and he gave me a tour in eXp World, ” said Poudyal. “Before I met Tina, Neil helped me with every single thing to get ready to join eXp. He always says, ‘let me know if I can be of any help!”‘
Poudyal Came to the U.S. as a Refugee From Nepal
Poudyal is one of those remarkable immigrant stories. At age 14, he and his family were driven from their homeland of Bhutan and found safety at a refugee camp in Nepal where they stayed for 18 years. In 2009, as part of a United Nations resettlement program, his family was relocated to Manchester, New Hampshire. Poudyal had a background in computer networking and hardware and despite many challenges, was able to find work where he eventually rose to become director of operations at Building Community in New Hampshire, a multi-ethnic non-profit association that provides support for refugee and immigrant communities.
Around 2018, Poudyal and his family decided to relocate to Mechanicsburg, to be more centrally located to other Bhutanese and Nepalese natives who were living in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.
“I liked the community and shopping places,” said Poudyal of Mechanicsburg. “I have three daughters and there are good schools there. Plus, everything is on one street.”
Poudyal Chose eXp for Its Generous Financial Model and Virtual World
Poudyal, who became a U.S. citizen in 2014, says his main focus is on helping his community members, who are all first-time home buyers, to purchase a property in the Central Pennsylvania area.
“In May, June, July and August (of 2019), I was so busy,” said Poudyal. “I was learning so many things. I didn’t know what to do. It was overwhelming.”
But, Poudyal had the language and ability to navigate this foreign land better than his fellow natives. He felt he had no choice but to help them.
Now, Poudyal is getting business outside of his community. “Now the challenge is — before this COVID-19 thing — to try to get them homes. I have 18-19 buyers.”
Poudyal said he contemplated a couple of other brokerages but liked eXp for the generous commission split, revenue sharing and ability to earn stock.
“Plus it has a virtual office, and it’s a cloud-based company,” said Poudyal. “My friend gave me a tour in eXp World, which was amazing. And it’s very easy to get help. Once you log into eXp World, you can go anywhere and get a ticket if you need help. I’m very happy.”
