Orange County’s Matt Hartman has always been immersed in two worlds: Real estate and technology, which is why eXp Realty “spoke his language.”
Achieving quick success in real estate after college, he then spent seven years starting a couple of tech companies, only to come back to his first love, real estate.
“I finally took a look at the eXp model and knew immediately that it was the platform I would design if I had thought of it,” said Hartman with a laugh. “It’s finally the disruption needed to the brokerage model that would allow independent agents to compete and thrive well into the future.”
Hartman comes from a tech family where his father was an engineer, his mom an implementation manager and brother, a coder. But after graduating college, he dove into real estate, enjoying tremendous success. When a real estate client — a teacher — asked Hartman for his help developing an education app, Hartman instead bought the company. His assistant continued to run his real estate team while he grew the tech company, eventually selling it, only to launch another tech startup and sell that.
By 2010, the tech world became too much and combined with starting a family, he decided to return to real estate, which he calls “the best years of my life.”
“I just wanted a more simple life,” Hartman said. “I loved the personal growth aspect and just want to help agents.”
Hartman Says eXp’s Model Lets Him Do What He Loves Most: Support His Agents
Hartman is a big believer in personal growth, citing Tony Robbins and Jim Rohn as motivators who helped him succeed.
“To have a good, healthy mindset and be resilient is important,” said Hartman. “You need to have a strong framework for making decisions. However, the ‘whoever wants it more is going to win’ type of motivation by itself is not good enough.”
He bought a RE/MAX franchise in 2014 and after growing it to 120 agents, he realized he couldn’t offer his agents the same value as eXp could in the coming years. He wanted them to benefit from eXp’s revenue sharing and equity awards platform.
“eXp has freed me to focus on what I love to do, which is to mentor and support agents, all while attracting more agents without the risk, liability and administrative challenges that bog down broker/owners. eXp’s model is very exciting to me.”
Learn more about Matt Hartman:
Years in real estate: Licensed in 2002
Gross sales and transactions in 2020: $390 million on 650 transactions with a team of 120.
Brokerage history:
- eXp Realty (July 2020 – current)
- RE/MAX (April 2014 – July 2020)
- First Team Real Estate (2002 – 2007)
Main territory: Orange County, California and surrounding counties
Main focus: Full-service residential buyers and sellers
Number of people on team: ~120 agents (105 moved to eXp.)
Accolades, accomplishments & awards:
- 2019 Swanepoel Mega 1000
- 2018 Swanepoel Mega 1000
What makes eXp special to you?
“I describe it as the eXp zeitgeist — there’s a spirit of possibility and goodwill everywhere. The staff of the company is super helpful, friendly and resourceful. There is a sense that everyone feels they are on the way up and excited to be a part of something big and growing. People are happy to share and collaborate and everyone I have worked with, from leadership to influencers in the company, is driven by an authentic mission to change our industry for the better.”
Is there a significant experience you can share since you joined eXp?
“There has not been a single experience, but I have had several agents call me just to express their thanks for bringing them to eXp. It was a big deal for all these agents to have faith that I was making a good move and each time I get a call like this, it’s more than affirming — it’s moving on a deep level.”
What is one thing about eXp that surprised you?
“That eXp World is actually really great. I think a lot of people weren’t sure about the whole virtual world thing and then when you go in there and get such fast and friendly help from a live person or sit down with a group of agents on your team to watch a training, it’s a great experience.”
What kind of collaboration have you experienced at eXp?
“Having a tech background, I felt I had a good grasp of the tech available to agents, but since joining eXp, with the amount of forward-thinking and entrepreneurial agents who also sell a lot of homes, I’ve been able to learn about many tools I am now considering implementing for my team. At eXp, there’s a ton of agents walking the walk — real players in our industry who are happy to share their tools and practices unselfishly.”
Best tip to share with other agents:
“Always value execution over ideas, substance over style and like Ricky Carruth says, relationships over transactions.”
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