After 10 years of successful growth in the United States and a recent expansion in Canada, eXp Realty is taking its business overseas, launching in the United Kingdom and Australia.
“We’re excited to have the U.K. and Australia as our first two countries as we embark on our international expansion outside of North America,” said Jason Gesing, Executive Vice President of Business Development, eXp World Holdings.
International expansion wouldn’t be possible without eXp’s unique business model. An agent’s ability to operate independently and outside of traditional physical offices gives the company a tremendous advantage over other agencies.
“Not operating under or within a cumbersome franchise structure allows us to adapt quickly as the industry continues to rapidly evolve — not just domestically but internationally as well,” explains Gesing. “We can and have been able to build a community without the costs typically associated with those endeavors. International markets allow us to build an even stronger and more vibrant community.”
Another advantage that eXp has over other agencies is that they don’t identify new markets simply on the strength of the local economy and opportunities within the market. “Consistent with what has worked for us historically in the United States and Canada, our decisions around international markets are driven by and based upon the caliber of leader candidates who step forward or who are brought forward by our agents,” Gesing explains.
They identify individual leaders — people who are credible and respected within the marketplace, who have a solid understanding of the practice in their country and who can ethically navigate the regulatory and compliance frameworks.
“There is a team of very dedicated, giving and intelligent people, all far more talented than I, who are working tirelessly to ensure our success in this regard, without compromising in any way our commitment as a company to providing the best experience we can to agents in markets that we’re already in. It’s a balance, and one that the team maintains incredibly well. I am — and we should all be — very grateful for their efforts and to have them as part of our company,” Gesing shares.
UK Has an ‘Estate Market’ With Dramatic Differences From the US
Consisting of England, Scotland and Wales (which are collectively known as Great Britain) and Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom has an estate market that differs dramatically from the United States and Canada. Most agents work directly for an agency, earning a basic salary plus a small portion of the commission that flows back into the agency.
“It’s an entirely different landscape than exists in the U.S. and Canada, Agents make a small stipend plus perhaps five to 10 percent of the commission that flows into the estate agency,” Gesing says.
This is why he remains incredibly excited about the U.K. market. Known to be an effective agent of change, Adam Day — the Expansion Leader for eXp U.K. — values the agents within the organization because he feels they are the most important asset the company has.
“ International markets allow us to build an even stronger and more vibrant community.”
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— Jason Gesing, Executive Vice President Business Development, eXp World Holdings
“For me, it’s all about empowering the agents to take back control from the estate agency bosses who have convinced them that it’s about the brand, rather than them,” Day explains. “The agents I’m speaking with so far are all on the same page as me and are super enthusiastic about being part of the journey. I had one agent — who has left his salaried position recently after 27 years in the role — email me to say that he hadn’t felt the levels of excitement that he has about eXp for many years. That’s pretty cool to think that we’re making estate agency exciting again.”
eXp Heads to the Land Down Under
At almost the exact opposite end of the world, eXp has recently announced its launch into Australia. But while eXp is very excited about getting down to business in the land down under, they know they have to practice due diligence to get it right.
“Repeatedly we’ve been told and shown that U.S. companies that come into a foreign market thinking they have all of the answers and attempt to impose their methods and approaches or try to Americanize the language of the business, more often than not will fail,” Gesing says.
“None of these countries want to be overrun. We’ve heeded that message,” he explains. “We have native leadership in Australia, and we’re providing tools and systems that are best in class in the country as determined by that leadership and by the agents they are or will be leading.”
That patience and native leadership approach have paid off as Stephen Lea, Expansion Leader for eXp Australia, can attest. “The interest and referrals I’ve received have been amazing,” says Stephen. “I have never experienced such quality interest in all my talent-attraction days. Listening to agents’ stories about their real estate journeys has been really rewarding, and I’m happy to show them more opportunities.”
And that opportunity is impressive. “Our complete value proposition is so unique,” says Stephen. “I see us potentially onboarding up to 200 agents within the next three months and could see this easily rising to 1,000 within the first year.”
eXp Laying Groundwork for the Future of International Growth
With tens of thousands of agents across the United States and Canada, eXp has already established itself as a market leader in North America. When a company has that level of success, it’s only natural to expand into the international market.
But Gesing is even more excited about the benefits of expansion that can’t be defined by a bottom line. “Ultimately ours is a great human interest story in the making. We’re building a global ecosystem where agents around the world come together to work on common goals and where our differences only enrich both the company and the individual.”
With a business model that focuses on the growth of the agents, rather than just the agency, the future of eXp is bright as they continue to expand from four countries across three continents to the rest of the world.
“The challenges real estate agents face around the world are in many ways universal, and eXp offers a solution to many of them,” shares Glenn Sanford, eXp Realty Founder, and CEO. “We only have 246 more countries to go.”
Editor’s note: This has been reprinted from “Excellence” magazine, which was published in October 2019 and distributed to attendees at EXPCON in Las Vegas. To get your own personal copy, you can order it via the eXp store.
