John and Simon Westfall-Kwong had already built their LuxeLife Real Estate Group into a $100-million-plus annual grossing firm, serving some of the most desirable New Jersey communities within easy commute of New York City.
The question was: How to really maximize and further scale LuxeLife Real Estate Group’s reach?
After merging with another team several years ago, and operating under the Keller Williams franchise model, the married couple and business partners needed to go to the next level. In January 2023, they moved their 17-agent team to eXp Realty.
“Our team grew to $100M+ in annual sales volume from under $20M in 2017. We hit the $100M mark in 2020 and have remained over that in sales since that time. We’re already on pace to match or exceed that this year with $47M+ in sold and pendings so far this calendar year. This was another reason why we believe eXp would offer some unique opportunities to build on our referral program,’’ John said.
LuxeLife’s Buying-Selling Sweet Spot Is the $1M Range
With their home and home office in Short Hills, and an expansion branch office coming this May in the affluent enclave of Summit, LuxeLife consistently works with New Jersey clients buying and selling homes at or well above the $1 million price point in 40 surrounding towns primarily within an hour’s commute to Manhattan.
“55% to 65% of our annual volume of over $100 million is from homes that have sold for over $1 million. We have a strong luxury brand presence while some of our teammates specialize in lower price points as well – our LuxeLife brand transcends price points with our team here to help in each client’s real estate journey to ‘live your best life,’ ‘’ Simon said.
eXp Checks All Boxes: Rev Share, Better Splits, Stock, Healthcare and Luxury Real Estate
Together since 1994, the couple have two teenage daughters and have been deeply engaged in their community. John served on the Millburn Board of Education. Simon brought a design background to his real estate career with a degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology. He was featured on the HGTV show “Bought & Sold.”
It’s all part of how this thoughtful and enterprising duo built one of New Jersey’s best-selling real estate teams, and why they studied the benefits of making the move to eXp.
“The split structure compared to our former broker was our key motivator along with revenue sharing rather than profit sharing. The icing on the cake was the stock choice for commissions and a few of our team members have also had wonderful things to say about the health insurance provided,’’ John said.
Another reason the duo joined eXp was due to the recent launch of the eXp Luxury division.
“We are winning listings with the added value of topnotch marketing exclusively provided to eXp Luxury members,” said Simon. “eXp Luxury understands how we need to market differently when we are in front of high-net-worth individuals. The Luxury Division’s launch last year was another critical component in our decision to transition to eXp.”
What are your impressions of eXp so far?
“We have had a very positive experience overall with eXp. We like the efficiencies of a virtual platform and the backup protocols in place to keep things running smoothly. Workplace is an incredible resource to get a lot of our questions answered. There is enough branding flexibility to be able to incorporate our luxury brand seamlessly, which we were super appreciative of. We both decided to cap instead of just one of us, because of the opportunity to ICON. We think it’s a fantastic model to have incentives that help grow the overall company in meaningful ways and are grateful for the company culture of diversity and inclusion.”
Do you specialize in certain types of real estate?
“Simon is on eXp Luxury and all of our team listings are under him on our local MLSs. We had a few luxury listings close under our old brokerage earlier this year, and we’re super excited to have our first 3 eXp Luxury listings scheduled to close this week and we had a mid-level luxury close in March. Here are the listings:
“John is already working with the Relocation Division to leverage pre-existing relocation relationships and looks forward to furthering those partnerships with John, Simon and other key team members participating in the Relo Program. He is also applying for the Mentor Program.”
Brokerage history:
- eXp Realty (January 2023-present)
- Keller Williams (December 2013-December 2022 for Simon, John got his license in October 2016)
- RE/MAX (April 2008 – November 2013)
- Weichert Realty (March 2006 – March 2008)
Other highlights:
- Production in 2022: $110,362,806 closed sales on 112 units + 34 rental units (split between landlord & tenant)
- Simon was the Co-President of their daughters’ elementary school PTO and the President of their town’s Education Foundation.
- Simon was featured on multiple episodes of HGTV’s first reality shows “Bought & Sold”
- Simon graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC
- Simon has consistently been ranked in the Garden State Multiple Listing Service’s Top 10 for the past 3+ years.
- John and Simon featured on cover of February 2023 issue of Vicinity magazine
- John served on the Board of Education for their town and was the President for one year. He was appointed to the BOE twice and won a 3-year position in a contested election.
- John got to dance with Madonna in the early 90s.
- John played in the sectional finals on a US Tennis Association 5.0 team.
- John and Simon have been together since 1994 with 2 teenage daughters and a 2-year old puppy. They’ve been business partners since 2016.
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