After Years of Saying No to Other Major Brands, This Florida Brokerage Has Officially Moved to eXp Realty.
Rene and Dana Carpena had plenty of reasons to stay independent. Their brokerage closed more than $60 million in sales in 2025, half a billion since 2021, and major real estate brands had already approached them about partnerships and acquisitions. They kept saying no.
But the business they wanted to build next presented an expensive problem: expanding beyond Tampa Bay could mean recreating their brokerage’s infrastructure in every new market.
And if getting bigger meant their agents no longer felt at home, what was the point? Rene and Dana had spent years building a brokerage people wanted to be part of. They were particular about who they would let change it.
After about five years of considering how to grow, the founders of Florida’s 1st Choice Realty found an answer that changed their minds about joining a national brand.
The Hidden Costs of Growing Your Real Estate Team Out of State
Growing your real estate footprint sounds great until the overhead bills start rolling in. Rene Carpena experienced that reality check when taking the Florida-based brokerage he built with his wife, Dana, into North Carolina.
They did everything by the book. Rene obtained his broker's license and opened a tiny office that barely fit two people. Before bringing on a single new agent, he spent about $6,000 just on fees and licensing.
That initial price tag was only the beginning. A growing team would require a much larger office lease within a year.
The couple had built a Florida brokerage with nearly half a billion dollars in documented sales volume since 2021, but that track record didn’t mean agents in North Carolina knew their name. Rene would have to build his reputation there from scratch.
Joining eXp gave the Carpenas an established brokerage behind their family business as they entered new markets. They could focus on finding agents and building relationships while using eXp’s existing infrastructure, rather than funding and setting up another independent brokerage operation in each state.
They’re already putting that advantage to work. Since joining, Rene says they have signed agents in Georgia and Illinois and are starting a New Jersey team with approximately four agents.
Would Joining eXp Pay Off Without Recruiting? Rene Says Yes.
The Carpenas’ expansion plans weren’t the only reason the numbers worked. Asked whether joining eXp would still make financial sense without recruiting additional agents, Rene said yes.
The move reduced his monthly financial obligations while giving his agents access to technology, education, and a professional network he couldn’t offer independently.
He also chose to absorb his team members’ cap contributions to eXp so they could retain their existing cap and commission split within his organization.
That meant the move could benefit the agents already working with them, even before the first person joined in another state.
Who Runs the Business When the Owners Are Buried in Paperwork?
For Rene and Dana, brokerage ownership came with a daily queue of files, contracts, and compliance reviews. Those responsibilities competed for time with the work of developing agents and growing the business.
“We no longer have to oversee the files coming in and handle all the compliance, signing off on contracts and reviewing everything on a daily basis that took up so much of our time,” Rene said.
Sharing those responsibilities with eXp has allowed the couple to spend more time mentoring agents, building relationships, and developing their organization.
“My wife and I happily traded being responsible for everything to partner with an amazing company who shares in on the responsibilities with us,” he shared.
Selling Was Off the Table. Staying Independent Wasn’t.
The Carpenas had received acquisition offers, but they had no desire to sell. Franchise and partnership opportunities hadn’t appealed either. Rene said the culture and branding felt too different from what he and Dana had built.
Joining eXp offered a way to keep leading their family business while sharing the responsibilities and costs of running a brokerage. This fall, Florida’s 1st Choice Realty began its next chapter as 1st Choice Collective, with 70+ agents making the transition.
“We weren’t looking for another company to teach us how to be Florida’s 1st Choice,” he explained. “What we needed was scale.”
Their long-term ambition is to grow to hundreds and eventually thousands of agents, with other leaders building businesses in their own markets.
“Dana and I built the first chapter. Now we want to help other people build theirs.”
That work is already underway in additional states, with the couple able to focus more of their time on the people joining them and less on establishing the brokerage operation behind each move.
