For Any Doubters, SF Real Estate Agent Rob Edwards Deftly Explains eXp Realty’s Model and Why He Left Compass

Editor’s note: In celebration of Gay Pride Month, we are featuring eXp agents who are allies and supporters of the LGBTQ community and promote their services, values, and commitments.

Are you a real estate agent or broker with questions about what a move to eXp Realty would mean? Stop right there. Listen to what eXp Realty agent Rob Edwards has to say.

This San Francisco-based agent and real estate analyst has transformed his real estate career since joining eXp in May 2022. He is now completely immersed in eXp Luxury, a division launched in 2022 that is building a global network of agents and teams focused on concierge service and elite marketing. He says his move from Compass to eXp Realty was life-changing. 

“Like so many agents, I realized eXp was about fiscal discipline and elimination of excessive operation expenses, like office leases,’’ Rob said, adding he wished he had moved to eXp sooner. “The opportunity cost of kicking the tires for a year is, well, an immeasurably large sum of money.”

Edwards Dug Deep Into eXp and Studied It ‘Hard’ for a Year

With degrees and postgraduate stints at top U.S. colleges (Lehigh, University of Pennsylvania, UCLA and Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government) Rob turned his eXp research into an all-consuming project.  

He interviewed Silicon Valley innovators, angel investors, and venture capitalists. He peppered eXp executives with questions. What he found made him a total convert. 

“I studied eXp’s compensation model, hard. For almost a year. Like, really hard. I tore it apart, reassembled it, and asked a gazillion questions that started small and then expanded to their quarterly 10-K and 10-Q financials. And I might add, no one ever pushed back or avoided answering. It was all very transparent,’’ he said.

He Discovered the eXp Model Added Up to Nothing Short of a Big Win 

Rob’s research led to the essential parameters of how and why eXp works. It was clear and concise. 

“There’s a $16,000 cap? Build your own tribe? Invite who you want across multiple states? Countries? Recurring residual income? Retirement is now possible? And that revenue sharing income is then will-able to my heirs when I die? How could eXp be so generous to agents and still be profitable?’’ he wondered.

“For weeks I thought this had to be some socialist wealth redistribution scheme thought up by Bernie Sanders. So being a rabid liberal, I leaned in, of course! And like so many agents, I realized it was indeed legit.”

“Author Chris Voss has said, ‘Never be so sure of what you want that you wouldn’t take something better’.”

His Message: Get Off the Brick & Mortar Brokerages’ Transaction Treadmill

“The old brick-and-mortar brokerages are pyramids. You, the agent, are aggregated –  and at the bottom of that pyramid. And those at the top realize an outsized benefit from your labor. The CEO and his deputies could cash out as millionaires. But agents? We are left schlepping our A-frames around the hills of San Francisco, or the snow of Chicago, or the heat of Florida. 

“As an agent, in the old fashioned brokerage model, you bring in the revenue and also accept the transaction treadmill as your future. That ecosystem is just a losing, exhausting proposition over the long term. You might as well be working in a coal mine – you are that insignificant, replaceable, disposable. There is a better way. And Glenn Sanford created it. And 88,000+ US agents are expanding it.”

— Rob Edwards

“That daily grind is not how you generate wealth for yourself. That’s linear income. There’s nothing compounding there. No leverage, no duplication. And you’ll eventually age out. For most of us, our bodies will quit before we save enough to retire. Our investment of decades of time should have some estimated/expected payoff in the end: recurring income.”

> Learn more about Rob Edwards through his Medium channel

“Once I realized my ladder was up against the wrong wall, I was open to the idea of switching walls. I’ve counted about 150 agents now that have moved to eXp from Compass. And it’s just the beginning. eXp’s new VP of Marketing came from Compass. There’s also several senior staffers from Sotheby’s on board now. We are committed to giving luxury agents an opportunity to sell more and retire too.”

How eXp Luxury Is Aggregating the Best Agents & Teams in a Global Play 

“My process? I am interviewing and explaining the benefits of joining eXp to agent leaders in the 20 largest cities, plus beach and ski resort towns. I’m inviting them to join us as founding agents of a luxury-focused, multi-city, team-of-teams. We’re reaching out to indie brokerages too. We let everyone know ‘You keep your team or personal brand. It’s about you — you are the brand, not your company’s logo. But if you’re that wedded to a logo, eXp has crafted a new luxury one. It’s very elegant.’ “

> See why independent brokerages are flocking to eXp Realty

A Virtual Brokerage Actually Promotes Better Camaraderie!

“I don’t miss “office culture.” There is far more camaraderie in this geographically dispersed collection of agents. We don’t see each other as direct competitors, so agents share and collaborate much much more. And I also don’t miss having only one manager to ask for contract guidance. We have 13 seasoned brokers in California working in our metaverse. Contract and legal support conversations are in real-time. No waiting. So efficient. I love it.”

Rob Edwards’ Real Estate Experience:

• eXp Realty, San Francisco, branch manager (June 2022 – present)
• Compass, San Francisco (2016 – 2022)
• Various indie brokerages plus work in Redevelopment, Economic Development, Historic Preservation, Commercial Leasing, Family Office. (2001 – 2016)

Rob Edwards’ Accomplishments:

• Serving on the 2023 eXp Agent Advisory Council
• Serving as a 2023 eXp Luxury Council Ambassador
• Established eXp Realty’s first branch office in San Francisco 
• 2022 Board of Directors, San Francisco Association of Realtors 
• A regional Harvard alumni association chairman (7 years)
• Past host of the “Compass Agent Happy Hour”– a weekly interview show on Clubhouse with Compass president Leonard Steinberg (2021)
• Police Officer, Washington DC Metropolitan Police Dept’s Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit (5 years)

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Interested in jump-starting your real estate career? Learn how eXp Realty puts agents first.