If you’re in real estate, and searching for a new brokerage, many times you’ll find yourself down to two brokerages to hang your license with. And many times, the final two brokerages come down to eXp Realty vs. Keller Williams.
Both are hugely successful brokerages that were built upon a strong business model and have thrived over the years. But there are many differences between the two that it’s worth taking a look at.
Some of the key differences between eXp Realty and Keller Williams include:
- Business model.
- Agent attraction revenue opportunities.
- Training options.
- Team structure.
- Culture and community.
- Technology.
So, let’s dive into each of these differences so you can decide which brokerage is best for you and your real estate career.
A History of eXp Realty and Keller Williams
First, let’s take a look at the history of these two brokerages.
Keller Williams
Keller Williams was started by Gary Keller and Joe Williams in 1983. The brokerage started small, with only a few agents, but within two years had grown to become the largest single office brokerage in Austin and the 10th in the market overall.
After struggling through the market crash of 1986, Gary Keller and his team reinvented the model of Keller Williams. They started by focusing on the agents, giving them opportunities to become business partners through the profit share program and share in the development of the company.
Within a few years, they had created the Agent Leadership Counsel to start making decisions for the company. In 1991, they began to franchise in different areas. In the early and mid 2000s, the publication of two real estate books by Gary Keller expanded Keller Williams’ reach.
By 2012, the brokerage expanded internationally; today Keller Williams is home to over 188,000 agents and is still growing fast.
eXp Realty
Glenn Sanford was a top producer at Keller Williams before the market crash of 2008. At that time, his business began to suffer so much that he decided he needed to make a change. A year later, in 2009, he began eXp Realty.
eXp Realty started out differently than other brokerages. Sanford took the profit share idea of Keller Williams and created a revenue share program to incentivize new agents. He also kept the company entirely online with a cloud-based office model.
As a result of these innovative decisions early on, eXp grew quickly, launching in Canada by 2012 and around the world shortly after. In 2019, at its tenth anniversary, eXp was home to over 25,000 agents, and two years later it reached 70,000 agents.
Today, eXp is one of the fastest-growing brokerages in the world and is quickly closing the gap of agent count and production volume with Keller Williams.
The Business Model of eXp Realty and Keller Williams
The most important aspect of a real estate brokerage is the business model: how do agents make money? So, let’s explore how Keller Williams and eXp Realty run their brokerages.
Keller Williams Business Model
Keller Williams is a franchise brokerage. This means that there are many franchises around the country (and the world) and each one may operate slightly differently based on the local market, leadership, and resources available. Thus, I have to provide some generalizations as not everything is standardized. Here is the basic model.
Typically, agents at Keller Williams work under a 70/30 commission split. KW operates on a “cap model” where once a certain amount of money is paid to the brokerage, the agent goes to a 100% commission plan. A common cap is $18,000, though this too varies by franchise.
Keller Williams agents also pay a 6% royalty fee that goes directly to the brokerage and that too has a cap of $3,000 per year. The E&O (errors and omissions insurance) fee for each transaction varies by franchise, but usually ranges between $40 and $75 per transaction.
Desk fees are optional at Keller Williams and vary significantly by franchise. The brokerage does charge a monthly fee to make up for the lack of desk fees, but the monthly fee also varies, often landing somewhere between $37 and $125 per month. The reason for this variety is because franchise owners must have the flexibility to in order to incentivize new agents to join.
eXp Realty Business Model
At eXp Realty, there are no franchises. As a result, all fees are the same for every agent, no matter where they live. The commission split at eXp Realty is 80/20. So, 80% goes to the agent and 20% goes to the brokerage.
At eXp, agents cap at $16,000. After that, an agent gets to take home 100% of the commission split. In addition to the split, agents also pay $40 for E&0 insurance and $25 for a broker review on each transaction. Keep in mind that the E&O fee caps at $500 per year.
Let’s back up for a second and talk about what happens when an agent caps at eXp Realty. The agent does go to a 100% commission split; however, there is a $250 transaction fee the agent needs to pay on each transaction after they’ve capped. This transaction fee caps at $5,000 and reduces to $75 per transaction the rest of the year. Only the $25 broker review fee remains the same.
In addition to transaction fees, you have one monthly fee of $85 at eXp to pay for access to the technology, network, and training provided. This fee does not cap and remains the same as long as you work with eXp Realty.
Note: eXp does not have offices like Keller Williams or most other brokerages since it runs entirely online. However, it does offer free access to any Regus office worldwide for all of its agents.
EXPI World Holdings Stock
As a bonus for agents not found in brokerages like Keller Williams, eXp Realty offers agents the chance to earn or purchase stock in the company. Agents can earn stock by meeting specific goals, or purchase it at a discount with 5% of their commission.
This opportunity is not found in Keller Williams, which is a privately held company. I just thought it was important to mention this big distinction.
Agent Attraction Opportunities at eXp Realty and Keller Williams
After that makeover in the 1980s, Keller Williams started a profit share program to incentivize agents to join. When Glenn Sanford started eXp Realty, he used the same principle to create a similarly structured program.
Keller Williams Profit Share
When agents at Keller Williams sponsor a new agent into the brokerage, they receive a portion of that agent’s profit. Profit share is taken from the percentage of profit that goes to Keller Williams after all expenses are paid.
There are seven tiers of sharing at Keller Williams. When a sponsored agent in turn sponsors another agent, the first agent also receives a percentage of the newest agent’s profit as well. You can see how this model caught fire and helped KW reach heights never seen before!
eXp Realty Revenue Share
The model at eXp Realty is very similar to the model at Keller Williams. However, there is one key difference: revenue share is taken off the top, before expenses are paid. This means that an agent receives a percentage of the gross company share taken from their sponsored agent.
There are also seven tiers at eXp Realty, each with different earning options. You can read a full breakdown of the model and how it works here.
Training Options at eXp Realty and Keller Williams
Though they operate differently at the foundational level, both Keller Williams and eXp Realty maintain a strong focus on training their agents.
Keller Williams Coaching
At its founding, Keller Williams was all about helping agents succeed. Today, one of the biggest ways the brokerage does this is by providing extensive training opportunities. KW is known for their training and rightly so.
Keller Williams has several MAPS coaching programs to choose from: Mastery, BOLD, Breakthrough, Group, and LIFE Coaching. It also hosts webinars by coaches to help agents engage in specific topics of interest to them.
Mastery and Breakthrough courses are one-on-one, designed to help agents break barriers and increase their earnings.
BOLD and Group are group training sessions designed to help agents face specific challenges and improve their business strategies.
LIFE Coaching is a one-on-one mentorship designed to help agents through specific, tailored struggles in business and life.
Each course does cost a small fee, but do provide the much needed clarity and support agents need to thrive.
eXp Realty Training
Education at eXp Realty is slightly different. With the monthly fee, agents get to access 60+ weekly hours of live training and hundreds of recorded training sessions. These sessions cover all kinds of struggles agents face and strategies for success.
eXp also offers a mentor/mentee program, mandatory for agents joining the brokerage with fewer than three transactions in the last year. This program gives agents access to eXp University and allows them to engage with a mentor for one on one mentorship to help them grow.
This program has no upfront price, but the first three transactions a new agent makes will be split at a 60/40 commission split instead of 80/20.
Team Structure at eXp Realty vs. Keller Williams
Both brokerages offer a team structure for agents who are interested in joining with other agents to share strategies, leads, and resources. However, there are some key differences in how these teams work within the brokerages.
Keller Williams Teams
Keller Williams agents create teams at the franchise level by bringing new agents into their profit share relationship. Oftentimes, the agents on the team work together to fulfill different functions within the business, such as sales, administration, finances, etc. The main reason for this is to provide higher levels of efficiency.
Team leaders are responsible for attracting new agents and providing them with training and support as they embark on their real estate career within Keller Williams. In return, these team leaders take an additional commission split on top of what is already going to the broker owner of the KW franchise.
Teams are so prevalent because team leaders are usually ‘rainmakers’ who have more business than they can handle. So they need other agents to help them service that business. At the same time, other agents that don’t have that much business find it very valuable to align themselves with a team so the team can help them get the business.
eXp Realty Teams
At eXp Realty, there are four different team structures available:
- Self-Organized Team. This team structure is similar to what you might find at Keller Williams or another brokerage. A team leader gathers members and they work together to close transactions. They can also set a different referral fee for members.
- Standard Team. This structure gives team members a lower cap of $8,000 instead of the traditional $16,000 and requires team members to pay a split of at least 25% to the team leader. The team leader must meet specific requirements to start a standard team.
- Mega Icon Team. In this model, the team must have at least ten members who have capped in the last year and all team members must meet specific transactional requirements to join the team. In this larger team structure, agents cap at $4,000, but the whole team must pay at least $56,000 in commission splits.
- Domestic Partnership. This model is specifically for married couples who want to work real estate together. Each spouse shares in the $16,000 cap, and one partner gets a discounted monthly fee of $50.
Culture and Community at eXp Realty vs. Keller Williams
Both brokerages pride themselves on being agent-centric brokerages. Let’s look at how that breaks down when it comes to the community and culture.
Keller Williams Community and Culture
At Keller Williams, agents are encouraged to prioritize their families and community relationships above their business. Keller Williams has often been voted as a top company in the United States for work-life balance.
On the second Thursday of each May, Keller Williams agents participate in RED Day, a global day of community involvement and service where agents dedicate their time to Renew, Energize, and Donate.
Keller Williams has been named as one of the top workplaces for culture, diversity, and women for many years running. Their Agent Leadership Counsel is dedicated to encouraging agent involvement in the appointment of leaders and the making of decisions for the brokerage.
Finally, the brokerage hosts two huge events to connect agents each year: Mega Camp, which brings agents in for training and connection, and Family Reunion, which offers sessions from top agents around the world in a conference format.
eXp Realty Community and Culture
eXp Realty was founded to make real estate a more rewarding experience for agents. When agents join, they get to become a part of a worldwide brokerage and meet agents from all over the world through the online eXp World and eXp Workplace platforms.
The brokerage provides teams dedicated to agent success and agent experience while encouraging sponsors of new agents to build teams of their own to keep agents well-connected throughout their real estate journey.
ONE eXp is a diversity and inclusion initiative providing education and support to agents on the topics surrounding diversity. And the Agent Advisory Council offers agent insight to eXp’s leadership to ensure every agent’s voice is heard.
eXp also hosts community events throughout the year to encourage involvement, including the EXPCON, a three-day conference-like event, and Shareholder Summit, a training and company growth event.
As a bonus, eXp agents are also encouraged to pursue the ICON award by meeting specific cultural and transactional goals within the company. The ICON award allows agents to become more invested in the company both financially and culturally.
Technology at eXp Realty and Keller Williams
Though it started out as a very traditional brokerage, Keller Williams has been working to catch up with the latest technological trends. As a cloud-based brokerage, however, eXp Realty has been deep in technology from the beginning.
Keller Williams Technology
Agents work within the Keller Cloud, a suite of tools designed to help them keep their business organized. It includes Command, an advanced CRM, and Consumer, a customer-facing app that connects agents and clients more efficiently through search, virtual tours, and further collaboration.
eXp Realty Technology
As a brokerage founded and run entirely online, eXp Realty is one of the most technologically advanced real estate brokerages around. Agents who join eXp must access and work within:
- eXp Enterprise–the hub where agents can track transactions, earnings, stock shares, and more.
- eXp World–the online office space where agents virtually engage with other agents and explore training opportunities.
- Skyslope–the online transaction management software that makes paperwork and digital signing easy and simple.
- eXp Workplace–the Facebook-created app where agents can engage socially with one another all around the world and find training on any topic.
- kvCORE–the advanced CRM where agents can create websites, landing pages, squeeze pages, and more while keeping track of their leads.
- Introlend–an app that helps you connect clients with great loan options.
- Utility Connect–a partnership that allows you to create a brand-personalized website to connect your clients with utility services nearby.
- eXp 360 Tours–an easy way to create stunning virtual tours.
There’s no question that eXp has a lot of technology, and while it can be overwhelming at first, it’s right up there with the latest trends in the real estate business.
Conclusion
As you can see, both Keller Williams and eXp Realty are successful, popular, and well-loved brokerages. Both have incredible opportunities for agents to connect with one another, build revenue, engage in quality training, learn new technologies, and eventually retire in peace.
As a real estate agent, I ended up going with eXp Realty. I found their technology, revenue options, and benefits to be just what I was looking for. If you’d like to know more about eXp Realty, get in touch with me and I can help you decide whether it’s the right brokerage for you.