Sustainable Equity Plan
With eXp Realty’s Sustainable Equity Plan, real estate agents receive stock awards for completing specific tasks within the company. Agents receive shares of stock whenever they:
- Close your first home each year with eXp Realty – $200 worth of EXPI stock
- Fully cap each year – $400 worth of EXPI stock
- *Sponsor a real estate agent, and that agent closes their first home with eXp Realty (one-time only) – $400 worth of EXPI stock
Once earned, these awards have a three-year vesting period.
*Note: To vest for the sponsor equity award, you and the agent sponsored must remain with eXp Realty at the time of vesting.
ICON Agent Award Program
eXp Realty agents who sell real estate at a high level, either by transaction count or gross commission income, are eligible to receive the ICON Agent Award each year. This award pays out up to $16,000 in EXPI stock to the agent receiving the award.
Agent Equity Program
Another way eXp Realty agents can participate in stock ownership is to opt-in to the “Agent Equity Program.” This program allows eXp Realty to withhold 5% of the commission from an agent’s transaction and purchase EXPI stock at a 10% discount.
The share price is determined by the closing market value of the month’s last trading day of EXPI stock. This day is also the issuance date.
Agents can Opt-In or Out at any time they wish to participate or not in this program by completing the Opt-In/Opt-Out Form.
Selling Your eXp Realty Stock
Upon vesting, shares of EXPI stock can be transferred to another brokerage account or sold through the agent’s Shareworks account (Before November 1st, 2019, Broadridge holds agent shares).
Access to Shareworks is through the eXp Enterprise system.
Process and Fees
EXPI stock acquired after November 1st, 2019, can be sold via Shareworks through the online portal in eXp Enterprise.
EXPI shares of stock sold through Shareworks will have a $.03/share commission fee associated with it. Additionally, there is a $20 wire fee. There are no other fees if completing this transfer/sale via the internet.
EXPI stock acquired before November 1st, 2019, can be sold via Broadridge by contacting Shareholder Support at 1-800-586-1585.
Shares acquired before November 2017 are considered “restricted stock” and require a $50 restriction removal fee before sale/transfer. I’m unaware of other fees to sell/transfer stock acquired through Broadridge.
Companies Owned By eXp World Holdings
Showcase IDX – Showcase IDX is a platform that connects real estate websites to your local MLS. This connection allows the website to display local listings. Showcase IDX is considered the leader in the real estate industry due to its modern and stylish interface and robust features.
SUCCESS Enterprises – In 2020, eXp World Holdings purchased SUCCESS Enterprises. SUCCESS is a leading personal development company established in 1897 and features SUCCESS magazine, SUCCESS.com, SUCCESS Newsletters, podcasts, digital training courses, and affiliate social media accounts.
Virbela – Virbela creates virtual office environments for companies around the globe. Virbela is what powers eXp World. Many other companies use Virbela’s virtual offices, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, MIT Sloan School of Management, and computing company HTC.
eXp Commercial – In 2020, eXp World Holdings created an entirely separate commercial brokerage rather than lump it into eXp Realty. Today eXp Commercial is home to agents all across the US and, soon, internationally. See my article that talks more about eXp Commercial.
Stock Split
On February 16th, 2021, eXp World Holdings completed a 2-for-1 stock split. This means that anyone who held shares of EXPI before February 16th had double shares but at half the price.
The reason why companies typically complete a stock split is to make the shares more affordable. Investors don’t have to purchase as many fractions of a share and can purchase whole shares instead.
This is particularly important for eXp World Holdings and eXp Realty since agents are issued shares for production and growth initiatives. Take, for instance; the $200 stock award agents receive for their first transaction each year. At $160/share that’s 1.25 shares. However, at $80/share that’s 2.5 shares.
Without the split, if the share price continued to increase, it could create an issue where agents wouldn’t even receive a total share when they received an award.
Company Earnings Growth
eXp World Holdings has been exponentially growing its revenue and cash flow. Before the fourth quarter of 2019, EXPI had not had a positive net income quarter (not unusual for a new company). However, since that time, EXPI has seen tremendous earnings growth.
In 2019 eXp World Holdings had a net income loss of around ten million dollars. In 2020, eXp World Holding booked a positive net income of over $30 million.
Additionally, with the addition of thousands of agents and acquisitions of multiple companies throughout the past few years, EXPI has seen substantial revenue growth. In 2018, EXPI earned revenue of just under $500 million. In 2019, that revenue nearly doubled to $979 million. Then in 2020, EXPI eclipsed the billion-dollar revenue mark and finished the year at $1.79 billion in revenue.
EXPI Dividend Stock
eXp Realty initiated quarterly dividend payments to shareholders in 2021. These payments are made from the company’s earnings and are intended to provide shareholders with a regular income stream.
The first dividend payment was $0.025 per share, which was paid in April 2021. The dividend payment increased to $0.03 per share in July 2021 and then to $0.035 per share in October 2021. The dividend payment will continue to increase by $0.005 per share each quarter until it reaches a final payout of $0.075 per share.
Let Me Know What You Think
eXp Realty has been experiencing substantial revenue growth, cash flow, and net income growth.
This is partly due to the company’s increasing number of agents and acquisitions and its initiation of quarterly dividend payments to shareholders.
EXPI is an excellent opportunity for investing in a growing real estate company that pays out regular dividends. This is especially true for real estate agents who are already selling real estate and wish to be rewarded with equity ownership in addition to their regular sales commissions.
Any opinions shared in this article are my own. I’m not a financial advisor, so be sure to speak with one before acting on any thoughts or opinions I’ve shared in this article.