EXP Just Acquired NextHome — Here's What It Actually Means for Agents

Steven L Burch (00:00)
All right. Welcome to the leading lame podcast today. mean, it really feels like every single day there's always something that pops off in the real estate world and the headlines. But I think the most recent one that we have been a part of is the EXP and next home side of things. So, uh, EXP and buying out.

Ashley Fredrick (00:12)
Literally.

Steven L Burch (00:27)
acquiring however you want to say it, Next Home. And I just feel like, I don't know if it's maybe because I'm a little bit more sensitive to the headlines, but there's always something popping in my email box or I'm seeing it in my social. Like everybody has an opinion. It's going wild. It's crazy. But actually, what do you, let's first start with the EXP Next Home. What does that look like? What is your experience that's happened so far?

Ashley Fredrick (00:53)
Yeah, so that is what, like two weeks in the making, think. ⁓ think it was May 7th was the announcement. The announcement was that EXP acquired Nextome and you and I got to be a part of some of those conversations ⁓ and thankful for that. And I think anytime that there's a change,

people can look at it like a glass half full or glass half empty, right? ⁓ But I'm fortunate that we kind of had, even the announcement came out, like our ⁓ co-CEOs gave a ton of information. What I'm thankful for is that like Next Home stays Next Home and EXP stays EXP. know, they're two very different models. I think a lot of times when you explain that to people, it makes a little bit more sense to them as far as like the franchise type model or the...

independent agent type model. But if you were to look just outside of that, you know, maybe what two weeks before that, Realogy acquired Remax and maybe, yeah, real. ⁓ then what a month before that, Compass acquired anywhere. So if you're following, like if you have any tune into the real estate industry, it shouldn't have been shock that there would be some type of acquisition. ⁓

Steven L Burch (02:03)
in Remax.

Ashley Fredrick (02:20)
You know, Next Home is a smaller type of company in general. There's, 6,000 agents. So you're looking at competing against, you know, other franchises that have, you know, 50,000, et cetera. So if you're looking at the big picture, it just probably wouldn't be able to sustain itself in its current, ⁓ footprint. But where really being able to make a difference is comes in is to capital and.

EXP has a lot of capital, they don't have any debt. And as the real estate industry changes, which we can definitely talk about too, I think it's, who has bigger pockets, who has the most reach. And the way that I look at it is that acquisition was the best way to future proof next home and to keep us doing what we're doing. ⁓ I'm happy to talk about, know, on a local level, what I think that means, but Steven, I'm

interested to hear what your thoughts are on the acquisition.

Steven L Burch (03:20)
I think that if you really look at the way that everything is unfolding, you have these cloud-based brokerages that are ⁓ acquiring franchise models. so understanding the difference between a franchise model and then a brokerage. being able to...

take the infrastructure of a franchise model like Next Home and taking the power behind EXP brokerage and just enhancing that and being able to pull the two together, I think actually allows for a great opportunity as the company as a whole to be able to continue to grow because depending on what your...

your end goals are. There's people that don't want to be operators like you and I, and they want to be their own either independent agent or develop their team type of thing. So that's gonna be more EXP. So I think it's gonna be really interesting to see how the ⁓ growth and the sales, the recruiting, if you will, of how that is going to be in the future of this company. ⁓

For me, think that if you, in anything in business, if you just put your head in the sand and try to say, I'm going to stay the same all the time, like never evolve, you're going to get passed up.

And I think it's a time in this industry that is shifting so quickly, so rapidly, that these things have been in the works. But now as the, how the industry shifts, these decisions have to be made in order for the relevancy of the future of whichever company. could the EXP have went out and started their own franchise model and everything else? I mean, that's all over my head of how that all trickles on down, but cool. Yeah. But if there's already a good,

working great infrastructure, why not partner and then come together to be able to, I think the big thing here too, of the common goal, right? Leo and James Dwegans and Keith Robertson, like they all are on...

the same wavelength in my opinion of what this industry should be looking like. So I think when you join forces with some pretty powerful people together, I think that this leadership team as a whole is going to take everybody that is following them and underneath them even further than what they've already done. They're all extremely successful in their own individual ways. So I love seeing how loud Leo is, love seeing how loud James is out there.

not afraid to vocalize their opinion and stand out front and lead from the front. know, kudos to them and applaud them and I love all of the enhancements and the things that's going to come to us to be able to help us better serve our community and our clients and customers. Like it's not a us versus them. This really is a powerful enhancement all the way around and I'm stoked for it. I'm ready for it. Let's go.

Ashley Fredrick (06:27)
Yeah, I think the other thing, you know, you remember that like James and Kay started in a basement somewhere, like, right? You think of like Apple. Um, and you get to like a point where you need that extra partner, if you will, to be able to make that impact. And I think that this was the most logical because they do have a lot of the same beliefs and a lot of those beliefs come down to, um, the consumer and making sure that the consumer is aware of what is going on and that they're protected. And I think that.

Steven L Burch (06:34)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Ashley Fredrick (06:57)
Really, that's part of why they joined forces too. And that kind of goes back to this private listing situation that we've talked about, which is literally rapidly changing every single day. And, you know, both Leo, James and Keith are on the forefront that listings should be available to everyone. Sellers should be able to market it to everyone. And I think that, you know, by joining forces, they are able to fight that battle a little bit larger than what they could have in the past.

Steven L Burch (07:27)
And I think here too is sellers have a choice and like educated choice, not just a,

Ashley Fredrick (07:34)
We to sign

here.

Steven L Burch (07:36)
you're going to sign here and not understand that this isn't going to go to the public. This is just going into our own internal ⁓ pool, if you will, and nobody else can see it. So making sure that the seller actually knows that, okay, if that's truly what you want, okay, that's your choice. But are you really being as a seller really being educated in the manner to be able to say exactly what is going to happen versus just saying it's not going on there or not even saying anything at all.

So I think it's making sure that, you know, like there are going to be situations that, you know, that going and having a private listing is necessary. People, you know, that's their choice if they are the ones that are actually doing it.

but from a massive scale, ⁓ almost like a dictatorship, right? Like that's the kind of the way that I look at it. Like you're telling everybody this is how you're going to be doing business and this is how you're going to structure your marketing and not putting out there. I think that's a little wild to me. I think the, go ahead, I'm sorry.

Ashley Fredrick (08:42)
I

it's so interesting. It's like when you read the posts online or whatnot, it's just so funny how there's two different camps. I mean, to be honest, it's very similar to politics, right? There's two different camps. And sometimes you read people on either side and it's just kind of like, where does that fit into what's going on? I think sometimes, even in this private listing thing, how is it that people can see it?

Steven L Burch (08:54)
It is.

Ashley Fredrick (09:09)
so differently, like where some people are like, yes, that's in the best interest of the seller and no, it's not. Right. And again, like you're right, it's seller's choice. And I do think that there are situations I've had on myself when I was like an executive that didn't, they couldn't know that they were leaving those types of things. ⁓ And if that obviously like we have forms that they understand that they're potentially losing out on different type of sale money, those types of things. But you know, I always look at it and

Steven L Burch (09:14)
rain.

Ashley Fredrick (09:37)
I think same similar for you. live in a military town. live in a medical based town. Like we have people coming from all over. like California, Florida, Texas, whatever that might be. And so we're just like on a little private, like, okay, like seven people know about this house silent from selling a couple in California that make would make great buyers for this house are never going to know about it. ⁓

Steven L Burch (10:01)
Great.

Ashley Fredrick (10:01)
you know, and is there a different private listing network? Sure. But then does the buyer know to go to that and how do they get the information? Who was working in their best interest? ⁓ you know, so I think that really like we as agents have to continue to be educated. And I think maybe what's frustrating for me is there are a lot of agents that, ⁓ just have their head in the sand and literally have no idea what you and I are actually talking about right now. ⁓ and I think that that's a disservice to clients as well. ⁓

It goes back to buyer agency agreements as well and compensation, compensation to others. That has been a change for two years ago and I still go into listing presentations where someone else has been there and that has not been explained to them or if it was, it was not explained appropriately. know, it's I, you know, I really encourage agents to like actually know what's going on. Like for me, like this is my career. This is how I'm seeing like.

Steven L Burch (10:33)
Yeah.

Ashley Fredrick (10:58)
I have to be knowledgeable. have to take the time to read these articles. I have to take the time to go to these conferences so that you are seen as the expert in town. And I do appreciate when there's real estate changes and people reach out to me and they say like, what does this mean? I don't understand. And to me, that means like we've done enough, a good enough job knowing that you can come to us for the updated resources.

Steven L Burch (11:05)
Right.

Yeah, industry and these companies are forever evolving, right? And I don't even, I've been in this industry for close to, what, 18, 19 years, however long it's been.

And never have I experienced ⁓ all of these different mergers and different companies, you folding into one another and just growing. really it's a war in real estate is the way that I kind of look at it too. And I think that's how James explained it as well. And what the next wave behind all of this, in my opinion, yes, is the MLSs and the associations.

Ashley Fredrick (11:43)
So.

Steven L Burch (12:03)
It's going to come, like there is going to be a whole nother current that is going to come behind this. And we think that the, these mergers and whatnot has happened rapidly. I think the changes that they affect afterwards, the aftershock, if you will.

is going to be even more rapid and it's going to shake up people that have been turning a blind eye to this and being naive or not educating themselves and they're going to be like they're going to have whiplash so bad of saying well I thought the association was there to protect me or I thought the MLS was there to know if it's never going to go anywhere

Ashley Fredrick (12:34)
Mm-hmm.

Steven L Burch (12:43)
These are all companies, right? Like no matter which way we want to split this, every single entity, every business that we're working with are companies that are making sure that they are trying to stay relevant in the time. And when you have mass numbers.

those shifts change drastically and quickly and people aren't even know what's gonna come. I think this next couple of years are going to be wild on a local level and I mean it's already on national level but definitely on a local level because I think it's actually gonna catch up with people.

Ashley Fredrick (13:18)
think the next

six months are gonna be long.

Steven L Burch (13:22)
Let's not lie, the last few years have been wild, but it's... ⁓

Ashley Fredrick (13:24)
Right. It's just, it's like, it speeds

up. It's like a, it's like a snowball at this point in time. ⁓ You know, I think one thing, you know, we talked about, if the MLS goes away and what that looks like, I think, you know, at least in Wisconsin, they've been talking about a statewide MLS. So, I mean, I think that would be interesting. ⁓ But still, like, you gotta be able to group people. ⁓

Steven L Burch (13:41)
Which I never understood, sorry to interrupt you, like

I never understood, like we're licensed in this state, right? So these little pockets of MLSs, like I almost, the way that I explained it to my team is how many MLSs do you have in your area? How many, you know, like if you really look at that, those aren't their own kind of quote unquote little pocket listings. Because if you don't pay, you can't get into there and get that data.

Ashley Fredrick (14:08)
can't.

Steven L Burch (14:11)
So I think that that's the way that, if you're looking at it from a company standpoint, if the companies are trying to do that, well, what's happening is they're getting eaten up, right? The smaller companies are getting eaten up to still stay relevant. The same thing is going to happen with association level and MLS level. So it's going to, I think it should be a state ⁓ or regional type of MLS versus just jurisdiction.

Ashley Fredrick (14:26)
Mm-hmm.

Well, I think it's been interesting, right? Because it also is, like you said, like your license for the state. So somebody could live three hours from here, but list of property from here. That's a topic for another day. But right. If they put it in that MLS, then like, I don't necessarily see it because I don't have access to that MLS. So, you know, that makes it hard. And then like, they don't use our same showing time system. I had one where

Steven L Burch (14:56)
Mm-hmm.

Ashley Fredrick (15:06)
I was an agent from like three hours away, then I wanted to show it. And since I'm not part of their MLS, they weren't going to let me show it, but it's like in my backyard. mean, like that doesn't make sense. Like how is that in the seller or the buyer's best interests? Like those nuances, like do really need to go away. Like we shouldn't be, we as agents shouldn't be barriers to, ⁓ people seeing because of what area you're in or what MLS you're in.

Steven L Burch (15:32)
Yeah, and just think of all, like everybody in different associations and MLSs have their own rules and regs.

Ashley Fredrick (15:39)
Yeah.

Steven L Burch (15:40)
So if you are a part of multiple different MLSs, you have to make sure that you're adhering to that MLS's specific rules and ratings. So you're playing by three, four or five different sets of rules and how and what you can do. like to me, that's the, going back to dictating exactly what can happen for a license in the state and held to the same standard and the same law. Why are we not held to the same MLS rules and regulations?

I think it's just going to simplify it across the board. So, ⁓ I mean, I can go down to association and I'm gonna solve David lawn. Cause I think locally people just put their head in their sand and their head in the sand and sing up. That's never going to happen. Everything here is going to be fine. No.

Ashley Fredrick (16:22)
applied to me. I've been doing this for 30 years. That's

not how we do it.

Steven L Burch (16:27)
And then, you know, people don't even know what private listings are. People don't even know what clear cooperation is. like, these are the leaders and these are the people that are taking us. No, Educate yourself. Get more involved, right? So what do you think, like, of course, MLS, ⁓ all of these different talks of listing, private listings, what are, what are some positive?

things that are going to come out of these different companies coming together.

Ashley Fredrick (17:04)
Yeah, I think that like reach should be part of it, right? I do think that like on the Next Home side, you know, we didn't necessarily have ⁓ models that were set up because it was kind of based about like the family size small town brokerages, right? So a lot of the brokerages in Next Home were like a 10 to 40 agent type of ⁓ franchise. And with the EXP...

you know, and other changes like Next Home has been able to offer a large brokerage franchise type of agreement for people that have 200 agents or 400 agents. For me, that's great because I think, you know, having more signs in the ground, having more people know what Next Home is, I always get perturbed when someone's like, I've never heard of Next Home. what do you mean you haven't heard of Next Home? You know, it's like in my brain, that's like everything, but you look at these bigger areas and they've never heard of it. So I think.

Steven L Burch (17:52)
Mm-hmm.

Ashley Fredrick (17:58)
You know, making it more of a nationally recognized ⁓ brand, I think is helpful for all of us and builds, you know, I think just some trust when people are more aware of it. So I think that that's a positive. I do think that, you know, AI plays its own little role. ⁓ And like Leo has a pretty big background in that. And I do think that there are definitely some things in real estate, right? I agree that AI cannot replace the realtor, but I do believe that AI could.

⁓ help the realtor as far as some of their. Day to day duties, people don't understand how much paperwork is truly involved. They do not understand how much compliance is actually involved. You know, we have like, literally, like full time roles of people that are. Checking for compliance, so I think that if we can add in that piece too, so that we as agents can actually be spending time with people, educating them, showing them properties, helping them.

Steven L Burch (18:52)
Mm-hmm.

Ashley Fredrick (18:55)
helping the community, all of those types of things. there are AI tools that are put in place that we can take care of like the monotonous things and actually spend our time with our clients and with our communities, I think that that is helpful. And I think just the transparency, know, the one thing that EXP, I think does a really good job at too are their forms. have a lot of, you know, they have a large legal team ⁓ that has some very informative forms, you know, and it's all about educating buyers and sellers.

I think that that's a benefit for us. The more education, the more protection that we can provide to clients, both buyers and sellers. I we do live in a super happy world. So whatever we can do to help protect not only ourselves, but our clients, I think that those are all strong benefits that the acquisition will help with.

Steven L Burch (19:43)
I think the bottom line here is resources all the way around. In every aspect, every, I mean, the different tools, the tech, ⁓ legal, right? Capital. There's so many different resources that are.

pulling together that are making things more efficient, more effective, more streamlined, right? Like all of these things, making sure that we as agents and brokerages and franchisees, right, are staying relevant, staying with the time and being ahead and being innovative versus just...

doing status quo. I think the perspective of these leaders are completely different than some of these other models that are out there that just want to the check versus investing and growing through their companies and their agents.

Ashley Fredrick (20:35)
You know, one thing I thought was really interesting is when that happened on, you know, May 7th, ⁓ myself, you, I mean, a good chunk of next home broker owners were excited to share that to Facebook, you know, which obviously led to people asking questions or whatnot. And the thing that I thought was really interesting is that in our area, we have a remix, which had been acquired. ⁓ There was zero discussion about that in town.

We also had, you know, Century 21 and Coldwell Banker in town and there's also zero discussion about that acquisition. So I think it's funny when people say something to me about it. I will say like, well, you do know that like Remax was acquired, you know, two weeks ago or Century 21 and Coldwell Banker was also acquired and people are like, no, like I haven't seen that anywhere. And so again, like it's happening, but these other like offices and agents aren't even

Steven L Burch (21:28)
Yeah.

Ashley Fredrick (21:34)
I don't know if they don't even know what's going on or if they're not excited about it or they don't know what it means. But I think that that to me was also a very tall tale sign that the way that Next Home and EXP handled it, wasn't a different level than what those other ones are because people were so excited about it and they weren't afraid to share it. ⁓ so I, I just thought that that was super interesting that like no one really locally has talked about any of the other ones. ⁓ you know, my agents were wondering like,

Steven L Burch (21:37)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Ashley Fredrick (22:03)
Is it going to cause questions? Is it to cause concerns? I mean, it was like two or three days and we were past it. I say business as usual. ⁓ But what I tell people in general is that if we keep on doing what we're good at, which is taking care of people, that's ultimately what gets us to the next level. We can work through all of the other changes.

MLS is all of those, at the end of the day, like it still goes back to relationships for me. It still goes back to showing up for people. And that's how you continue to grow your business and be successful.

Steven L Burch (22:35)
Right, and I think it's about attitude. Your own attitude and mindset of you can either be a part of the problem or you can be a part of the solution, right? Like making sure that you're finding the positive, the good in all of these changes. Are you gonna utilize every single tool or resource? No, of course not. But if you look at it, what can you bring into ⁓ your daily business to be able to grow and benefit from?

Ashley Fredrick (22:38)
Mindset.

Steven L Burch (23:04)
Look at the positive. How is this going to help you help you help other people? It's a trickle effect. I think it's good.

Ashley Fredrick (23:10)
I think the other thing too is that, know, I had an,

another broker owner that I talked to that, maybe it wasn't so happy about it or maybe didn't quite understand it. And I get that everybody needs time to process it. had a couple of days extra to process it, but, ⁓ I just kindly said, like, you have to remember that you lead from the front. So however you.

have these discussions with your agents is exactly how they're going to act. So if you come into a room and you're like, I don't know what this means and I didn't have a heads up and who knows what this will do to us. know, then I mean, all that does is kill morale and where I started it off and I believe that you and Ryan did the same thing. Like, hey, we're super excited about this. Like this is going to be fantastic for everyone. Like again, everyone in my office was like, cool, like let us know what tools we have. Like there was no.

No negative, no, granted when I told them we had a meeting coming up, there was all kinds of conspiracy theories about what was happening, which fun to see where people's minds lead them. Like, you know, like private jets and buying places in other states and you know, all the fun stuff, which is still on the to do list. But you have to remember that like you are the leader of your office. And again, leaders aren't just broker owners, like you can be a leader in your office by just being

Steven L Burch (24:09)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Ashley Fredrick (24:28)
positive one or saying like, you know what, we should just see where this goes or whatnot. So I encourage people like, we're not going backwards. There's nothing you can do about it. So why not just get on the train, be positive, work through all the things and watch it all work out.

Steven L Burch (24:45)
I think that's great. I think that's a great ending right there. Love the passion. Love the positivity. We appreciate you guys tuning in and listening to the Leaving Lane podcast. If you have any topics or want to be a part or a guest on our podcast, please reach out to us. Love to hear from you.