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HOW TO RETIRE FROM REAL ESTATE A Real Estate Agent's Blueprint to Freedom, Passive Income & Legacy

Jim Lowenstern

How To Retire From Real Estate© 2026 by James Lowenstern All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal. First edition: June 2026 Lion Star Press 10987654321

About the Author JIM LOWENSTERN is the president of a real estate brokerage company, Castles Unlimited, based in the Boston area. In addition, Jim is the publisher of real estate magazines, the host and producer of radio, television shows, podcasts and is a residential home builder. He has trained and coached thousands of real estate brokers over his many decades of involvement in the real estate brokerage industry. Jim has also been a frequent guest on radio, television and podcasts due to his extensive knowledge of real estate and the real estate business. He's a certified SCUBA diver, expert skier and loves to bike, hike, travel, play guitar and piano.

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Disclaimer: How to Retire from Real Estate is not an invitation for employment nor an addendum to either the eXp or Castles Unlimited's® Policy and Procedures Manual or Agreement of Association. The author merely advocates the use and application of any of the ideas posed to any individual, team or company wishing to implement them. Neither the author nor his publishers are responsible for any misrepresentation or misuse of those ideas by either individuals or entities. The trademarks and company names used herein are the intellectual property of their respective entities. None of these companies have either specific or general knowledge of the concepts promulgated; and, none of them have endorsed, sanctioned or recommended any of the themes or ideas which have been advocated.

This book is dedicated to Elena

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION..............................................................xix

CHAPTER 1..........................................................................1 Get Out of My Head

CHAPTER 2........................................................................11 Franchises for Free?

CHAPTER 3........................................................................16 Mailbox Money

CHAPTER 4........................................................................19 The Power of One More

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CHAPTER 5........................................................................22 The Theory of Two

CHAPTER 6........................................................................25 Who Wants to Retire?

CHAPTER 7........................................................................29 Tools, Platforms, and Mentors

CHAPTER 8........................................................................32 Three Years

CHAPTER 9........................................................................39 Let's Define Retirement

CHAPTER 10......................................................................47 Your Legacy Can Be Part of Your Goal xiv

CHAPTER 11......................................................................52 Beyond Money; Let's Party!

CHAPTER 12......................................................................57 Let's Write a Book

CHAPTER 13......................................................................63 How Many Websites Do You Need?

CHAPTER 14......................................................................66 How Much Money Do You Need?

CHAPTER 15......................................................................72 What Is Important?

CHAPTER 16......................................................................75 The Path xv

CHAPTER 17......................................................................80 What Is Success?

CHAPTER 18......................................................................84 Your Podcast

CHAPTER 19......................................................................89 CASTLES®

CHAPTER 20......................................................................93 Fortune Cookies

CHAPTER 21......................................................................97 What Are You Going to Do Now That You're "Rich"?

CHAPTER 22....................................................................101 Your Inspiration, Your Muse xvi

CHAPTER 23....................................................................105 The Business of Taking it Easy is a Real Business

CHAPTER 24....................................................................109 The Day You Retire and Beyond!

CHAPTER 25....................................................................114 The Perfect Recruitment Call

CHAPTER 26....................................................................123 It's All About the Business Model

CHAPTER 27....................................................................127 Bold Trail and Lead Generation

CHAPTER 28....................................................................130 Conclusion

GLOSSARY.......................................................................138

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Introduction

My first book, “Your Million Dollar Year In Real Estate,” started the way most good things do — with a dare. Brokers I worked with kept asking me to explain my ideas, and eventually they just said, write it down. So I did. What was meant to be a white paper became a full book, and that book opened doors I never expected.

My second book was supposed to be the sweeping one — fortyplus years of stories, hard lessons, the right way and the wrong way, the characters you meet in this business and the ones you wish you hadn’t. It was going to be everything I’d stored up over a career that has taken me through more market cycles than I care to count. But then something happened. A new business model crept into my life slowly and then all at once — into my days, my conversations, my plans for the future — and the book I thought I was going to write became a different book entirely.

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Because the real story, the one that actually needed telling, was this: after more than four decades in real estate, I finally understood what retirement in this industry could look like. Not walking away with nothing. Not just stopping. Actually retiring — with income, with legacy, with something still growing after you step back.

Nobody talks about this enough. Most agents grind for years, build something real, and then one day the commissions stop and so does everything else. No passive income. No residual. No plan. The business that consumed their life simply disappears when they do. That is not a career — that is a treadmill.

The market right now is not making things easier. Interest rates are elevated, inventory is tight, and agents are leaving the industry in numbers we have not seen in years. The companies that were handing out sign-on bonuses and promises two years ago are now cutting staff and closing offices. In that environment, the agents who survive are the ones who have built income streams that do not depend entirely on the next transaction.

I have been a Realtor for over forty years. I have watched markets rise and collapse and rise again. I have seen every kind of brokerage model come and go, and I have worked inside most of

them. What I know now — what I wish someone had laid out clearly when I was starting — is that the structure of your business matters as much as how hard you work it. Choose the right model, build it with intention, and real estate can give you something rare: a retirement that actually pays.

That is what this book is about. Not just how to succeed in real estate, but how to retire from it — on your terms, with income still coming in, and a legacy worth leaving behind. Let’s get into it.

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Chapter 1 Get Out of My Head

People are not perfect. We don't always make the right decisions. We are not always doing the right thing, but regardless, we need to believe that we are always doing the very best that we can.

Now that the positive or nearly positive thing has been said we should take a moment and talk about the negative. You are wonderful, but the more wonderful you are, and the more wonderful that the world views you the more people will do their best to bring you down, to dim your bright light, to eclipse your sunny outlook and your star power. It's sad but true, people can be jealous by nature and will make you unhappy if you allow them to.

Many of the thoughts and activities that are promoted in this book may create jealousy with your competitors. They might even create new competitors for your business that you had no idea were lurking all the time. They lurk, they do their best to steal

from you in many ways, they appear when you are having a good day. They appear when you least expect it, but you need to be ready, you need to expect them to be there like honey ants in your kitchen...if you leave one wayward crumb those "honey ants" will be ready to pounce.

Negative opinions are next. Everyone has an opinion, but are their opinions worth anything? Should you really be interested or listen to their opinions? I would say listen up to a point and then file it away and make your own decision. You really need to realize that the business of real estate is not any one thing, and opinions fly at us from all directions daily. "This house is overpriced," "this house needs a million dollars' worth of repairs," "you should work at my company because we have better technology and you will make more money there," "you really need to go to this webinar if you want to make triple the income this year." You have heard all the negatives and even the positives wrapped up as negatives. I'll bet that you have heard them all.

A positive negative. The fact that what seems to be a positive is really a negative with a positive coating. It's a negative with a positive slant. "Your technology is inferior and that’s why you aren't earning much, so you need to attend this webinar." Everywhere you look there's a sales pitch in sheep's clothing. A

negative all gussied up as a positive. You shouldn't be fooled. You need to remember your self-worth and not let the wrong people into your head because they are usually there only for themselves. They say that they want to help, but I caution you.

Next is negative news. I know some people don't watch the news because it's either politically leaning or too horrible to see or listen to, and I get it. The news is usually all about the bad stuff with a few puppy dogs and smiling children thrown in for dessert. However, as real estate professionals we need to know what is happening around the world and with the economy. We need to know about interest rates and which tax right offs are being taken away or modified and how that will change the climate for home or commercial real estate purchases and sales. However, too much of a good thing like news can be bad for your mental health.

I have worked with the news running in the background, worked with music playing and worked in complete silence. Everything is good in moderation so in my opinion a little news is good because after a while the news cycles and repeats. The hurricane barreling down on an island that you don't live on isn't so important that you need to stay tuned to see the progress of the storm every fifteen minutes. Stay tuned just enough to be informed and then get back to your family, business, friends, whatever is important to you.

They have said that "no news is good news" and there must be a reason for that.

Finally, we have the family. The people you are closest to are important and their opinions are important. You, however, are running a business and you shouldn't let them control your head, your heart, and your business decisions with their opinions. You are inevitably going to make some wrong decisions along the way, but some of the worst decisions sometimes turn out to be the best decisions in the long run.

So "get out of my head" is all about your headspace being sacred. Think of it like an email account where you block accounts, delete messages and file some. Keep your mind forever open, but also well-guarded, and you will be doing the very best that you can do, and that's the best you can hope for.

Many people will tell you that retiring in three years and the other ideas and business models that are espoused in this book are a scam, a scheme, or pie in the sky wishful thinking. They don't want you to waste your time. They have been there and they know. They will do their best to get into your head and derail your positivity. They really don't want you to be successful even

though they say that they are only looking out for you. They might not even know what they are doing and why they are doing it. They are sure that they know more about everything that you plan to do than you do even though many times they have only partial information or worse yet usually they have no information about what your plan is.

I can't say it enough. Be true to yourself. Trust your instincts and follow through on your decisions and I promise you that if you keep things positive, and if you don't let the negative people, news, opinions and thoughts into your head that you will have a better outlook, a better work/ life balance and if you want it, an early retirement.

My Mantra. My mantra. My mantra. Ommmmmm...

When I was much younger, I meditated twice a day. Transcendental Meditation (TM) was the way I sought to achieve an uncluttered mind and the way I basically kept myself sane. That's not to say that I'm basically insane, but I believe that we are all thrown into this life with only a few instruction books and that we need to hear our inner voice and listen to it daily to make wise decisions.

Somehow my life became too busy for TM, and I was not rewarded for practicing it. In fact, there was a summer camp job that I had where I was fired because I took twenty minutes to meditate. I didn't stop meditating then, but eventually I made the mistake of not meditating every day. If I had to do it over again, I would make sure I meditated daily. At least once a day.

Why is that?

Our modern lives are being overrun by technology and marketing. Everyone is bombarded by unsolicited sales calls, texts, popup ads on our computers, spam calls, junk mail, voice drops, email blasts and all those attempts by mail fraud, email and phone call criminals to scam us every day. It's enough to drive you crazy. So, what do you do? Run and hide? Don't pick up or return calls? Block people, texts and email bots constantly? Ghost the entire world? Is that what you should do?

I'm not saying that ghosting isn't going to accomplish a lot but if you are in real estate, you probably shouldn't get in the habit of blocking someone just because they are soliciting you. Of course you should definitely block the bots. It's the other companies and agents that you feel are soliciting you aggressively that I'm

mentioning here. You just never know what you might hear in a 5-minute call. Block those that you must and be open minded to those that you should possibly be listening to.

Now back to TM and other activities where you get to be alone and think. Places where you get to tune out the noise and the stress. Pressure is what is needed to create diamonds, but let's go with the theory that you are already a diamond and that this book is all about shaping and polishing you into a world class gemstone.

So, what do you do to get away from the pressure of the world and your life? Exercise? Run? Ski? Paddle board? Walk the dog? Take a hike? You get the idea. You need to do something to blow off steam and be by yourself and your thoughts. Not drinking. Not drugging. Not hanging out at the bar. You need quiet time to think and allow your mind to get empty. You need to be out in nature if that's possible. Listen to the birds, the waves, the wind. Smell the fresh air, the salt air. That's when you can be most creative and leverage your true potential. It's the time when you can focus on what's important and perhaps even solve a large problem you sometimes didn't even know about.

How's that again?

I believe that a person can overwhelm their schedule with so many errands, and people, and "need to do's" that mistakes are made. Sometimes tragic mistakes. I don't want you to make mistakes if you can avoid them. So, find something that is all about yourself, something that is totally yours and take advantage of what that time alone will offer you.

Get positive about your life and your path. Tune out the naysayers. Remove the negative commenters. Find solutions to problems before they show up. Open yourself to a better life by removing negative thoughts and things while you exercise. Push away negative people when you get an opportunity. Lose some or all of your negative friends and replace them with positive people; even do your best to keep negative family members at arm's length; reduce your daily intake of negative news, try to not listen to negative opinions on things delivered by negative people that probably know little or anything about what they are talking about.

I'm not suggesting that you live your life in a bubble and "break up" with everyone you know. But I am suggesting that you take

control of your happiness and time by first thinking of what you really want in life and then carve out daily time to have your own personal "board meeting" to see how you are faring in life.

To get the wrong things out of your head you need to get into your head by yourself. Only you can really fix what is wrong in your life. Occasionally you might meet someone that can help you with your problems, but in the end, you alone have ownership of your own life. Don't let other people lead you. You are the master of your fate. Read the poem "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley. My father introduced me to the poem when I was very young. I thought it was about sailing when I first read it. Of course, it's about life and the control you should be seeking over your path. From that poem, "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Words to live by for sure.

Your pathway to retirement is all about the little steps you take along the way. I want you to be sure that the steps that you take are the steps that you want for yourself. The right steps. Some people will always try to get into your head...please don't let them do that to you unless they bring positivity and potential. The right people for the right reasons. Remember that you are the master of your fate...stay in control and keep your eyes on your prize...an

early retirement...a satisfying retirement, and your best possible life.

Chapter 2 Franchises for Free?

I start this chapter by saying "wow." I looked up the word "franchise" and went from the dictionary to the Urban Dictionary (UD). Franchises and franchising can be about business, movies, professional athletes and even children if you look it up in the UD. Even children? That's where I have to say "wow." I'm not going to get too esoteric here. I'll be sticking totally to business in this chapter.

My company, Castles Unlimited, has been franchised. My first book, "Your Million Dollar Year In Real Estate" talked about the real estate industry being run by franchised brands and their benefits and issues. The book also spoke about individual agents as being their own franchise and how they should leverage their branding to create a legacy business for themselves and their family even when they retire, and in some cases even when they pass on. Morbid I know, but it's a fact of life even if we don't wish to discuss it.

When I went from being the franchisor of Castles Unlimited to being a franchisee with ****** that's when I learned the truth about franchising. The positives and the dark side. I wrote about everything I had learned in that book, and it wasn't all good. When I was first introduced to the company called eXp in 2011 I had just settled a lawsuit with another company/brand and I didn't want to get into another agreement with some other brokerage. I saw eXp as another franchise. Of course, I now know that it's not even close to a franchise. It's the anti-franchise. It's the unfranchise. It's what I will call the "better-than-a-franchise-nonfranchise." It's what I wanted to build with Castles Unlimited and Castles Luxury...but it isn't that easy to invent a new type of wheel.

eXp isn't a franchise. It's one broker worldwide. It's the absence of restrictive franchising covenants and declarations and 100-page contracts and disclosures. Of course there's compliance, rules of conduct, professional decorum and everything else that a topflight organization relies on for their upstanding reputation. But it isn't a franchise. Then what exactly is it, and why is it that way?

Let's speak about the asterisks for one minute. You are probably scratching your head that I can't or won't mention that franchise, the one that sued me. I also counter sued them in case you are

wondering. I had a valid case against them. Their case was limited on a good day to about $12,500 but they sued me for $253,000. My case against them was probably worth millions, but in the end, I didn't want my life totally ruined by time in court and legal fees so I ended it after one year. I figured my education during that year was worth a book, and I had learned as much about how "not to do business" from them as I could be taught so I instructed my attorney to wrap it up with a reasonable settlement. Money well spent to get them out of my life.

I was then introduced to eXp and no wonder why I didn't pull the trigger. I was still traumatized from that franchise experience. No one at that time could explain what eXp was or how it would grow. Of course no one can predict the future. There were no guarantees that eXp would grow and I didn't have the strength at that time to be a pioneer.

eXp is a brand, but it has never sought to be a brand.

On my "The Exponential Files" podcast where Larry Lawfer and I interviewed eXp Realty's CEO at that time, Jason Gesing, I asked him if he considered eXp to be a brand, a technology platform for real estate brokerages, a business model for Realtors or a labor

movement for all real estate agents from the newbies to the top producing veterans. His answer revealed that it was becoming a movement and his answer also mentioned Glen Sanford's (eXp's founder) belief that the agent is the brand and, in this case, "the franchise."

I brought my brands to eXp for many reasons. But the number one reason, if there is one, is that it's a business model that allows "franchises," real estate brokerages and agents to expand their brand without a franchise, without stringent marketing rules, without restrictive regulations on fonts, colors, signage language, and without those hundred-page contracts. It also allowed me to recruit agents in all 50 states and many other countries without having to get licensed there. It gave me training for my agents without creating my own real estate school. So many reasons. And it was all basically for free.

No obligation. No contract. No franchise fee. No royalties. No over thinking how it would change your life. In this case the changes can be minimal or incredible. It has to do with your vision, your imagination and your goals. My goals are bigger than perhaps most agents, so my business platforms need to accommodate my bigger than life needs. eXp delivers on that. I had no idea before I joined. I'm not sure I will ever be able to

leverage all that eXp offers, but that's ok...it does deliver on what I need and it's not a franchise...I'm the franchise...my brands are the franchise...my agents, my team members, my downline organization are the franchise...everyone at eXp, other than eXp itself, is the franchise, and that works well for everyone including eXp.

This chapter is "Franchises for Free." How much will you need to pay for your brand? Your name? Your logo? Probably nothing because you probably have your name, logo, brand already so in this case your franchise is free. Always remember that at the end of the day you are the franchise! Say it, "I am the franchise!"

eXp knows that and loves that, and eXp will encourage you to grow your franchise on their platform. The cost is basically zero for all that eXp brings to your table. The contracts are severable. The options and benefits are unlimited. As I always say, if you find a better way to broker real estate, please let me know. In the meantime, grow your brand as large and wide as your dreams.

Chapter 3 Mailbox Money

Leveraged income, passive income, mailbox money. These are terms synonymous usually with income based on an activity that is often done once and then pays off indefinitely. Often it relates to income from investment properties, financial instruments and network marketing businesses.

This book is focused on eXp Realty and its income streams and how as a business model it is different from practically all of its competitors. More and more real estate brokerages are entering the profit and revenue share "arms race" and a lot of interest in pursuing that model has to do in my opinion with eXp's incredible success. I don't see the competition having a better system, but that's up to the individual to ascertain for themselves. I won't be breaking down the competition's profit or revenue share programs here. I have seen quantifiable evidence that in the long term eXp has the superior revenue share model.

In my book "Your Million Dollar Month In Real Estate" I break down the eXp revenue share program and how it works. I also talk about the obvious benefits of passive income and disclose many of the actual efforts involved in growing a down line or a team to grow your monthly passive income. The actual work and activities involved is not passive at all. That's why a better description of this income is leveraged income. Within the eXp family there are many agents with over 1,000 agents in their down line. Their individual monthly and yearly income is based on the activity and production of the agents they have known as sponsorees or recruits. The higher those agents' production is the better their income is of course. The more agents those agents bring into the company the higher their income is etc.

Always remember that no money ever just shows up in anyone's bank account with no action having been taken. The so-called passive income was surely earned through networking, phone calling, email writing and responding to emails, texting and more. That's why a very small number of agents, regardless of the company they work for, and regardless of that company's revenue or profit-sharing program incentives, involve themselves in these leveraged income programs. I personally know that the work involved to recruit agents, teams and entire companies to a new company or a competitor is not easy and it's not passive. Leveraged is a better term than passive or "mailbox money"

which almost sounds like a fantasy or magic. Hard work is no fantasy. The magic is created through long hours, relationship and trust building, follow up and more follow up. The fantasy and the dream becomes a reality through hard work. With eXp the hard work can evolve into no work in the future however. That's a component that most companies don't offer. Few if any would dream of offering so much money to so many people or in this case licensed real estate professionals. eXp did however and the word did get out. It got out through the efforts of agents like you and now they are being rewarded. They are being rewarded monthly, and their families are being rewarded. Maybe you will like to be rewarded too?

If the revenue share doesn't interest you because you don't want to actively recruit other agents then there are other reasons to be an agent with such a company. Interesting enough, if you keep doing what you're doing now, and perhaps build on a successful brokerage career at eXp there are ways that revenue share can happen for you anyway. I can think of a couple of ways without too much thought that it does exist, and it does happen.

Chapter 4 The Power of One More

The power of one more relates to the promise of incredible recruitment results. It's not just for one person however. If one person adds one more person to the team it doesn't really matter to the degree that it matters if everyone on the team recruits one more.

In the chart on page 21, we see that if everyone on the team recruits 5 agents a year for 5 years then the total is 3,125 agents having been recruited. That's without any extra compounding. That's just 5x5x5x5x5. In reality it's 30 agents after the first year because it's not 5x5=25 because there were 5 in the beginning so it's 5x5+(the original 5) =30. 180 in the second year. 1,080 in the third. 6,480 in the fourth and then 38,880 in the fifth year which is incredible.

However, look at what happens if everyone recruits just one more, or 6 agents a year for 5 years. Then the results are astonishingly larger. Just one more recruit per agent per year results in the total

going from 3,125 agents to 7,776 which is more than twice that number with the simple compounding 6x6x6x6x6. The power of one more exponentially grows with multiple levels and it shows how this system of recruiting with possibly 7 levels of residual income can yield huge payouts in time. With full compounding the numbers are staggering. I'd suggest you just calculate the difference between 5 agents recruiting one agent a year for 5 years and then calculate 2 agents a year for 5 years. The results will surprise you, and most people (real estate agents) will be able to recruit one or two agents a year with proper training and coaching.

If you plan to show this chapter to agents, please explain that even with 5 or six agents a year recruited that diligence and follow through is important. With my team and network, we schedule weekly meetings to invite new agents to the team and I personally do my best to always be available to all of my agents. It should never be communicated that this is a get rich quick scheme. It is a get rich opportunity, but you do need to first understand the multiplying effect and its potential as demonstrated by these numbers and then to realize that there is work involved in building a team with such large numbers and such large income potential.

Chapter 5 The Theory of Two

Let's say that you are working a 9-5 job. It's a good job and you get weekends, holidays and sick days off. You even get paid vacations each year. That's all good stuff. but what happens when you don't want to work, or can't work, or get fired or what happens to your income if the business closes or if the company is bought out or merges and you get laid off.

The theory in this case would be called the theory of one. You have one job. One basket for all your eggs. One possible retirement fund. You have one income strategy, and if that basket with your eggs gets tossed around a bit because of an unforeseen proverbial gust of wind then you might have wished that you had another basket of eggs. Or for that matter several other baskets of eggs for that windy or rainy day.

The business model at eXp offers the rainy day basket of eggs to you the day you start at the company. The majority of eXp agents don't take advantage of the revenue share program, but that's great

for you! It's less competition and it leaves more agents available to sign up under your sponsorship. It's ultimately much more money for you and it doesn't take much to double your passive income as we demonstrated in the previous chapter. Call it retirement money if you wish. I prefer to call it goal money. The goal is to change other agent's lives, and in the process change your life as well.

The Theory Of Two is simply the theory that you need at least a second basket, a second income, a second business model or even more income baskets to protect yourself from the wind and the rain that life will almost certainly throw at you. The theory of two is that it's easy to have at least that second income or more when you work with a company like eXp.

Of course your first income is probably sales production (real estate commissions) which can create significant income, but that second income is more important in my opinion because it's there when you stop working in the future for any reason. That's the GOAL! Remember?

Finally I would suggest that you love the journey, and the goal shouldn't just be about making money. The goal should be

creating a quality of life for yourself and your family that allows you time to enjoy life and those in your life. The theory of two is to duplicate efforts that can be duplicated while you are able to create the systems that will outlast your working years or even beyond your life and create generational wealth for your family far into the future. Imagine that eXp managed to build a business model that has accomplished that. In fact I believe it's way beyond the theory of two...but two is enough when one of the two is eXp's revenue share system.

Chapter 6 Who Wants to Retire?

Apparently, I am at the age where it has become obvious to everyone (other than me) that I should be thinking about or actually retiring.

When I mentioned to some people that I was writing a book called "Three years To Retirement", the original title. I got comments such as "it makes sense that you would write a book called that because you are ready to retire" or something like "older people will want to read that but young people wouldn't." I want to address this.

Who wants to retire? Who wants to have the option to work today or not work today? Who would rather spend their time having fun with friends and family or working? I suggest everyone? Wouldn't you prefer a day off compared to a day in the field selling real estate or sitting behind a desk prospecting or pushing paperwork? Even if you don't have a real estate license you might want to get one after reading this book. There are people who are essentially

buying into this sea change of business models and retirement that companies like eXp are offering to people just like you.

So who wants to retire? Everyone. When do they want to retire? Now. Then the question is how soon do you act on this and what do you do to achieve the goal?

Here is my suggestion. Step one is to have an active real estate license. Step two is to seriously look into the systems available in the marketplace to create leveraged and passive income and see which one works best for you. Step three is to learn everything you can about the company you plan to join and recruit for and then begin dialing and chatting with agents around the world and introduce them to that company. Step four is to follow up with them. These are big decisions and it takes time for your prospect to understand the benefits of the programs and to make the right decision for themselves and their families.

Retirement will probably look different to you if this is your path. When I was younger I lived in an area that was predominately retirees. They didn't seem happy to me and their lives didn't seem that wonderful. I vowed to never retire after meeting those people.

Then I imagined a retirement seaside where I would run a microbrewery near the beach. Happy people, great weather, staying active and perhaps business success all seemed part of that equation. I didn't factor in hurricanes, sea levels rising, mortgage payments, food cost increases, labor issues, alcohol sale licenses, insurance etc. The restaurant business is the perfect business for a retiree right? In a fantasy perhaps. In that fantasy the wait and cook staff actually show up and the customers pat you on the back for being your marvelous happy self. In reality people quit in the middle of a shift, the local electricity grid fails after a storm and all your inventory rots, toilets back up and you are stuck with the mop etc. That's when the restaurant fantasy meets reality.

Now imagine a retirement where you get to travel and meet friends and new people. Where your job is basically talking about your success and how a particular business model changed your outlook on life for the better. At the end of the day you can be assured that tomorrow will bring another day of income even if you didn't work. No one agent quitting will crash your hopes and dreams. No chef of yours (in the imaginary restaurant fantasy) starting his own restaurant across the street from your microbrewery will stress you out. The retirement that I am suggesting for you is low impact and it's built to last. That's the kind of retirement I want. How about you?

So, who wants to retire? Everyone. When does everyone want to retire? Now. Obviously everyone can't do this type of recruitment for eXp or other companies. But can you? It's not difficult once you get the ball rolling and once that ball is rolling your life could totally change for the better, and not just your life, it's your family's life too. When do you want to start? I suggest that there's no time like the present.

Chapter 7 Tools, Platforms, and Mentors

Tools, platforms and mentors are descriptors for your real estate business' weapon arsenal. A tool could be your Zillow or Opcity page and account, your business card, a unique yard sign that you use, or even a trademark that you use for your marketing.

Platforms can be wide reaching and include everything from a business model (such as eXp's revenue share program which helps your recruitment), a technology tool such as a CRM or your personal IDX website (like Bold Trail) all the way to an online marketing booster such as "The Funnels" that my group uses to attract leads and agents.

Mentors can include your office broker (regardless of whether it's physical or virtual), your coaches, trainers and team members. Companies such as eXp have certified mentors, coaches that coach their downlines and instructors that teach everything from selling luxury properties to increasing SEO for your listing

promotions to using social media more effectively and of course training how to use the most up to date AI systems.

I have espoused the notion many times in my previous books that agents should never underestimate the value of these three items (tools, platforms and mentors). I worked many years in the industry with little or no training, no platforms, no tools and almost no support yet I persevered and powered through disappointment and failure with just hard work. I would prefer that you didn't take the same path as I did. There's no reason why you need to.

When I began in the industry there weren't smart phones or the internet. I never heard of coaches though maybe they did exist I'm not sure. I did all my business through leads in the newspaper, for sale by owner signs and an occasional referral from family and friends. These days we have it all, and even leads from for sale by owners and expired listings can be bought through a curator such as Vulcan7 and your outbound phone calls can be teed up by a speed dialer or better yet by a low cost virtual assistant that you can hire overseas.

I expect that the industry has changed more than you realize and it's leaving your business a little behind. In some cases far behind. Sometimes it's the things that you don't know or the things that you are closed minded to that hurt you the most. I want you to know about all the tools that you have available to you so that you are leveraging your time and effort as much as possible. You might meet an agent that works only because they want to and not because they need to. That agent might have had an open mind to listen about a new idea. I hope that you will consider being that type of agent. That type of person. Don't close your mind, ears and heart from others and you never know the good that will come from it.

This industry is moving at the speed of light and there are so many ideas being floated that it's often overwhelming. Don't dismiss when there's no real need to. Don't turn a blind eye when there's no harm in keeping your eyes open. A tool or a platform or a mentor might just make you an offer that sounds too good to be true but that doesn't mean that it isn't true. Only time will tell, so I suggest you give everything a try until you find your place, your people, your tools, and what makes your business hum and your heart sing every day. Your business should make you more than money? It should make you happy.

Chapter 8 Three Years

Three years is a long time. When you turned three you were probably already talking, walking, singing, and maybe even skiing, swimming, kicking a soccer ball and catching a baseball. However, when you were born you cried all the time, you were wicked confused about everything, and couldn't even walk. Needless to say, you weren't even able to use the bathroom by yourself.... you were a real mess.

Now if you change your real estate company you will be in for many changes wherever you end up. Some transitions are easier than others because some companies do more for their agents in the on-boarding process and some transitions are simple.

Let's say for example that you were previously at a company that gave you a generous commission split and didn't provide leads. At any new office or company that transition will probably be simple. Other than new signs and business cards there probably won't be any other changes.

A move to eXp or any company that goes above and beyond is not as simple as new signs and cards. I expected changes when my team made the move since eXp is a new paradigm. What I didn't expect were so many changes and how each one of them was as important as the previous one.

When I was the CEO of Castles Unlimited® I made all the decisions and had to have all the visions for the company's path. After joining eXp I was still the CEO, I still made (almost) all the decisions, but there was something new. There was a cutting-edge business model that was technology driven, seemingly limitless in expansion potential, with an army of admins that weren't on my payroll. I couldn't have known what to expect, I couldn't have known what to say to my agents, and I couldn't have expected them to know anything at all. It was in many ways the blind leading the blind and unfortunately that was a problem for me and my team.

That's not to say that my up-line and the eXp administrators weren't there to help every step of the way but there wasn't someone like me who had gone through what I was going through who could explain to me everything that would happen and what I should do to make it an easy move. It's been more than three years now and I have learned one important thing that I will

communicate to everyone starting this journey. It's an exciting one. It's totally not what you expected and most important you need to stay the course for three years no matter what.

"Three years Jim? No matter what?" you ask. YES! THREE YEARS.

You finally went from being an infant to a toddler and started to come into your own by the time you were three. It was a big change in your life to be talking, walking, knowing a thing or two about what you like and what you don't like. As an infant you were probably eating mashed peas and by the time you were three you might have decided and articulated to your "private chef" that mashed peas should be taken off the menu. Lots had changed, but in the first year or two almost nothing had changed. Mashed peas were on the menu, and you ate them because that was all you got for lunch that day. Finally, you grew up enough in the second year of life to know to push them away or to ask for something else. Joining eXp was like an entirely new life for me and my agents. We started with mashed peas and figured out what we really liked to eat by year three.

Three years is about the right amount of time to learn about this marvelous company and all that it does for its agents, brokers, teams, offices and brands. You learn in that amount of time that stock awards accumulate and can help you create wealth. You also learn that a down-line can grow exponentially over time, and in addition to that the revenue earned from it will increase too. It's not something you will learn in three months, a year or even three years. Knowledge and money accumulates over time.

There's an old adage about real estate that goes something like this "don't wait to buy real estate; you should buy real estate and wait." I suggest that being a part of eXp is a similar journey. It's an investment of time that will reap rewards. That investment of time includes learning, and then using, and then leveraging the technology and the tools that eXp has either created, improved upon or licensed for your use. You can't possibly learn to navigate the spacecraft that eXp has given you in the first year. Your career in real estate before eXp was like a cross-country auto trip. With eXp your career is now the journey of a lifetime and it's a journey to new worlds.

The Starship Enterprise, on the tv show Star Trek years ago, spoke of a five-year mission. The Enterprise was going to explore new worlds just like you are going into a new world where a

company has agents yes but a company where all the agents own a piece of the company. A company where there are many income streams, so many in fact that my registered trademark 100%PLUS® really has a place to expand. We're talking about people getting licenses to make leveraged income never intending to sell real estate. We're talking about top agents who will never recruit an agent that will make over 100% of their commissions due to stock awards and the possible price appreciation of the shares. We're talking about those same agents making (in some cases) $100's of thousands of dollars more annually due to a cap that they didn't previously have, no franchise fee which they probably had, stock awards that they didn't have, and even new and exciting technology offered on an ongoing basis that will leverage their time and talents that they don't need to create with their own time and money.

There's more to mention. Those stock awards, for example are maturing in three years so the first awards you will receive will become saleable, trade-able etc in three years. The company knows that it takes three years to appreciate everything it offers. eXp knows that they can't run a stable company if people cut and run every time there is anything that isn't 100% perfect. Agents can be like that of course, but eXp has built safeguards to protect its own expansion while really helping the agent to make the right

decision which ultimately protects both the company and the agent's interests.

All of the benefits can't be learned and appreciated in a short period of time. You will see the growth of the company and your growth as well if you are patient, and I suggest it should be a minimum of three years. In three years, you will begin to be able to sell your stock awards should you want to and that is an added bonus that you can't have if you don't give it at least three years.

A final thought and something to think about. eXp has Icon agent status where the cap can be awarded back to the agent in stock. Between 2018-2021 the stock award total to each of those agents would have been valued at $622,000. There is no way to see that magic work in less time. The stock price was on a mad tear during that time, but if those agents worked at a competing company they would have had none of that money. Zero. That's something worth noting and understanding.

Be patient and be wise. The Buddhist knows that waiting is a large part of success. A wise man by the name of Tom Petty sang about waiting being "the hardest part." I think it's important to always remember that as well. Patience and time will also bring

knowledge, and more knowledge brings more success. I can't wait for you to see what I have come to see about this great company and how it can change your career and life.

Chapter 9 Let's Define Retirement

I am sure that I have mentioned this before, but this book's title wasn't chosen because I'm at that age when most people think seriously about retirement and what retirement means to them. I have retired before. I was 26 years old and I tried it for a while when I moved to Palm Beach, Florida.

I went from running a retail store on a property I owned. Not only did I run the shop which sold musical instruments, records, tapes, audio and video equipment but I also lived on the property with my wife at the time. There were long days when she and I served customers, made inventory purchases, unloaded trucks of heavy audio equipment and then stacked and sorted the new deliveries. It was tough for us to disconnect from the business since we lived above the sound room floor, and we would open the store up after hours if a customer pulled their car into the parking area. I loved the business, but I hated the six days a week schedule so I went into real estate which is a seven day a week schedule. I have told that joke many times, but I guess the joke was on me. But now there's a way where I can throttle back on that seven day a week

work schedule and this book is all about that new paradigm. Hopefully it will help you rethink your work/ personal time balance.

First, we should define what it means to be a Realtor. Are you a salesperson that sells property or are you an advisor that councils your clients and guides them when they are looking to make a major life move or investment? If you are an advisor then you can work the same hours as a CPA, a doctor or attorney. Your clients need your expertise. They come to you because they know they can trust you. The good news is this way of conducting your business allows you to call the shots when it comes to the schedule. Other than the possible need to mobilize and schedule showings in a fast-paced market you can run your time anyway you would like as long as you discuss your process with your clients up front. Always under promise and over deliver!

So now you are a respected professional, and your time is extremely valuable. Understanding the value of your time and the need to leverage it is important. The next most important thing is your plan for an exit from the business that you have built. Most real estate agents never stop working. There are very few retirement parties for people in real estate. Realtors usually work

until they die. A sad truth, but a happy truth as well if we understand why that is.

First of all, our job if you get down to the actual physicality of it is pretty basic. Your client might even know the property they want to buy when they contact you. I have just closed two sales in the past month. I knew neither of these buyers when they contacted me through my website and both asked to see the properties that they ultimately purchased. Those two sales totaled almost $11 Million. It's pretty hard to retire from a business that bring those types of events into your life. Even if it hasn't happened to you yet there is always in the back of every Realtor's mind that today or tomorrow could bring that possibility. Why would you ever retire?

Those two sales were fun. I went with my clients to the properties, sat through one inspection and only showed a total of five properties a total of seven times and earned a nice amount of money. Retirement would mean closing down my office, website, MLS account and more. No more possible million dollars inquiries. No more million dollar or more sales. Then what? What would I do with my time? What will you do with yours when you retire?

There are so many things I'd do. More travelling. More skiing. More time to devote to my writing, my podcasts, my music, my real estate development "hobby", and family activities. Maybe I'd even take another swing at golf and take it seriously this time. Maybe not.

But keeping the real estate license active and refer clients is a good way to keep the brain active and the years of quality connections with past customers current. It could also make you a tidy little commission here and there. So we can agree on one thing and that is that you should never retire but you should shift your energy into a less time consuming activity while you still leverage all of your contacts and years of experience.

In Florida when I was first licensed I was living with seniors, many of whom were retired. They didn't seem happy. I'm quite certain that many of them were in poor health and they had left occupations and careers where retirement was the only option. Realtors are lucky that the NAR doesn't kick us out at any age. They happily take our annual dues every year. eXp is a nice place to be in retirement because its revenue share program leverages time and can potentially pay your bills when you really can't work anymore.

Singer songwriter Leon Russell was known as "the master of space and time." I'd like you to think about retirement as an abstract concept where you are the master of space and time. Real estate has changed over the decades and technology has allowed me and you to service clients in the middle of a ski slope. I have spoken to clients on my cell phone in the middle of a ski run. Decades earlier I would have a pager and then would need to ski to the lodge to use the pay phone. Before that I would call my home answering machine to retrieve messages off equipment that included a couple of cassette tapes; one for the outgoing message and one to record messages left for me. Technology has made us all more mobile and more productive. It has leveraged our time and effort.

The eXp stock award and revenue share program has pushed agent commissions past 100% to 100% PLUS®. Think about it as new technology for your business model. It's like technology in that it enables you to leverage your time and effort and build an amazing wealth creating machine. A mechanism to retire and not leave your years of hard work on the side of life's road. A sad reference to Leon Russell in his last years. The man who they said mastered space and time was apparently down and out in his later years and Sir Elton John, according to Leon, picked him up off the side of life's imaginary road and gave him reason to live. I listened to him speak at an Elton John concert and describe his rebirth

through Elton's generosity and love. The music industry churns people into product, and not everyone has the popularity to sustain themselves for their entire lives from their efforts.

Leon pointed out the obvious to me. He was one of the greatest rock stars of my lifetime and I'm guessing he hit depression and health issues and basically couldn't work without someone giving him a boost. I want to make sure that you have a long view of your career, your life and your retirement because your need to think about all of this is important. Life is short. You blink and you are older. You blink and you are not prepared. Please let me help you prepare.

Retire now. I don't care how old you are. Everyone wants to retire and retirement isn't just for old people. Imagine having any day you want to be a vacation day, a sick day, a day off, a beach day, a spa day. You could be like Ferris Bueller every day if you work smart and not hard. Ferris had a magical "retirement" day when he was in his teens. I want you to have them every day starting today.

It's locked into the eXp business model DNA. Learn to unlock that DNA code for yourself. Use the tools that eXp gives you, that your sponsor gives you, that I give you with things like my books,

my luxury and commercial magazines, groups, and real estate trademarks. Use everything you can to add to your downline. Learn everything you can about your business and spread the word. The bigger and the better you are as a cheerleader the better and the sooner your retirement begins. Don't wait. Start it today!

Retirement isn't about the day off or the month off or the year off. It's more about flexibility. You could go boating today instead of doing an open house. You could make a couple of recruitment phone calls today and then have the rest of the day off. Those recruitment calls by the way should not be difficult to make and if they are difficult to make then you are doing them incorrectly. Please go back to your sponsor, mentor or coach and learn how to make those calls enjoyable for you and your potential sponsoree.

I'll sum up this chapter here. #1 Retirement is for everyone at every age. #2 Everyone should retire now. #3 Retirement can and should have an element of work included to help keep you mentally active/ mentally fit. #4 Retirement is not the last thing you do. It should be the first thing you do. You should build a retirement business for yourself that will carry you through time and space and throughout, the rest of your life.

Chapter 10 Your Legacy Can Be Part of Your Goal

What's your legacy? Do you have a legacy? Do you want a legacy? What's a Legacy?

First off, we can use the literal definition of legacy which is "an amount of money or property left to someone in a will." Then there are the intangible legacies when people speak of someone leaving his children "a legacy of love and respect" or someone "leaving an artistic legacy through their children." Legacy in my mind is anything that you leave of yourself after you are no longer alive. With property it could be income from rentals, with a business down-line such as the one that eXp can help you create it could be an endless revenue-share income stream, or it could be something like my book or your podcast or blog etc. being part of my legacy or your legacy.

If this is the case, then we all have a legacy. Our memory in the minds of those people who we have known and loved is our

legacy. If people don't like someone then that's a less desirable legacy that that individual earned, but it's a legacy, nonetheless. Let's focus on whether you want a legacy of value since I believe we all have a legacy regardless.

If you have children or want children, I think that it's important to grow income streams to protect their futures. Perhaps trusts could be set up to protect assets and income but there are many moving parts to investments, investment properties and other income producing entities. Do you feel comfort in knowing that your children or even your grandchildren will know how to maintain multi-family properties and not lose all of their inheritance through neglect, laziness or even greed? It's not easy to think about that simple path to the future. That's partly because there is no simple path. How many fortunes have been squandered and lost by the next generation of a millionaire, a billionaire and now a trillionaire. It happens every day.

Now imagine an instrument that throws off passive income monthly regardless of any new work being done. We now know that eXp's revenue share program does pass to the agent's children. They just need to have an active real estate license to be paid that revenue. As an alternative it can be paid to a trust's licensed attorney who would then pay the revenue to the

beneficiaries. This way there is continuity of the income to the family. Perhaps your family. Perhaps your family's next generation and so on. Generational wealth that can be passed on.

What is easier for you to pass on to your spouse, your children, your college, or anyone that you want to inherit your legacy? An apartment building or a down-line of real estate professionals? Of course, the apartment building needs maintenance, and someone to show vacant units and someone to cut checks to the bank for the mortgage, utilities, insurance, landscaper, roofer, painter etc. The down-line only needs an active license and a bank account for the money to flow into.

So, when you think of your legacy I'd suggest that you think multiple streams of income. The apartment building should not be ruled out, but if you are a licensed real estate professional no matter what else you have in your portfolio it makes sense to include the eXp down-line as if it were an investment. Just like it was 1,000 shares of Alphabet stock or a beach front property that you Airbnb. The eXp revenue share program can answer a lot of those nagging questions that you might have about your current business such as what happens when I stop working?

Finally, you should look at the magic of compounding efforts and income offered by network marketing programs that are available to you to add to your business tools. There's no extra cost here either. eXp takes care of all the book keeping so there is no need for a CPA or an office manager/ trainer etc. that would cost you a ton of money. And if there are vacancies in the apartment building we were talking about previously that's like an agent leaving your down-line. However, just like in life people will come and go but the compounding effect will almost insure that new people will be added to your pipeline even when some people leave. And that compounding effect could bring in many more than will leave in the end. I just wanted to make clear that nothing moves in one direction forever, but this could be as close to a perpetual motion machine as anyone has ever created.

I want you to think about your legacy today. Think about the changes you need to make to have one that will let you sleep easier at night and one that will allow you to have steady, leveraged, passive income as well. Your goal should be about the future, but don't forget how quickly time flies by, and don't forget that you should be taking the right steps to be all set for the future today. Please don't believe that things will work on their own. You need to always be forward thinking and leverage the opportunities that are put in front of you. Today I am putting this

opportunity in front of you. Carpe opportunitas and always carpe diem.

Chapter 11 Beyond Money; Let's Party!

Money is great. I have also heard that it's the root of all evil. Perhaps, but the lack of it isn't a picnic either. So what else is there if money isn't everything, after all it's both good and bad, necessary and evil all at the same time! eXp might have hit on something that I have mentioned before, and that is that fun is a very important thing, and I suggest that you incorporate it into your business model.

There are 9 structural pillars or values at eXp. They are: 1) Transparency 2) Collaboration 3) Sustainability 4) Service 5) Agility 6) Innovation 7) Integrity 8) Community and the reason we are all here: 9) FUN!

Ok, maybe it's really the money, but please humor me for a minute while I speak to you about fun.

When your down-line organization, team or group thinks about you do they think "fun?" Do they remember the parties you threw or do they remember you just working? eXp wants the business to be fun for you because they know that you are spending a large portion of your life doing it. What can you do to have fun with it?

In May of 2022 eXp had its shareholder meeting in Orlando. On the final night eXp took over Universal Studios and everything was free for eXp shareholders/ agents...even the food and alcohol. Now that's what I think of when I think fun and apparently everyone there did as well. No matter their agents and employees rave about this company.

What can you do as an agent to have fun? You could rent out Universal Studios as well, but that might run into serious money. Maybe Sea World is less expensive but seriously you need to be creative so you don't break the bank. I see some agents charging upwards of $100/ person to join them at their pool parties which I think is a little steep. How can you invite people to a party and charge nothing? Here's a way.

You are probably doing business with lots of mortgage brokers, home inspectors, title companies and attorneys. Why not invite

them to sponsor the party, invite them to join you and your team and have them split the costs. Maybe have the party at a staged, new construction listing that you want to promote. Two birds with one stone, an open house that also turns into a recruiting and retention event.

Potluck is also a possibility. I have hosted many parties where I have provided much of the food and then most of the guests have also brought a dish, some wine or beer and deserts. You never know what food will walk in the door next. It's sort of exciting to not only be excited to see who is coming next to the party but to see what food or drink is walking in as well. Add a sponsor such as your favorite mortgage broker to the equation and a great party might cost you just a little time planning, setting up and cleaning up. Now you are remembered as being fun and that says a lot about a person.

Also, do take the opportunity when you are hosting an event to promote any ancillary businesses that you might have as well as your agent's side hustles if they so desire. Maybe one of your agent's wives has a cupcake business. Promote it on the invitation and have some at the party. Do your best to know about your people to the degree that you can help them in all aspects of their lives if possible and these get-togethers are just one more way to

leverage your relationships within and outside of the business and have that intangible, but important/ valuable commodity known as FUN!

When I began working at eXp I sponsored a Wiener Roast. It was lots of fun. Two eXp teams invited their agents and possible recruits to a lovely house that I had just closed on; one that was scheduled to be demolished to make room for a new, larger home overlooking a prestigious golf course in Waban, MA, a bedroom community just outside Boston. One of our mortgage brokers split the costs with the two teams so even though the party did cost almost $1,000.00 it was a manageable cost for an event that might have yielded a few new recruits. The party was a way for me to promote one of my hobbies which believe it or not is running a gourmet steak hot dog company called "The Savage Wiener." Again it's the two birds with one stone theory but now I have added more birds.

What I mean about birds is that the party is all about fun of course. Then there's the community that a get-together creates. Then there's the possibility of recruiting a new agent to the team. Then there is the bonds that are built within the team. There's the promotion of yours truly's Savage Wiener and again the FUN! It's all about the fun don't forget that it’s a very important value. eXp

doesn't and you shouldn't either. It can be a very large part of your future success.

Chapter 12 Let's Write a Book

There's no better way to get in front of your clients and potential future team members than a book that has been written by you. Perhaps a book about real estate? You know the old adage "publish or perish?" It applies to everything and everyone, not just college professors.

Not only do books convey knowledge and cutting-edge thoughts they also stamp your personal brand/ name on a vehicle that will be part of your everlasting legacy, and it's not difficult to write a book. I'll tell you how I did it plus another idea or two on how you can write yours.

I do personally have an urge to write if not an actual talent. My first attempts were poems, short stories and a novella when I was in my teens. Song lyrics followed and years passed where I went to AM radio shows, blogging, podcasts and tv show production to exercise my creative muscles. What about your creative outlets?

Can you direct them to your real estate business and the brand promotion for your business? For your brand or brands?

When I decided to write my first real estate book I began with an outline. In this case the outline was a list of bullet points that would form the foundation of the book. The points were random thoughts that I added to and subtracted from, expanded upon and compounded into a cohesive narrative, gave it a working title and only then did I write the first sentence, then the first paragraph and then finally the first chapter. A chapter a day was my goal. Twenty chapters takes less than a month to write in that case. It can be difficult or it can be easy. Seize the moment when you have something on your mind and let your fingers get everything out as quickly as you can. You can always come back and edit it. The more the better.

With my first book I hired editors. Several. Maybe as many as five. I will never do that again. I did it because I tried to edit the book myself and the words began to move around the page before my eyes at one point. I had to put the book away for a while because I just couldn't accomplish anything with it and then I hired editors. My advice is to edit yourself. My first book took two years to publish. Too many cooks perhaps?

With my second book I had an editor or two but other than changing some grammar, spacing and spelling I don't think they did much. I'm not totally convinced that they even read the book. What I mean by that is that they probably read things that they didn't understand and they probably figured that was ok and corrected spelling mistakes. No. No. No! You need to do it yourself!

Unless you’re writing a book about string theory, quantum physics or other scientific theories or phenomena then I believe that everyone should understand what is being read. My editors should have asked me questions. Lots of questions until they knew everything about the subject matter otherwise what use is the book? I was digging deep into the real estate business and new paradigms etc and the words needed to make sense. I read that second book after two editors worked on it for a month or so and I was shocked. There were many parts of the book that read incorrectly. Things were written with some thoughts being expressed the opposite of what the intent was. I was surprised that the editors said nothing. That was when I changed my process.

I took the manuscript with their changes. Basically it was with the Microsoft Word suggestions made and then I read the book many times. I had to read each paragraph and chapter slowly. Read them

out loud to myself to hear what it sounded like. It was only then that the book really took shape. The second book took a total of six months to write and get off the press and into my hands. Then I read the printed copy over and over. I printed copies with changes and then made more changes. After a few more iterations it was 99%. It took another couple of times to get to 99.9% perfect in my opinion. I don't think I will personally see a copy that I believe is 100%, but that's something you can always strive for.

I use Lulu.com for my publishing. It's a pretty good website. There is no way to ever speak to anyone there so be prepared to make a few short runs of copies and triple check them until you make improvements until you are happy with the results. That's for self published books. If you want to have your book ghost written that's another thing.

Ghost writers are not hard to find but you should expect to pay some serious money to get an original book written that you can claim to be your own. I think that it's cheating but you can go to many websites and find writers. Upwork, Fiverr, ghostwritingprofessionals.com etc are just a few of the places you can look for ghostwriters. Did you know that Alexandre Dumas possibly had "The Count Of Monte Cristo" ghostwritten? Perhaps that's the way you will go and land yourself in the pantheon of

business books written about real estate anyway. They say that Donald Trump never wrote a book, but regardless he has had a few best sellers. In fact I heard that the ghost writer for "The Art Of The Deal" was happy that Donald read it. For him that was enough.

Ghost writers can cost you $1.00 to $3.00 a word, $30.00 to $100 an hour, and between $40,000 and $100,000 to write the entire book. I have given you a few steps and some hacks here where I just saved you a lot of money. It costs nothing to write your own book. Just time. Time that is rewarded. Figure that this chapter in this book just saved you upwards of $100,000 and may have made huge changes in your business if you take the initiative and write your own.

Once the book is written and published you should promote it and figure out a way to distribute it. Amazon is a good way. Lulu.com sells books. You can sell it from your web sites. Your IDX website etc. Promote the web link to your book, blog about it, podcast about it, and of course use it in your signature on all of your emails. You can never promote your book too much. If your book is well written and has an important message then you shouldn’t let actual sales slow down distribution. Feel free to hand them out to appropriate people.

For example, if your book is about investing in income producing properties why not hand them out to potential investors for them to see the value of hiring you as their broker. If the book is about your company or business model, why not hand them out to agents that you wish to hire. Use your book as a tool to promote and grow your business. Start with the outline which you can probably bang out in an hour or so and come back to write a chapter a day and see what you have after a month. You might be surprised at what you accomplished! Follow these instructions and you should have your first book available for sale this year!

Chapter 13 How Many Websites Do You Need?

I have had one website for decades now. castlesunlimited.com has been through many designers, iterations and web hosts. In My opinion, I pay too much for it but it brings in business so I keep it. eXp has given me a $5,000 a year Bold Trail website for free (included in the monthly tech fee) so of course I use it. I also have a couple of Castles Magazine sites, a site under my personal name, one for my books, one for my real estate award network, my luxury network and so on. But that's me and I'm unusual I know it. Most agents have a website and then if they join eXp they are handed a new one so should they shut the other one down and just use one? If they are like me should they shut all of them down except for the Bold Trail one? I have some thoughts.

When you build a website you invest time and money into the build out. Your blog covers many topics and the SEO links and meta tags and hash tags etc. help to make it stand out on the web. One good lead can more than pay for the site for an entire year. I would suggest that any site that you have that brings in any business should remain up and running. If you have sites that

bring in no leads I would suggest that you merge the data, links, widgets etc onto just one or two of the sites and still keep the URL's from the shut down sites and link them (have them forward to) no more than two sites.

Fewer sites are easier to manage. Fewer sites are easier to promote on social media as well. Less sites will trim your expenses and fewer sites will reduce your work load. Fewer sites will also make it easier for you to focus your energy in a more positive and beneficial way.

I am a big believer in a good website. I want you to see your website as the real core of your business. It's not just leads or a CRM or a branding tool. It's everything that you need to have a highly successful business to fund and focus everything about who you are and what you do so people can easily find you and hire you. Focus on one incredible website, one laser focused lead generation program and one message and you will have everything that you need. Remember that most of the successful companies in the world now have how many websites? Usually just one. You should too. But it's going to be tough to limit yourself. Even eXp has eXprealty.com, eXpcommercial.com, join.exprealty.com and I am sure there are others. So I'll leave it to you to scale down as much as you can and build on the platforms

you already have to add URL extensions and dropdowns to add everything you need to promote and expand on.

Chapter 14 How Much Money Do You Need?

Everyone wants a lot of money? That's a question because I often see lists of celebrities that have turned their back on fame and gone onto quiet ordinary lives after reaching what appears to most people just the beginning of their potentially lucrative rising star careers. So everything isn't about money of course. They say that money doesn't buy happiness although it can afford a person some level of comfort in their lives. Retirement is a dream for some and how much money you will need to retire depends on many factors such as life style, where you live, your hobbies and your family's needs.

Delaying social security payments and working as long as possible is a smart strategy to not ending up broke before your time. Paying into your account increases your monthly payments and taking the payments when you are older also increase the size of the payments. However, I wouldn't recommend depending totally on social security to pay your bills when you retire. That could be a very substandard lifestyle.

So, how much more money do you need every month and how will you receive it? A million dollars a month of course should cover the bill, but we all know that few of us will reach those numbers. Remember that we are talking about passive income. Money that comes in when we no longer work. So how much do you actually need? This is a question separate from how much do you actually want.

But before we begin we must agree that inflation should be a part of the calculus. However, we are going to leave it out of this calculation for a couple of reasons. As I am writing this chapter it is August 2026 and inflation is a big concern at present. I am purposely leaving inflation out because the eXp revenue share grid caps at a predetermined amount with no inflation buffer or increase. We will need to agree that over time commissions will increase and depending on housing sales activity, interest rates, home values and inflation your financial needs in retirement should stay roughly in line with inflation. Building a rev share down line requires both quantity (numbers of agents) and quality (high producing agents) to fund your retirement and allow you to keep growing your network.

Would an extra $10,000 a month be enough for you? Perhaps if you don't live a lavish lifestyle, have multiple homes and travel

often. Would $50,000 a month be enough? That's $600,000 a year passive income that we're talking about. That's before taxes of course, but even so that should be enough for almost all of us, and if you are living in a state with no income taxes that will net you even more.

So somewhere between $10,000 extra money a month and $50,000 a month is where just about everyone will find substantial financial relief and a comfortable lifestyle in retirement. There's more to this in my opinion and I want to showcase what top agents do already and what you need to be looking into as well.

Passive income can come from many places. Revenue sharing is great, outgoing referrals for sales and rentals is also a good source of income but probably the best source of passive income are investment properties. Some will argue that ownership of income producing properties is lots of responsibility and work therefore it's not passive income. So why not invest in REITs or have even your own properties managed so that you have less of the day to day work and still have income. Real estate investments are steady investments over time and less volatile than the stock market. I suggest you stay with what you know which is real estate. Invest in what you know and that's real estate.

Take some time to spreadsheet your income and your expenses plus add on to the expenses your entertainment and travel costs so that you can enjoy your time away from work and not just stop working. It might include a new hobby. Pickle ball is a hobby. Race car driving is a hobby. Helicopter skiing or SCUBA diving is a hobby. How much will you need to enjoy your new retired life? You need to estimate the real costs so that you aren't caught short later in life. You don't know how long you will live so be conservative with your budget so you don't live past your money.

The eXp revenue share program is a nice way to fund your expenses but you do need to work at it. Most agents don't take advantage of it. It takes some training and time to build a downline organization but it's worth it.

Finally, once you have figured out how much money you will need every month you will need to work towards creating that revenue. You need to have a system for reaching out to agents that works and one that doesn't turn agents off from your message. You need your own personal approach and you need to utilize your own tools and message. No one size is going to fit everyone.

I suggest that you start slowly and once you see what works you need to stick with it. Here's the big secret of this entire chapter and perhaps the entire book...eXp has in my opinion re-defined many words. Teams, groups, networks, organizations/partners and verticals are now part of the average real estate agent's vocabulary and business model. Passive income is now a big part of the vocabulary. But more importantly the word retirement is now up for a re-definition as well.

I lived in Florida when I was in my twenties. I lived on the ocean with retirees. I saw their lifestyle and I saw that they weren't the happiest people and I came to the conclusion that their retirement changed them as human beings. Before retirement they were teachers or doctors or consultants or whatever. Now they were rudderless. They didn't know what to do with their time. The time they had left as it were.

Now imagine that whatever age you are currently that you plan to retire in three years. But retirement shouldn't be just about not working and clipping coupons. It should be about living a fulfilling life spent with family and friends. I have this suggestion about how to achieve the thing that we are all working for, searching for, striving for and that's happiness in whatever form is best for you since we are all different. I hope that you will learn to

be a sponsor in a way that changes your life and the lives of the agents that you help along the way. This way your retirement is truly fun and the work is not really so difficult that it is unpleasant and in fact might actually give you the purpose (and the income) that my neighbors in Florida all those years ago were missing.

So in the end the money that you need is less important than the "non-work" work that sponsoring agents means to you and your life purpose. If you enjoy changing people's lives for the better then this is an enjoyable activity. It's not running to an appointment or giving up a nice afternoon to host an open house. It might be a phone or a video call. It might be coffee or lunch. But it's on your schedule and it's your choice. Make it all an enjoyable activity and you will have it all; the time, the happiness and the income!

Chapter 15 What Is Important?

Let's meditate.

Close your eyes, breathe, concentrate on eliminating all thoughts, focus on the silence. Do not be surprised if thoughts fight your attempt to eliminate them. These thoughts are usually the important things. These thoughts will be what you should work on when the meditation session ends. It might be business. It might be family. It might be your health. It could be anything at all but in my opinion those things are what make you you. They are in a word everything.

Business might be the most important thing in your life and that I would hope is not true. The meditations that I suggest could be Transcendental Meditation or something that you create yourself. Meditation usually includes a mantra which is a word that you will repeat over and over. Those important thoughts will do their best to evade the mantra and so meditation is a battle between the silence and calm that you are searching for in your life and the

tense interplay of your responsibilities, your busy daily schedule and your hopes and dreams.

I suggest that you make a list of the things that you consider the ten most important things to you. List them 1-10 with the first item on the list being your number one most important life goal or desire and the rest to follow in their order of importance. Now you have a reason for everything that you do in business and in life.

The passive income that you can earn with eXp's revenue share should be there in that list of 10 items. These are your passions, your family, your retirement, your peace of mind and anything/ everything else that you find important. That list of 10 can be shorter or longer. There is no reason that you can't have a list of one or a list of 100.

The most important thing is that you know why you are doing what you are doing. It's for the items on the list. You will also notice that I never mentioned money in this chapter. Yes, the revenue share is money, but the reason we do what we do is for the benefits of the money and not the money itself. Money comes and money goes but the list is what is important. Always remember why you work and why you seek to grow your

business, grow your down-line, and grow your command over your time so that you can be focused on what is really important.

Chapter 16 The Path

Let's plot your course. YOUR course. It's not anyone else's so you shouldn't think for one minute that I'm going to know exactly what your course is or for that matter anyone else's book or coaching course is going to know what's best for you either. That being said let's figure out what is possibly best for you since we all have basic needs and dreams.

If you have picked a career outside of real estate brokerage then this will only apply to you if you understand how basic human needs integrate into each one of our lives. We will all probably agree that we need a roof over our heads. Income so that our bills are paid is also a need. Most of us need family and the love that comes with it. Finally, I'm going to put the need to control our schedule and the ability to be flexible with and use time wisely as the most important basic need we each have whether you realize it or not.

Control over our schedule and lives is especially tough in the real estate business. Most of us in brokerage are independent contractors and that means we are our own bosses. Usually that means that we work for the worst boss in the world. It isn't a joke. As independent contractors there is no one to tell us to start working and no one to tell us to stop working. That can mean that we don't have a standard 9 to 5 work schedule and that our work/ life balance is not one of quality or even one that is sustainable. What's worse is that our retirement plan might not be plotted out well or we might not even have a plan.

This book doesn't totally focus on retirement regardless of its title, but I wish to impress on you that if you fail to plan then you will be planning to fail. Let's plan then.

I had been in the real estate brokerage business for decades and my plan centered on my personal production and the production of the agents who were working for me. Let's call those agents "my team." Many agents these days have either created their own teams or worked on a team. There are many mentors who coach agents to build their own teams such as my own Castles Real Estate University does. If you are in real estate, being open to building your own team should provide for you all of those human needs that I listed above.

If you asked me a few years ago how a Realtor could build a business model or a path toward retirement, I probably wouldn't have given you a fully baked answer. These days, however, it's a different story. Glenn Sanford and eXp figured out how I can answer that question intelligently and Glenn also created a business model with tons of training that allows it to be duplicated by almost every agent anywhere in the world. A lot of it has to do with the "one broker for the universe" mindset that makes this possible.

My first book "Your Million Dollar Year In Real Estate" never envisioned such a simple concept working on such a large-scale level. It's, large scale in that it doesn't limit your dream, and it's simple because it has created an opportunity for you to grow a team with huge numbers of agents over state lines, and even over international borders with little paperwork. It is that simple.

Now how does team building help you to create a retirement plan? We have covered it with eXp's seven levels of revenue share. What we didn't cover is how you will do it. It isn't about recruiting agents. It's about attracting agents.

This is the part of the book where you need to tap into the creative dreamer part of yourself to figure out how you will be attractive. This isn't about hair, makeup and hiring a clothing stylist though that could help. It's about the system that you will create to effectively communicate your value proposition to those agents and even unlicensed people to your team and grow it perhaps exponentially in the future. Remember that it takes a lot of energy to get that mill stone moving at all but once you have moved it a tiny bit it starts spinning all on its own, faster and faster. That's the eXp business model. Eventually, you will discover that there's a place for you within that model.

My model is one of luxury and international real estate, but it isn't only luxury and international real estate. It's also retirement building, team building, income building and brand creation. That's me what about you? What will your brand be? Will it focus on your name? A new trademark? A new concept that you can blow up on top of the eXp business and tech platforms? Or will it be that less is more and focus totally on eXp so that you don't need to reinvent the wheel that they have turning already? These are the questions that I want you to ask yourself.

So, to sum up about your path, I want you to begin on the path that eXp has, or I have, or another sponsor has already cleared for

you, so that you can then learn about the big promise that has already delivered for a better lifestyle and a retirement to so many agents. Many companies do promise the same dream, but few have delivered, few have expanded, few have sustained those dreams in the way that this company has. In my opinion you really need to find the right team at eXp to help you grow your own team and sustain it in the future. You don't need to make this journey/ this climb on your own. It won't be impossible to do it on your own, however it's usually easier to follow in the footsteps of those that have already done it. The right sponsor should be an inspiration to you and your future team; they will guide you and they will motivate you and make you accountable to yourself so that you will achieve everything that you need and everything that you dream.

Your path is there straight ahead. You're already on it even though you probably don't know it. Just a few new tools, a new guide or sherpa, a new business model, a new goal and the rest will come to you all in good time. I promise.

Chapter 17 What Is Success?

Success is not easily definable or measurable. Every person has their own definition of success. In fact, some people have probably reached their own earlier definition of success many times over, and yet somehow they still don't feel successful. My guess is that many people never feel successful while they are the envy of everyone they meet.

So, success then is a moving target in a way, and we need to recognize the fact that what we should attempt to do is to always relish our accomplishments no matter how large or small and always consider ourselves successful today. If you are always looking towards the future to be successful, then you will never feel successful because the future is never the present.

May I suggest a success diary then. In this diary you will begin by creating a list of what you have today in your life, family, business, financial assets, personal belongings and even aspirations so that you have a total inventory of what you find

valuable and what you hope to have in the future. Consider this list a time stamped snapshot of yourself now and what you hope to achieve in the future. You can even add health to that list since it’s super important as well.

Some people equate success with happiness, but we all know about wealthy people who are not very happy. With wealth comes new problems and responsibilities. Some of these responsibilities aren't always expected and some of them create issues for those that weren't properly prepared for them.

The revenue sharing incentive program offered by eXp may have fixed this very human dilemma by slowly and methodically offering reasonably obtainable mileposts that create a sense of accomplishment with additional goals already written and mapped out ahead for the individual. You can plan and you won't fail because there is no timetable involved and success is really baked into the fact that you are a success as soon as you begin. It's a hugely successful business model in that it doesn't really take a lot of training to be part of it, and being part of it can really change your life in a positive way. And that's where you find yourself being a success right from the start.

Success is a psychological thing. Wealthy people can feel unsuccessful due to life's challenges and those that aren't traditionally thought of as successful can feel successful just because life's challenges are being met and the challenges ahead are reachable. A system such as the revenue share system can help even the least traditionally successful among us feel that they are heading toward bigger and better things because they probably are.

A new sponsoree every couple of weeks is 26 a year. If those new sponsorees each brought a new agent into their downline that will be way over 50 agents in the downline in the first year. If the average income from each is $800 annually then we're talking approximately $40,000 in the first year and of course that number will increase as more agents join in the future. How successful will you be feeling as each month adds more agents to your agent downline numbers, and each month potentially brings you new income from the work you did in the past. I can't think of a more satisfying and successful feeling than having income regardless of what you are accomplishing right now. The ability to down shift your schedule a bit because you deserve some personal time is something that only successful people get to do. I want you to feel successful. I want you to have that freedom. I want you to be successful and most importantly I want you to feel successful.

I think of the revenue share system as one that will not only make you successful, but it will make you happy as well, and that's even more important. This is a system that gives you a reason to pick up the phone, because you are bringing potential success and happiness to another agent's life. Just remember to gauge your success with every little success and never let the non-successful calls or interactions make you feel unsuccessful because the system and your downline team is there for you with every little or large transaction, every new agent joining and every new level opened adding sometimes as much as 10x income on a level. There's so much to feel good and successful about that you should never feel unsuccessful again. Take your time growing your downline team, and always enjoy the little successes, and never let yourself feel unsuccessful again. You are a success and you deserve everything that you achieve.

Chapter 18 Your Podcast

As you dream about your future career or business or even your life's legacy I want you to consider weaving a podcast into that fabric which can ultimately define all of the above for you. A podcast can be your way to communicate with your clients, your peers, your network, your partners and the entire world. Your podcast could be just audio, or it can be a Zoom show which is in essence a television show. You can go high tech, mid tech or basically no tech. I was lucky years ago to have a co-host on my podcast that ran a live stream and music and pushed some buttons that got it on the internet so I could focus on my creative things which are, podcast interviewing, book writing, magazine publishing, team building and of course the selling of real estate.

I have done quite a few podcasts, tv shows, radio shows and video casts back in the day before Zoom where we had digital cameras recording the shows. There were many names throughout the years. There was my first AM radio show The Jim Lowenstern Show which was an hour show with commercials where I knew nothing about hosting a radio show when I started and it took

many episodes before I got comfortable being the host and interviewing people.

The next iteration of me communicating with the world was a show called New England Prosperity where I again interviewed people but now it was people inside real estate and outside real estate as well. I raised money from sponsors on that show and made donations to charities that I promoted on the show. That was a tv show and it aired on cable and on the Internet.

Next, I did two real estate video-casts with one of my associates both about real estate. Real Estate Ninjas and Sold On Sunday were the names. In addition, I produced a tv show called PunkFM which highlighted unsigned rock bands playing original music that we produced mostly in a state-of-the-art tv studio with green screen effects. I say mostly because we also produced a live event that was recorded as well.

I must say that I veered a bit from my original real estate course and segued to a traveling podcast show where I filmed, myself and my wife traveling in Europe, Central America and Asia called “The Travelling Show”. That was an amazing project. With all these other endeavors and after decades of brokering real estate I

guess I needed a change in my day-to-day diet of listing and selling. Your podcast or Zoom show can be whatever you want it to be. Have fun with it. It doesn't need to be only about real estate. It should be about what interests you at the time. Your show can also develop and evolve over time. My current show "The Exponential Files" began as an outlet for me to explain the eXp business model, and then it turned into a way to attract top eXp agents worldwide to our CASTLES® Luxury Group. Then it became a weekly eXp television show with interviews and deep dives into eXp with its executives and Icon agents. It's still evolving because there's always something new and better to bring to the show.

But I digress. This pod or Zoom-cast is totally yours and I can't wait to be on your show. Recording a Zoom call is simple enough. You can record it and then add it to your YouTube channel. Then link it to all of your social media.

You can edit a thirty-minute show into super short clips and blast them in emails to your client list as well as your Instagram etc. Add search engine tags and away you and your show's guests go into Internet viral fame. Your guests will link to you and vice versa. The more clips, links, tags, and keywords the more visible you will be in searches. Some people would say relevant. I prefer

to say obvious because if you do the work people will notice you and your hard work will be obvious.

For example, you will lead an interview to extract valuable sales techniques from top sales agents and then viewers will come back to your show to learn from the best to improve their sales strategies. Or you can have on agents presenting unique and exciting luxury properties and then your show will be known as a great place to market real estate. Shoot for the stars and don't make it too difficult for yourself. Zoom is super easy to do and an informal show can have a nice authentic, homey feel to it. Even music can just be cued up on your laptop or phone and run in the background. Just don't run copyrighted music because you can run into problems having your show removed from Google or You Tube.

My current show is a thirty-minute show but it can run longer or shorter depending on the guest and the day. Start thinking about your show. Maybe it will be a mastermind show with real estate rock stars showing up and taking questions from other people on the Zoom call. Your imagination is the only thing standing between you and stardom, so I suggest you start small and start soon. You will have no idea where it will take you, but you need to start somewhere. Have fun with it and grow your library

content over time! It's called a podcast no matter what you do and no matter what you call it and I hope I inspired you to break out of your shell into the world of podcasts.

This book is all about working toward retirement and remember that you will want to keep in touch with all your network associates and partners even when you are out of production and what better way to keep in touch than a once a week with a thirtyminute Zoom call with all your friends, followers and eXp network.

Chapter 19 CASTLES®

What is your value proposition? What is your value add? Why should people want to hire you or join your team?

You need some value add as I did. I was in the business for years before I added luxury marketing. Castles became a registered trademark, a magazine and a luxury broker network. I had no idea that I needed it, I was lucky. I just slid it into my business model slowly over years. I would not recommend that approach. My slow march to my trademark, magazine, logo and international luxury real estate group took decades. Now that's with a slow increase in sales and success over time but I suggest that you speed it up. I suggest that you seek an advantage over your competition anyway you can.

Will it be your technology? Will it be your incredible work ethic? Will it be your listing brochure's design quality? Your website's user interface? Your app's artificial intelligence that offers your

clientele instant updates for the properties that they want to know about? Your team's business model? What will it be?

You are super lucky. Like I am lucky. The only difference is that your luck is that you are reading this book 40 plus years after I began in the industry. When I began there was basically nothing. No internet, no cell phones, not even much of a luxury real estate market. Real estate technology was coming, but very few people had computers and modems (there was no Wi-Fi.) We were handset phone based if you can believe it, and the MLS was a book. Cell phones looked like Army field radios. There was Century 21 but that was about it and their high technology was mustard-colored sport jackets (lol). When the first fax machines arrived years later the real estate franchise ERA called them "time machines." I know it sounds funny now, but real estate was totally lacking in almost everything, and there was no eXp.

eXp made it so easy for you. It has a business model that allows you to build an international team in dozens of "officially opened" countries. They have few if any limitations on your business model. State borders won't slow you down. International borders are an opportunity many times (meaning eXp has a dozen countries now and plans to open many more in the coming years). I have agents on my team selling property in unofficially opened

countries. Don't make up limitations for yourself because there really aren't any.

Add CASTLES® and our mastermind groups, coaching systems, luxury marks and magazine just to mention a few of our value adds to the eXp business and you get the idea. We made it easy for you to take an amazing toolbox for almost zero down and become an international luxury real estate team leader from your first day with us. We want to make it a simple decision not just for you but for all your clients and future team members, who are all lucky to either do business with you or be in business with you.

Also, eXp commercial. It is a division for commercial agents. eXp agents can sell commercial properties but with limitations. We started Castles Commercial to be a group and a magazine with a focus on unique and trophy commercial listings. In the search for unlimited opportunities, we created a common platform for all agents, not just eXp agents. You can do the same.

You can take 40 plus years like I did and claw your way to success day after day figuring out how to solve every issue that will come your way. That's option one. Option two is to join eXp and CASTLES® and have just about everything laid out for you

or option two is figuring it out by and for yourself. There are plenty of other companies and teams, I never suggested that there aren't...but with everything already done and planned out from A to Z for almost no investment at all what we have is pretty amazing. Dig deep into option one and I'm pretty sure that you will agree that option two is the way to go!

Chapter 20 Fortune Cookies

Don't start digging a well when you are thirsty. That was the fortune I received one evening at a Chinese restaurant in my fortune cookie. It resonated with me. It speaks to a very important part of the human condition. It speaks to the concept of time and how it relates to major life decisions.

No one knows what the future will bring and many successful agents when you speak to them about the eXp business model, technology, and business building tools will just think to themselves that “they're good”. Many will actually dismiss you right to your face and say those words, "I'm good." And they are correct, they are good. They are earning insane amounts of money, and they are building towards their future. But time, energy, work/ life balance, retirement, legacy, and passive income are perhaps more important.

That clever fortune speaks to looking toward the future and being prepared. Perhaps you are that successful agent who is on a roll.

Listings, sales, maybe team members and more. You get leads from your broker. Everything is great. However, what you don't put into the equation is the possibility of a better way to conduct your business and grow it with regard to the future. What if that broker who gives you leads sells his or her company and the leads dry up?

Another scenario is that you get sick and can't work. Another worst case is that you want to retire and can't figure out how to get off the hamster wheel we call real estate. Another situation is that you are successful and hit a limitation within the business structure created by your broker, brand, or franchisor. The problem with realizing that limitation too late is a big issue because many times an agent will work for years and catch a growth spurt with their business and only then realize that they were working for the wrong company for years. It would never be too late to switch, but time can never be clawed back and with the eXp business model you can leverage huge amounts of time, money and future cash flow with simple processes. We have seen multi-millionaires and early retirements repeatedly at eXp with just 3 or 4 years of effort. The business model with the revenue share is the leverage. The company culture is a draw as is the lead generating systems. The stock awards are icing on the cake. If you squander your biggest asset, which is time, then you are selling yourself short. It takes almost no effort to make the switch and

learn the benefits and then communicate them to begin growing your team and down line. Don't start when you are getting ready to retire though. Start now so you can retire sooner. Add a few agents in a few months to your team and see your monthly expenses begin to be paid by the company dollar.

I look at the analogy of thirst as the need that you might need to dial back work in the future and enjoy life more. eXp gives you the best of both worlds. More net income now. More income streams now and more income in the future. In fact, much more income in the future is possible even after you stop working. In your current position the party will probably end when you get to that point. If you are lucky, you will probably get someone to buy out your business when you want to retire but even then two things stop.

If someone buys you out, you probably have a non-compete which limits what you can do to earn money. You also probably have no passive income from the sale. They hand you a check and say goodbye. Now you might have decades worth of networking and sales and the curtain has come down.

eXp's revenue share is just kicking into turbo mode usually at the same time. It's like an annuity. Paying monthly. Not restricting what you can do and what you can't do. The sooner you plug in the better off you will be. More money now. More money in the future. Most agents that really get it say that they wish they had done it sooner, but it doesn't matter. They are reaping the benefits now and they are glad they dug that proverbial well, long before they were thirsty. It's never too late, but an early well dug ahead of the thirst is my best advice to you.

Chapter 21 What Are You Going to Do Now That You're "Rich"?

In a hypothetical sense you have already won the lottery when you joined eXp. Why is that you ask? In my opinion you have millions of opportunities that present themselves to you when you seek them out. In real estate brokerage there are little boutique offices to work for. Discount brokers to work for. Flat fee brokers. Mid-sized regional brokerages to work for. National companies. International companies. Salaried companies. Hybrid teams. Luxury companies and so on. If you add to that all the tens of thousands of agents at eXp that you can sign up with as your sponsor that all offer something different or nothing extra at all then you really need to do your homework before you pull the trigger and choose a company to work with. But possibly you are here now at eXp and you have built up your down line and you have passive income and it's paying your bills. In my opinion that makes you rich. It doesn't matter if you have 100 agents in your downline or 10,000 agents. If your bills are paid and you don't

need to work, then I will say you have made it. $10,000/ month or $1 Million/ month. Paid bills are bills that are paid!

So now what? There is the work life balance that you currently have that probably needs a little tweaking. If you have built up a good-sized network of agents under you then you have already put the work in and you can be proud of the fact that you can retire. But is retirement the best idea?

In my mind retirement is boredom and waiting for the next life event. Waiting for the next vacation. Waiting for the next weekend away at the beach. Catching up on errands. Enjoying a hobby. Writing your great American novel. Whatever you want, but what about the downline? What about your past clients? What about your real estate career that you worked so hard to develop?

I suggest that even if you are now "rich" you should continue working. I suggest that you continue growing your network and even being involved with an occasional listing or sale. Being involved will keep you sharp and up to date. I will go so far as to suggest that it will keep you young. You don't need to be the same Type A personality that you probably were for many years but keeping busy is important for your physical and mental health

according to everyone. Doctors, sales coaches, life coaches etc all say the same thing. Stay active and stay healthy.

This is a pretty major consideration and philosophy. I have given you the realization that you can grow a business at eXp and retire, and yes, you can...but would that really make you happy?

I think of some of the things that make me happy. Bringing on a new agent or a team onto my team. Into my down line organization. Into my eXp Hub or Facebook group. Taking a big listing. Making a multi-million-dollar sale. All these things make me happy and if I stopped working I could find my happiness in other places of course, but these real estate happiness's would go away and I would miss them. I would miss the chase. I would miss the challenge. I would miss the big wins and honestly, I would probably miss some of the failures too because from the failures we learn how to work smarter and from the failures we learn to appreciate the successes even more. I would also miss the people even if some were my competitors. They always made my life more interesting.

I'll make it simple. When you are "rich" you will know it and at that point you can make yourself a new schedule, a new routine

and even a totally new you and lifestyle. I would recommend that you stay with it though. I wouldn't give up the work ethic that got you to where you are for a few reasons. Keep working and you will be healthier and happier, and you will also be more in control of your future successes in real estate because you have remained active and with your finger on the business's pulse and you will be even more successful because your top-level actions create more wealth and even more happiness. It's a positivity loop that I can't suggest that you ever walk away from. Retirement should include your work because your work brings you not just money, it brings you happiness and maybe even better health as well.

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Chapter 22 Your Inspiration, Your Muse

I have written about the need to be passionate about your work in order to be successful. We know that you should find out what thing or things that drive you and inspire you and then seek a career doing those things. That way you never feel like you are working because it's enjoyable and fulfilling.

Maybe for you it's all about your love of traveling, or skiing or family. It could be anything, but it's important for you to know yourself well enough to understand what your essence is so that you can distill it into the appropriate work and career direction. If it's real estate brokerage or investing that's important to know. If it's luxury residences or commercial real estate that's an important distinction because they are two vastly dissimilar worlds. When you are doing that deep dive into who you are and what it is that you want out of life you need to keep peeling the layers away and when you finally get to that bottom and all important layer then I guarantee you that it is not only the direction you need to work in and on, but it's also the direction that will make you the happiest and most successful you.

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My advice is that when you are on this journey toward selfdiscovery, you take your time and be methodical. I suggest that you write down your thoughts in a fresh notepad or journal and that you take copious notes about your brilliant as well as what you might think are your dumbest ideas ever.

Next is a daily review of all of your musings, and then may I suggest a daily written review as you move closer and closer to your big idea and perhaps even an epiphany which will lead you to your next move. The epiphany might be a continuation of what you are currently doing with a new bolt-on tool, technique or even a new purpose and goal. It could be a new direction totally. My move to eXp from my independent brokerage would be such an epiphany. I went from having total control of my business to being in control of my future.

For me eXp opened up an entire world that was always there but one in which I didn't have full access to. It opened up a brilliant overview of real estate which is only limited by your own dreams and goals. Those dreams and goals of course are yours and yours alone to discover but why not open up that box of dreams and goals with one that has more options and fewer guard rails. Life is an entrepreneurial sport for everyone whether you realize it or not. eXp seems to recognize that with its business model and

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encouragement of all of its agents to find their direction whatever that would be.

I've now met agents at eXp with their priorities in many different spheres of influence from Airbnb, to traveling, to exotic cars, to coaching of other agents, to luxury brokerage and commercial/ business sales. I'm personally always shifting my focus so that my mind will be open to the next opportunity or possibility. eXp isn't for people that are closed minded. And happiness within the real estate business isn't always just about the money, or the split, or the number of leads handed out to the agent or the social media etc. eXp has figured out that the real estate professional isn't a cookie cutter abstract designed in a NAR laboratory. The eXp culture is unique because it embraces all of the possible goals that define all of their agents.

Are you a follower or a leader? A writer, a social media blogger, a team builder, a video or podcast producer? With 88,000 plus agents, eXp is past the point where it can police the activities of every agent, every hour, of every day. Glenn Sanford knows that and seems to appreciate eXp as an amazing social and business experiment that is doing more than changing many lives for the better; he sees that the company's success is tied to how well it

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fosters the inspirations and encourages the many muses to guide his agents into their best futures.

Meet your muse and follow your muse to your best life whether or not it's with eXp, that's my hope for you while you take your time to figure it all out. Just remember that being inspired daily is important. Being happy with your day, every day is my wish for you. Even if your days are filled with work, I hope that you enjoy every one of them because you had decided to work closely alongside your goals and inspirations.

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Chapter 23 The Business of Taking it Easy is a Real Business

Imagine a business model where you are a rock star, an influencer and your work ethic includes the perfect life/ work balance. As I have said over and over eXp has solved all of those pain points that have plagued Realtors for decades. So now let's assume that you joined eXp. Let's assume you joined my CASTLES Unlimited Team and Castles Luxury Group. Let's assume you sat in our agent attraction mastermind group, and you have a growing team. You're crushing it and you have a choice every day to either work your tush off or do absolutely nothing. It's a tough choice I know.

The eXp revenue share system allows you to grow an organization and have eXp do the back office and compliance or in other words all the un-fun stuff. It isn't easy and getting chosen as somebody's sponsor does take an effort especially in the beginning, but as your group grows so does your organizations members' groups.

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Growth brings more growth in many cases and in time many dollars of income. Eventually you don't really need to work. If you are still in production, you will notice that with stock awards, revenue share and even Icon awards etc you are earning over 100% or as I always say: 100% PLUS®.

This is a high-class problem to have. Income with no work necessary to sustain it. I know that is a rare feat, but the revenue share program does not require production. That's a good thing. It gives real estate agents a way to work toward a real retirement. If production was required, then retirement would not be possible because you would still need to sell real estate. That is work. That is not retirement as far as I know.

So, let's go back to income with no work. If you ever get to that point with eXp you can leverage that status to build further on that success. It works like this. Everyone wants to team up with successful people so once you are an obvious success you can more easily leverage that success and grow your team, network or downline even larger. There's a couple of reasons why the eXp rev share 7th level exists with the highest payout in my opinion. First is the incentive to keep working and growing your team until it gets to that 7th level. The second reason is that once you start making tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of

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dollars a month from revenue share there's little reason to remain in production and you will in a way need that extra revenue from the 7th level.

Basically, you are very wealthy at that point, and you should not be running around doing showings and open houses on the weekend. Who is going to think of you as a success if you are dragging signs out of your car on a Saturday afternoon? I hate having you re-think your public image if you are a hardworking Realtor, but perhaps it's time to rethink your brand if you are still involved in a business model that offers you no income when you retire. A business model that forces even the very best agent to do showings, open houses, take listings and drive people around in their cars. The last part sounds a bit like what Uber drivers do. I propose that you work toward the best possible you. I suggest that eXp and my CASTLES® can bring you to the point of retirement faster than the business on its own would bring you. Production alone will never bring income after the work ends.

Investments in income producing real estate will bring income but it will never be as passive as the eXp rev share. Those real estate investments require management, upgrades, maintenance, vetting new tenants, cleaning up vacancies or in other words… work and more investment. True passive income requires next to no work.

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But you are rich beyond your dreams, and you are gaining a mythical status. You are now traveling more, have a wealthier lifestyle and with technology you can still operate your huge real estate company from anywhere in the world usually in under ten minutes a day. You have technology, systems, virtual assistants etc and you are an eXp household name. There are a number of eXp rock stars that have worked for under three years at eXp and could stop working totally tomorrow and earn more and more money every month regardless.

It's a millwheel that's now spinning pretty well and pretty quickly. Enjoy the success but don't hide it. Share your success online, do that podcast, write a book or two, do mastermind Zoom calls weekly. Don't stop when the fun is getting to be even more fun. This is why I say that taking it easy is part of the business when the eXp model changes what the definition of taking it easy is all about. Imagine the impossible and make it possible. eXp has created the system to make it possible. Plug in and enjoy the easy part of success because at some point you will have earned it. Both the money and the taking it easy part!

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Chapter 24 The Day You Retire and Beyond!

Congratulations, you are officially retired! You have a passive income flow from your stock awards and revenue share from eXp enough to pay all of your expenses and then some. You might have income from rental units, bonds and maybe even other businesses that you are associated with. You have money now to never work again and travel and enjoy life. Now what?

There's plenty of websites and online blogs about retirement with many lists of what you should now do with your money, time, health care, tax and budget planning, hobbies and just about anything including starting a blog or a home-based business. With eXp you have been handed at least a couple of those items. Retirement with passive income and a home-based business are two of eXp's gifts to you.

Without mentioning their names there are at least a few competitors of eXp that seem to have been inspired by eXp's revenue share and they dream of going public or being licensed in

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all 50 states. I know all about the dream as I have mentioned before but there are dreams and then there are actualized dreams. The competitors in most cases have fewer revenue levels, smaller networks and fewer technology or lead-generating tools, less coaching, less training or in most cases there is zero ability to actually retire!

What? No ability to retire? Yes.

It's important to roll this message back to day one when you are trying to decide where to go to begin your real estate career or at that time when you are looking for a new direction with your real estate business after years of either being on your own or slogging on that traditional Realtor path. One competitor for example requires minimum quotas to receive any revenue share. That means that you will always need to produce (aka work) or you get zero.

Some have revenue share to 5 levels or have your revenue share help pay off your annual cap before you see a penny. All of these things are undesirable when creating a retirement plan and they are obviously less desirable than eXp's business model. So how do the competitors hide these obvious income killers?

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Many ways. One way is to offer a higher percentage of revenue share on the first level. One way is to make the cap lower. One way is to make the monthly fee lower or zero. In other words, there are as many options out there as there are hours in the day, but any one of those options are valueless in my opinion if you will always need to work to earn. Be careful of those shiny items because in the long run they hurt you. In the short run they sound great but think of this journey as the marathon that it is. The seventh level at eXp should you ever reach it can pay 25% of the company dollar! Yes, it takes work and time to reach it but that's the incentive of a true retirement. No need to produce to earn and the prospect of huge returns from your upfront efforts.

Many an eXp agent has brought in a real estate coach who has hundreds of agents in their sphere of influence. Most if not all these coaches do not actually sell real estate to pay their bills. If they wanted to join those companies that require production, then they would need to rethink everything about their work. That's why a higher payout on the first level could be meaningless and why the eXp model is superior. Work until you retire and still get paid...that's what retirement should be.

My suggestion to all my agents is to slowly grow your down line using all the tools available to you from eXp, Castles etc. and if

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you should get to the point where you can "retire" I suggest that you continue having your toes in the revenue share down line building with a blog, a podcast, a book or lunch and learns etc. Keep active during your retirement and make the work seem more like fun so that you will get the best of both worlds. Your time will then be yours to control, and your money problems will also diminish more and more with each passing year.

The day you retire should not seem like a super special day because you have learned to enjoy and leverage the rev share income model and it came to you gradually. Just enjoy the systems and keep communicating to the world how special this eXp business model is. Leverage all your tools and knowledge and then retirement won't need to be boring and scary because your expertise is valuable and using it can keep your mind sharp and your bank account growing.

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Chapter 25 The Perfect Recruitment Call

I always need to remind myself that I don't recruit. I'm more of a headhunter searching for talent. I seek licensed and unlicensed talent but after doing this type of work for decades I am still trying to focus more on licensed producers and team leaders than new licensees. The next industry leaders are now just getting their licenses, but they will take more time and energy away from my own business and income than they will add to it. Now I'm not suggesting that I only attract capping agents, but what I am saying is that when you begin to develop your team development plan (aka down-line) you should focus largely on teams and cappers so that any potential win really moves the needle for you growth and income with regard to sponsorships.

With recruitment, phone calls are best. In this modern era, we often send someone a polite text and ask them if they are available to take a call. Many times, that ends up with no response. We leave a voice message and hope for a return call. The ball is always going to be in their court, but I suggest a call and perhaps no message some times. You will sometimes need to call or text

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someone several times over time to get them to speak to you. A drip campaign of emails and texts spread out over time with a phone call sprinkled in here and there is all that you can do. Eventually the brokers that swim towards you are the people that you will want to work with.

What is the perfect call? What does it sound like? A script that I have seen looks something like this:

Hello _________________________. This is ___________________ with the ________________ team, and ______________________ asked me to call you directly. Now, you don't know me, so don't worry about going through your mental rolodex because we've never actually met. ______________ asked me to reach out to you because of your high level of production in real estate sales. Let me ask, have you actually sat down and investigated the eXp model as it relates to your production, your lead generation, your stock portfolio and your residual income, because I have to tell you that this is an absolute game changing model. Have you taken the time to investigate the fastest growing brokerage in the history of real estate sales?

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Anticipated answer: No.

Well, eXp is creating multi-millionaires faster than any other brokerage in the history of real estate sales.

Let's do this... Let's simply... Set an appointment...to have you meet with one of the top guys at eXp Realty. His name is Jim Lowenstern. He will tell you about the 8 or more ways you should be compensated by your current brokerage. He will show you how to increase your net income, your stock portfolio and your net worth. Plus, he'll show you all the ways you will be compensated at eXp, one of which is passive/ residual income.

So, tell me when is the best time for you and Jim to meet on a Zoom call. Do mornings or afternoons work better for you?

If No:

That's okay, I mean maybe you don't want any extra money. Let me quickly ask, if Jim could show you how to add an additional $10 to $50,000 into your bank account over the next 12 months

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with you doing nothing different than what you're doing today, would it be worth investing just 30 minutes of your time to learn about the fastest growing brokerage in the history of real estate?

This has been a fairly standard approach to a phone call solicitation. There's nothing really wrong with it except that it's a fairly standard approach to recruitment. A team member or virtual assistant or telemarketing team makes a call on your behalf and they need to be efficient with their time and the messaging to set up appointments. If you're making the calls you need to develop a style and a message over time so that your script is as good as the one above.

My personal approach is to get to know about the individual as much as I can. Speed is not important except that you want efficiency in your messaging and questioning so that you don't make the rookie mistake that we all do which equates a long call into a successful call. You are not getting paid to make these calls unless you are successful in attracting the broker on the other end of the line to your team and then only if they produce sales. Efficiency of message and time.

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If you are efficient and if the message resonates positively with the potential sponsoree then you will be satisfied with the work, the results and the income. Protect your integrity, build on your successes with the company to communicate how its business model and technology etc has improved your business and your life.

I have no set plan for most calls. I don't even expect most people to pick up but I do plan to keep dialing until someone does. Once I have them on the line, I introduce myself and tell them how I came to call them. Some people have sent me resumes but even with them sending me resumes most people don't recall what the position is or what company they sent their resume to etc. I screen for licensed agents and about 20% of the resumes include no license. Sometimes I speak to those people for a few minutes but honestly I have run a real estate pre-licensing school and a brokerage for a long time and I would suggest that you never waste your time with those people unless you are really wide open on your schedule or see something on their resume that lets you think that they are headed for big things. Maybe just add them to your CRM and email and text them. Keep in touch but don't invest your time. It generally won't pay off.

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A little secret. I showed you a script earlier in this chapter. The truth is that I don't use a script ever, but I have some notes or a resume usually in front of me so that I know their name, where they live, maybe some production figures on their business and maybe even their talents, info on their education etc. All of these things help to build a rapport and maybe a relationship moving forward. I have a CRM and take copious notes on the call and the date and time when we spoke and what my next follow up activity will be. It takes some time to put into all of this into my record keeping but it's worth it. I look at every agent, every team leader, every small to midsize brokerage owner as a possible recruit. I know fully how the eXp business model will work out best for their business moving forward and I communicate that from the start. Always remember this: the larger the producer the better off they are with the eXp model. Most top producers have great splits, but many don't have a cap. Many don't get awarded stock. Most have no exit strategy. They leave the business and that's it. You should understand eXp's many values, communicate them effectively and then your call will be perfect.

There's no sales pitch. What did you say Jim? No sales pitch? That's all you do...pitch, pitch, pitch.

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Actually my friend I want you to know this...it's easy to promote and communicate the value of eXp and it's especially easy when the agent you are talking to wants more, wants better, wants to be happier, wants more free time, wants a future in real estate with perhaps almost no work on any given day. eXp has changed a lot for me and if it changes a lot for you you need to let people know how it has helped you and your business, your family and even your outlook on life. I know that's a lot to communicate but the more calls you make, the more positive and negative calls you make the better you will be at delivering the right and the positive message so that your success ratio over time will increase.

eXp is one great story. It's a great truth that it delivers on its promises and has exceeded perhaps even its own expectations. Expectations. Express. Expansion. Exponential. It has covered an entire spectrum of excellence and isn't it only right to spread the word? Not just to grow your downline and revenue share but to help other agents to help other people provide for themselves and their families better. To have retirements with income or perhaps even to have a retirement in the first place.

You never have to embellish the call. You just need to explain everything you can without getting too deep into the weeds. Every penny doesn't need to be explained. Ever tech tool doesn't need to

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be listed. Revenue share should of course be mentioned but it doesn't need to be explained totally because no one is going to grasp it 100% on the first call. However, if someone asks then get into it because they will probably be your next recruit.

And that final thought needs to be highlighted. You need to know the eXp business model inside and out if you are going to take this seriously. It takes time to learn it and it takes time to build a 7level down line. You need to start making calls and making follow-up calls so that you keep expanding on your story, increasing your level of enthusiasm and your successes. Of course, the more successes that you have the easier it will be for you to offer that same success to others. I see now why the top recruiters at eXp never stop recruiting. It's a bit of a challenge but it gets easier with every success, with every new happy agent joining and staying. Focus on those that want it, get it and wish to grow their success as well. Spend less and less time on detractors or naysayers. They will always be right and will almost never concede that you were right and they were wrong. The only way to recruit them in the future is to just include them in what I'm going to call your success campaign. That will be a drip campaign where you promote sales, new agents to your team, new marketing initiatives, new countries that eXp has opened up and just about every new level of growth and excellence that you can share about your personal production all the way to sharing about

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eXp's top line revenue or transaction count, new agent numbers and more. There's excitement being part of something so historic. Communicate that and the rest should be easy.

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Chapter 26 It's All About the Business Model

It's 2026 as I write this and the news is not great. Many large real estate companies are laying off workers, and one even closed its national headquarters to reduce costs, mergers are limiting agents' options. Interest rates are elevated and inventory is low. The number of Realtors leaving the industry is increasing and competition for talent by brokerages is fierce. The sign-on benefits that were ubiquitous just a couple of years ago have dried up in many cases. Yet with all the cutbacks and layoffs eXp is still cash positive and growing around the world.

That shouldn't make a difference to you except for one thing. If you currently work for a company that is cutting staff and benefits, and if you constantly see news stories that suggest that your company might not weather the storm that has got to wear on you. Plus let's say that you see successful agents with teams with fewer limitations on them, happy with their decision to move to a new business model such as eXp.

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One agent comes over and now has a cap on their commissions and stock awards. They are chosen as an agent's sponsor, and they start earning some residual income. They use Bold Trail and get lots of leads. Their income goes way up and they start to promote their team and more agents come. Even in a bad market the cloudbased company will be in a better position than the traditional brick and mortar brokerage. Lower overhead, fewer staffing needs and higher payouts to the agents will keep a company like eXp nimble and profitable where a company that was grown with stock options and cash sign-on benefits that can no longer keep up with their original promises will be diminished in the eyes of their associates and that can create dissension and agent migration.

eXp was designed for the bad markets. Less stress on the bottom line helps keep a floor under the stock price. Less expenses being incurred to operate superfluous office space allows the company to pass back profits and in the case of eXp revenue to the agents. Remember this as well. eXp is really just a platform. You own and operate your company and brand. They have just given you all the tools to blow your company up as large as you can imagine it.

I know this sounds unusually perfect and there is no such thing as perfection. It isn't perfect however until you are part of it. It won't

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really get into your DNA for a while. I didn't use their Slack and eXp Hub online for months and then I became addicted and then my business grew. I didn't totally understand the value of Bold Trail and now I'm a believer. I didn't start to grow my down line and now I'm obsessed with its growth all over the country.

It's all about one thing and that's the business model. eXp's business model isn't perfect. I say it is but it really isn't. You still need to work smart. eXp gives you more tools than any other company to work smart but you still need to work. Perfect would be no work and getting paid for it. eXp does pay many agents for not working but they did work for the company at one point, and the business model allowed them to dial back on work or retire. Perfect enough I guess you would say.

Interest rates may come down in the future. They may go up in the future. Inflation may go up or go down. One thing that will be constant is the eXp cap and the 7 levels of revenue share. Inflation might erode some of the income, but it also might be offset by more agents being added to your downline. It might also be offset by higher sales prices and commission income when prices increase in the future. The eXp business model doesn't have a crystal ball but it doesn't need it either. Recruitment and retention are hard wired into its model to grow both the company and your

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personal business and income regardless of the economic or news cycle stories that might affect many of the competitor's companies' bottom lines. eXp is an ice-hardened warship totally prepared for the best of markets and perhaps even more for the worst of markets.

Redfin merged, Anywhere and its brands merged, REMAX merged. eXp won't need to buy competitors because they get the competitors merging for free. It's that simple!

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Chapter 27 Bold Trail and Lead Generation

Lead generation is an active pursuit. Retirement is more of a passive approach to living one's life. So, what does lead generation and retirement have to do with each other? Not much except that there is a way to "set it and forget it" when it comes to leads and that's where Bold Trail and other website/CRM’s come into the story.

eXp's tech and services bundle includes a basic Bold Trail website and CRM. They also allow agents to choose from “Lofty” and “Cloze” sites. The Bold Trail system is robust enough that with a few upgrades it can power an entire real estate business. It doesn't take much more to be able to automate that system to generate and distribute leads as money making referrals through a Bold Trail team website.

My group "Castles Luxury" built a team Bold Trail website at castlesluxury.com to attract visitors to the website, have them sign into the site with their contact info and then distribute those

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clients to the team's agents with referral fees to be paid from the closed sales generated by those clients. The system is automated sufficiently so that even in your retirement you can manage this CRM in just minutes daily. You own the leads, you control the leads and you get paid on the leads. In addition, having a system that generates new business for agents will attract new agents to your team and those leads will also encourage your team to stay with you in good times and bad times because you will always have business to share with your agents. Those same leads will also help your agents attract new agents to their down line as well and retain them overtime.

The Bold Trail website and CRM are one of the most underused tools offered to eXp agents regardless of its value. Similar to the revenue share down line in its underutilization. I think that's a good thing, however.

If every eXp agent was out there recruiting, you would have more competition and less opportunity to successfully onboard new agents. It's the same thing with Bold Trail. If every agent and team had a successful website competing for new business, then there would be less clients for you as well. My advice to you is to focus on the tools that you have in your arsenal, develop them to the best of your ability, leverage them like in this case with the team

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website and automate as much as you can to create as much free time for yourself as possible. The creation of free time is the biggest promise that the eXp business model offers. It does it with its unique rev share, tech tools, rock star talent, stock awards, certifications and right down to its individual websites like Bold Trail. You might not be able to take advantage of everything eXp offers you, but I do suggest that you use the rev share and Bold Trail no matter what. There's no way that you won't succeed if you do.

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Chapter 28 Conclusion

Ralph Nader once said that "The job of a leader is not to create followers. It's to create more leaders."

This quote is tailor made for this book. It nicely sums up the entire agent attraction success method of essentially cloning yourself so that you can create more time for yourself and leverage successful results not just for yourself but for all those that you are leading. As a leader that encourages more leaders you actually work less and achieve much more than you would if you worked everything by yourself.

If you read this book, you are probably in real estate doing things the way they have been done for many years. The only thing that has changed in the last couple of decades is the total reliance of real estate brokers on the Internet for leads. No one waits in an office now for a customer to walk in or call the office from a yard sign (those calls are usually routed directly to the listing broker). There is however one other sea change that has been quietly

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chipping away at the structure of the brokerage industry and that is the business model change with regard to caps, stock awards, revenue share and teams. eXp has had incredible success with its new business model paradigm and it's encouraged entrepreneurs like myself to leverage their business and brands to grow larger and faster with its tools and philosophies.

eXp is now at a place where the actual talent that has been drawn to the business and the compensation model has exceeded everyone's imagination. More and more Icon agents are making the move to eXp because once they really investigate the numbers it really is a no-brainer. Groups such as my CASTLES® Luxury Group with its own luxury magazine will keep popping up and expand the company's (eXp's) reach and influence.

This book's title "How to Retire from Real Estate" is not a promise. To actually reach retirement you really need to work smart and hard for three years. You will need to jump on two or three mastermind groups a week, make many phone calls a week, have coffee meet-ups, lunch and learns etc. weekly until you figure out what works best with your personality and your workstyle to create that passive income network that will ultimately allow you to retire. I say years because I know it doesn't happen overnight. I say years because I know that you won't really begin

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to appreciate eXp for at least a year and I know that your stock awards won't be saleable for three years and I know that your downline won't start multiplying on its own until you have at least 100 or 125 agents in it.

Successful ventures take time to become fully baked and to hit their stride. Do the work. Learn from your mistakes and always work to create a better mouse trap for leads and agent attraction and I am pretty certain that in a few years you will see something that you never imagined and that is something really big and powerful. A few years to change your life and perhaps even your family's lives. Three years will be enough time for you to have new and more efficient lead generating systems and agent attraction and retention systems as well. Three years to clone yourself, leverage yourself and your teammates, three years to expand your brand, expand your name, and expand your passive revenue. In short "How to Retire from Real Estate."

I wish you the best in this newly transformed industry with this transformed approach. It's all here and waiting for you. Please consider coming along for a three-year ride that will change your life for the better and one last thought again...enjoy it but never rush it! Retirement is just a word. Happiness is the goal.

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Your Million Dollar Month In Real Estate teaches you how to be competitive in real estate brokerage today; how to expand your brokerage business using today’s technology; what the Internet has given us in terms of leverage and scope; how to think about your business model; how to channel additional streams of income to your brokerage business; and how to add value and a retirement strategy to your business. Your Million Dollar Month in Real Estate teaches you current insights about the future of the real estate industry which are targeted to producing agents who wish to leverage their talents and time to make more money and have an early retirement. Jim focuses on eXp Realty in this book and speaks directly to how this company and its technology and business model is changing the real estate “game”.

To know more about the books - yourmilliondollaryear.com Buy both here

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Glossary Agent Attraction- The process of recruiting other real estate agents to join your team or brokerage, forming the foundation of building a revenue-share down-line

Bold Trail- One of eXp Realty's CRM and lead generation website platform; included in the tech and services bundle for eXp agents

Brokerage- A real estate company or firm under which agents are licensed and conduct transactions

Cap- The annual commission ceiling an agent must reach before earning a higher split; at eXp, once the cap is hit, it can be awarded back to Icon agents in the form of stock

CASTLES® / Castles Luxury Group- The author's personal real estate team and luxury brand operating within eXp Realty

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Commission Split- The percentage of a closed sale's commission divided between an agent and their brokerage

CRM- Customer Relationship Management — software used to manage client contacts, leads, and follow-up communications

Down-line- The network of agents you have sponsored into eXp, as well as agents those agents have recruited, generating multilevel revenue share income

eXp Hub- eXp Realty's internal online community and collaboration platform for agents

eXp Realty- A cloud-based, agent-owned real estate brokerage operating with or without physical offices; the central company discussed throughout the book

Icon Agent- A top-producing eXp agent who hits specific production milestones and has their annual cap reimbursed in company stock

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Lead Generation- Active strategies to attract and acquire potential real estate clients

Legacy- The financial and professional assets, teams, and income streams an agent builds that can be passed on or continue beyond active work

Mastermind Group- A peer-to-peer learning and accountability group, often conducted via Zoom, where agents share strategies and support each other's growth

MLS- Multiple Listing Service — a shared database used by real estate agents to list and search properties for sale

Onboarding- The process of bringing a newly recruited agent into a team or brokerage

Passive Income- Income earned with little or no active daily work, primarily through revenue share from a down-line of agents

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Referral Fee- A payment made to an agent or team for directing a client to another agent who then closes the transaction

Retirement- As defined in the book: the ability to step back from active production while still earning income through down-line revenue share and stock awards

Revenue Share- eXp's compensation model that pays agents a portion of the company's revenue generated by agents they have sponsored, across multiple levels

Sponsor- The eXp agent who recruits and onboards another agent into the company, becoming their primary mentor and point of contact

Sponsoree- An agent who has been recruited and onboarded by a sponsor

Stock Award- Shares of eXp World Holdings stock granted to agents as part of milestones such as closing first transactions, capping, or achieving Icon status

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DISCLOSURE “These figures are not a guarantee, representation or projection of earnings or profits you can or should expect. They also do not include expenses incurred by agents in operating their business. eXp Realty makes no guarantee of financial success. Success with eXp Realty results only from successful sales efforts, which require hard work, diligence, skill, persistence, competence, and leadership. Your success will depend upon how well you exercise these qualities.”

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