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Tech-centric brokerage eXp Realty has recruited the Bean Group, an independent brokerage that was among the most successful on its home turf in New England, according to an announcement Tuesday.
The Bean Group operates across Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. It currently has more than 600 agents working in 14 offices. Moving forward, the team will use the name the Bean Group Brokered by eXp Realty.
The Bean Group is also the first company to join eXp via the brokerage’s Boost program, a company statement revealed. The program debuted earlier this year and provides financial incentives to “culturally aligned” independent brokerages if they join eXp.
Boost is specifically geared toward brokerages that have more than 50 agents and which have generated at least $100 million in sales volume over the last year. EXp has not publicly specified the size of the incentives it provides — and didn’t disclose what the Bean Group received — but has described Boost as simplifying moves and letting industry players “immediately begin reaping” the benefits of being at the brokerage.
In the case of the Bean Group, CEO Michael Bean founded the team in 2003. According to eXp’s statement, the Bean Group does more than $1.5 billion in annual sales volume and is “one of the largest brokerages in New England.”
Bean said in the statement that “by joining eXp Realty, we get the best of both worlds.”
“We can maintain our boutique culture, brand and heritage while adding the unparalleled scale and resources of eXp Realty,” he continued in the statement. “Its agent-centric culture and benefits align closely with ours, and with this transition, we will deliver on our mission to help our agents and teams build successful real estate careers.”
The statement also notes that after picking up the Bean Group, eXp has the third largest market share of any brokerage in New Hampshire and the second largest in Maine.
The Bean Group’s move to eXp comes at a time of intense competition in the real estate industry; as the market has slowed over the past year and a half, brokerages have had to fight for agents who can keep closing deals. That has, in turn, shifted somewhat the long-running battle for agent count — which for many years focused on sheer numbers — to quality over quantity.
Against that backdrop, eXp has racked up a number of recruiting victories in recent months, including picking up high-powered teams in Las Vegas and New York’s Hudson Valley.
Michael Valdes
In the new statement, eXp Chief Growth Officer Michael Valdes touted both the Bean Group and the Boost program that brought them to the virtual brokerage.
“The eXp platform was built to help agents and teams succeed and thrive, and with Boost we are joining together with independent teams and brokerages that share our values, culture and growth goals,” Valdes said. “Bean Group agents can now immediately start reaping the benefits of our agent-centric culture and aligned compensation model.”
Correction: Boost is designed to work with brokerages. This post originally misstated its intended purpose.
