Is eXp Right for Experienced Agents in Pennsylvania?

I get asked this question more than almost any other. Not from new agents testing the waters, but from seasoned professionals with ten, fifteen, or twenty years in the business who are watching the industry shift and wondering where they fit. It is a fair question, and it deserves a real answer, not a recruiting pitch. So let me give you the framework I use when experienced agents in Pennsylvania ask me whether eXp is the right move for them.

Here is what the data says about where our industry is heading. In 2025, roughly 230,000 agents across the country changed brokerages. That represents about 16 percent of the active agent population. And here is the part that stood out to me: virtual and tech-enabled brokerages averaged nearly 12 percent net volume growth last year, more than four times the growth rate of traditional firms. Meanwhile, the number of traditional commission-split brokerages in the top 100 dropped from 72 firms in 2018 to just 53 in 2025. The model is changing, and experienced agents are the ones driving that change.

But industry trends alone should not dictate your career decision. So instead of telling you whether eXp is right or wrong for you, let me offer five questions that helped me make my own decision after 35 years in this business.

Question One: What Are You Actually Paying Your Brokerage?

This sounds simple, but most agents I talk to have never added it up. Not just the split, but everything. Desk fees. Technology fees. Transaction fees. E&O charges. Marketing requirements. Franchise obligations. Parking. Storage. The hidden costs that show up on your monthly statement year after year without ever being questioned.

When I ran my own boutique brokerage, I saw both sides of that ledger. I knew what it cost to keep the lights on and what that meant for the agents producing under my roof. At eXp, the 80/20 split with a $16,000 annual cap means there is a ceiling on what you pay. Once you cap, you keep 100 percent of your commission minus a small transaction fee. No desk fees. No franchise fees. No monthly technology bill. For an agent producing $100,000 or more in gross commission, that difference adds up to tens of thousands of dollars every year.

Sit down with your last twelve months of P&L statements and run the comparison. If the numbers surprise you, that is data worth paying attention to.

Question Two: Do You Want to Build Something Beyond Your Personal Production?

One of the most honest conversations I have had with myself in this career was realizing that my personal transaction volume had a ceiling. There are only so many hours in a day, so many clients I can serve well, so many deals I can manage at once. After 4,000-plus transactions, I know my capacity. And I know that building income beyond that ceiling requires a different approach.

The eXp revenue share model is not for everyone. But if you have built relationships with other agents over the years, if you naturally mentor and guide people, and if you want to create a residual income stream that does not require you to personally close every deal, it is worth understanding. Under Revenue Share 2.0, you earn from the agents you sponsor through seven tiers. The first three tiers are available without any production qualification. Deeper tiers unlock as you help your group grow. It is structured to reward the kind of genuine relationship-building that experienced agents already do naturally.

In 2024, eXp distributed over $170 million in revenue share payouts to its agents. That is a documented number, not a promise. And those payouts go to agents who are actively building, not just to top producers.

Question Three: Do You Want Equity in Your Brokerage?

This is the one that did it for me. In fifteen years working with my family's business and seventeen years running my own brokerage, I was the only person building equity. My agents produced, I collected a split, and at the end of the day, the only asset I owned was the business itself.

At eXp, agents have the opportunity to earn actual company stock through the ICON Agent program and the sustainable equity plan. Top-producing agents can earn back their entire cap in EXPI shares, vesting over three years. And even outside that program, there are equity awards tied to milestones like closing your first transaction, capping for the first time, or sponsoring another agent's first deal.

In 2024, eXp paid out more than $220 million in combined revenue share and equity benefits. For an experienced agent who has spent decades building production without owning a piece of the infrastructure, that changes the math significantly.

Question Four: Does Your Current Model Fit the Way You Actually Work?

The Pennsylvania market in 2026 is shifting toward balance. Inventory is up 5 to 10 percent from last year. Price appreciation has moderated to 2 to 4 percent statewide. Mortgage rates are stabilizing in the 6 to 6.5 percent range. Clients are asking better questions and taking more time to make decisions. This is not the frenzy of 2021, and it is not a crash. It is a normal market, and normal markets reward agents who operate efficiently, communicate clearly, and serve clients without the overhead of a traditional brick-and-mortar structure.

The cloud-based model at eXp lets me serve clients across Montgomery County, Bucks County, Philadelphia, and beyond without the constraints of a physical office footprint. I mentor agents across the country from wherever I am. My tools, training, and transaction management are available 24 hours a day through a virtual platform. For an agent whose business has always been defined by geography, that kind of freedom changes how you think about growth.

Question Five: Do You Trust the People and the Model?

This is the hardest question to answer from the outside, and the one only you can decide. After 35 years in real estate, I have seen a lot of promises come and go. What sold me on eXp was not the technology or the compensation structure in isolation — it was the combination of a publicly traded company with real financial transparency, a leadership team that has built the model over more than a decade, and a culture that genuinely rewards agent success rather than just extracting value from it.

In early 2026, eXp added over 1,000 agents in a single acquisition from INITIA Real Estate across multiple countries. Experienced agents and entire teams are choosing this model. That does not mean it is right for everyone. But it does mean the trend is real, and the underlying economics are working for the agents who engage with it seriously.

The Bottom Line

I am not here to recruit anyone. I left my own brokerage after 17 years and joined eXp because the model made more sense for the kind of career I wanted to build in this chapter of my life. I am sharing this framework because I believe experienced agents in Pennsylvania deserve an honest, straightforward way to evaluate their options without the hype.

If you read through these questions and the answers point you in a different direction, that is okay. The goal is not to convince you. The goal is to help you make a decision based on real math and real priorities, not on inertia or fear of change.

But if the answers resonate, and you want to talk through what the transition actually looks like for someone with decades in the business, I am available for that conversation. No pressure, no pitch — just a candid exchange between two agents who care about this profession and want to make smart moves.

Let's Go!

"Just worked with Craig Lerch and his team again and the results were again amazing! He sold my first home in 12 hours, my mother's home also in record time, and my last home in 72 hours during a snowstorm. He is the best and his team is an absolute dream to work with. If you are looking for 'THE BEST,' call Craig. He and his team will get it done!"

— Donna Gormley