As the residential real estate industry’s most established legacy brands continue to change hands, eXp Realty CEO Leo Pareja says new possibilities are emerging as brokerage owners, franchisees and large teams are now re-evaluating not only where they fit, but who they want to partner with.
Mr. Pareja’s pitch to brokerage owners has become even sharper since eXp World Holdings acquired NextHome earlier this month, allowing the cloud brokerage’s parent company to offer a franchise platform to operators who don’t want to integrate directly into eXp Realty but are looking for a different ownership structure, leadership team or business philosophy.
Pareja framed the effort not as a simple recruiting opportunity, but as a bid to attract owner-managers who share eXp’s public stance of transparency, consumer-first brokerage practices, and resistance to a privately listed ecosystem.
“There are a lot of people who have woken up under the new ownership,” Pareja told Inman on Tuesday, speaking of brokerage leaders who are having “interesting conversations” about the future of real estate and whether to continue working with companies that share their belief system.
His comments come amid a wave of consolidation among the upper echelons of the securities industry, including Compass’ acquisition of Anywhere Real Estate and Real Brokerage’s pending acquisition of REMAX, deals that could cause franchisees, brokerage owners and large teams to reevaluate their relationships with traditional brands.
The framework also builds on the message Pareja and NextHome co-founder James Dwiggins conveyed after eXp’s acquisition of NextHome last week. Asked by Mr. Inman whether the deal had created something like an “anti-Compass coalition” in the securities industry, Mr. Pareja denied that characterization, instead describing it as a “coalition of transparency.”
“As you have seen my actions, all I can say is that I will keep my word,” Pareja reiterated on Tuesday. “I believe in building a coalition of transparency.”
The strategy was unveiled earlier this week when eXp announced two hires for major brokerage firms.
On Monday, NextHome announced the addition of two offices in Southern California, bringing it to approximately 200 agents under brokerage leader Albert Meggers. This will be the first office to join NextHome following the acquisition of the franchise brand by eXp World Holdings. The offices will operate as NextHome Coastal Estates in Oxnard and NextHome Central Coast in Pismo Beach.
Hours earlier, eXp Realty Canada announced that INITIA Real Estate, a 1,000 agent organization with approximately CAD 2.5 billion in 2025 sales, has transitioned to eXp. INITIA will continue to operate under its own identity as INITIA, brokered by eXp, while gaining access to eXp’s platform, training, technology and global referral network, the company said in a news release.
Pareja said the announcement is not a one-off, but part of a larger effort to hire brokers and larger teams as the industry is reshaped by consolidation.
Asked if the industry should expect more announcements like the Southern California expansion, Pareja didn’t hesitate. “100 percent,” he said, without commenting on timing.
The strategy marks a notable evolution for eXp, which built its growth around a cloud-based brokerage model that appealed first to individual agents, then teams, and then large teams. But Pareja said the acquisition of NextHome gives eXp a new “chassis” for operators who prefer a franchise structure.
Previously, NextHome was a small to medium-sized office franchise, Pareja said. He added that what made the acquisition attractive was the opportunity to pursue larger formats, including large offices and brokerages.
“This is a perfect example,” Pareja said of the Southern California expansion. “Some people may not understand what we did or why we did it.”
Pareja said the pitch is not limited to one company or brand. He broadly pointed to franchisees and brokerage leaders of major legacy companies such as Compass International Holdings, ReMax and Keller Williams, but stressed that he was not criticizing these companies or their operating companies.
“They’re great operators, otherwise they wouldn’t have been in the top three,” Pareja said. “But I think any time you change something, there’s going to be curiosity. And people are going to say, ‘Wait, what else is there?'”
For Pareja, that curiosity is not about “culture” per se, the word he called “crazy,” but about leadership and collaboration in times of turmoil. He said real estate remains a relationship business and the change in ownership could cause brokerage leaders to ask who they want to partner with as the industry changes.
“I think culture comes from leadership at the top,” Pareja said. “So I’m focused on making sure we have the right people on board.”
Pareja declined to comment on regulatory or antitrust issues related to the broader wave of consolidation, citing his fiduciary duties as CEO. But he said eXp’s hiring efforts are part of a broader effort to uphold the company’s public stance on transparency and consumer choice.
“I hope I’m not naive, but I think things win for consumers and agents.”
Email AJ LaTrace
