How I unexpectedly made an extra $100,000 this year

[Dustin Turner]

Ever find a twenty dollar bill hiding in a pocket? It’s a nice feeling, right? Now imagine finding an extra $100,000 in your account. That’s where I found myself today. Here’s the story.

I’m an investor and a real estate broker. I own vacation rentals and have purchased those with income I earned from selling real estate. I am, like most here, working towards a day when my passive income exceeds my active income.

At most real estate brokerages, the only financial benefit they offer their agents is the commission split, and maybe a “cap” on what you have to pay each year. Make a sell, get a commission. Basically one stream of (active) revenue.

Well, last summer I switched brokerages. The new company touted itself as having 3 revenue streams for its agents. One of those “streams” is company stock, which is publicly traded on the NASDAQ. I contribute a portion of my commissions towards discounted stock purchases, and they award me with stock for certain production milestones. Frankly, I thought this was a nice little perk but didn’t really see it as a serious benefit. I was wrong.

I opened my dashboard recently and found that my little perk had turned into a serious benefit. I’ve only been with this brokerage for 16 months, but today my shares in the company exceeded $100,000. I started asking around and found that some agents who had been with the brokerage for 3-4 years had $1,000,000+ in company stock. It takes some people a lifetime of savings to get to a million dollar stock portfolio or 100k in the bank. Apparently not for agents with this brokerage. 

The best part is that this wasn’t in my investment strategy. It’s bonus money. It’s not a retirement account; I can cash out whenever I’m ready. But at the rate it's growing, this little perk might help me get to that passive income number sooner than I was planning.

Have you ever found some unexpected money like this? 

[Charlie MacPherson]

@Filipe Pereira  Sure.  Happy to answer your question. 

I was with EXP and wish I had found them years before I did. 

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I had previously been pitched by two ham-handed agents who focused of the "recruit your way to wealth" angle.  That REALLY turned me off.  I felt like they were Herbalife True Believers™.  It was repulsive and obnoxious.

Fast forward to my relocation from Mass to Maine a year ago (December 2019). My wife retired after 45 years as a nurse at a Boston hospital (she's my real hero) and wanted to move back home to Maine. I'd say she jolly well earned it, so off we went.  After 40 years of marriage, the only words you need to know are "yes dear".

Initially, I signed on with KW in South Portland, Maine but quickly found myself literally ghosted when I desperately needed support - including buying my own home!  I could not get phone calls, emails or texts returned.  Even my eventual resignation went completely unacknowledged.  

I started evaluating pretty much every other brokerage in the market.  Previous experiences aside, I found that I just made more money with EXP.  Plus the support from the managing broker was absolutely extraordinary.  She is kind, understanding, patient and a world-class expert in real estate.

But here's the rub.  Home prices in central Maine are astonishingly low.  In order to stay even with my income in Mass, I'd have to at least triple my volume.  Just like Massachusetts, that would require a 5 year runway of persistent, expensive marketing.  I turn 65 in a few months, so that's a non starter.

To put a finer point on it, my last two commission checks in Maine were $3,000 and $1,600.  The $1,600 involved a crazy neighbor.  When I say crazy, I mean it was to the point that lawyers, the town and the police were involved and when I went to pick up my sign and lock box the day of the closing, I was packing a .38 in my pocket.

I want to die pulling babies out of a burning orphanage.  I want to go out doing something heroic - or at least worthwhile.  Not because a crazy neighbor clunked me over the head with a rusty shovel  and buried me in his back yard under his pile of junk cars and scrap metal.

It became clear that residential real estate was no longer a good option for me so I looked for others.

After doing my homework, I signed on with a business broker (see my signature).  Business brokering with this company is orders of magnitude more enjoyable and profitable.  No more blizzards of paperwork, emotional buyers or after months of working to land a listing, suddenly finding out that the seller's second cousin's babysitter's boyfriend has a great aunt, who while barely able to walk, still has her real estate license and she's going to get the listing that I was working for.

So while I'm no longer involved in residential real estate, I strongly recommend EXP for those looking for a first or new brokerage.  If I was going to stay in the residential real estate market, there is no question in my mind that I'd stay with EXP.

The tech, training, support and tools are exactly what a hungry Realtor needs.  It is a strong, growing company - over 33,000 agents, last I looked.

I just wish prices in the region we chose to live were high enough to make it easier to make a living.

As to stocks, yes, I now own some.  I ignore them because at my age, they're not going to grow to anything that's life changing.  If I was 30 years younger?  Sure, but not starting at 64 years old.  My horizon is listing and selling businesses.

I hope that helps.