EXPI thoughts

I brought EXPI to the boards about 2 months ago. Since that time it is up over 60%.

EXPI is currently expanding its business internationally. It recently announced operations in Mexico, Portugal and France.

Additionally they announced 40,000 agents up 60% YoY from 25,000.

https://expworldholdings.com/news-events/press-releases/

They are using technology to disrupt the traditional system and saving money in the process. They then give the lion share of money back to the agent. I recently had a friend on Facebook announce he moved to EXPI as a realtor. I have no doubt this trend will continue.

The attribute there use of Virbella software which they use to as a 3-D fully immersive cloud brokerage. They believed in the software so much they bought the company a few years back. They are using it for their real estate business. However they also are using it as a platform for other business opportunities such as venue for live music and events: https://expworldholdings.com/2020/12/10/virbela-launches-new…

Last week Investor Business daily called it stock of the day and ran a few articles on it, which seemed to create some upward movement on price.

The margins are not the same as many of the other stocks discussed on the boards (they are much lower). However the TAM is absolutely enormous, as the real estate market was around 9.6 Trillion (with a T) in 2019.

Last week I bought a small position in LMND which is using new technology to disrupt insurance which TAM is 1.3 Trillion annually. EXPI and LMND remind me of each other. They both are using technology to disrupt traditional business. The margins are not the same as software company, but the TAM’s are huge…making for a really long runway.

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Retirementdough, thank you for bringing EXPI to this board, and for your periodic updates. The opportunity to become aware of less well-known stocks (to me, anyway) is such a valuable benefit.

I believe that EXPI is really onto something with their ability to motivate real estate agents to switch to them by letting them keep more money as well as to acquire stock, and hence have company ownership as a further motivator. Glassdoor ratings have meaning to me, and EXPI’s are top-drawer. And there is potentially so much more to the firm than real estate.

Reasons to take notice (points taken from the Nov 10 earnings call transcript which is worth a read):

  • industry-disruptive, and they don’t seem that concerned about Redfin and Zillow competition
  • attraction and retention of agents and even entire real estate teams; agent retention rate increased by 30% in each of Q2 and Q3
  • “the agent is the brand”: they see themselves as giving a self-starting workforce better tools to do their job
  • large “home” market as well as rapid international expansion (India and Mexico alone: 1.5Bn people)
  • they are predicting 100,000 agents by the end of 2021 (25% of which international, and they look for proven leaders who understand their countries’ customs)
  • strong growth pre-and-during Covid, and expecting strong post-Covid as well
  • Virbela virtual platform has grown the customer base and has eased international expansion during the pandemic; beyond that it could become “the place you go to work”
  • they see value in spinning off Virbela as its own company and not seen purely as a real estate enabler, but they are not there yet
  • affiliated services are gaining traction, e.g. mortgage and escrow to promote one-stop shopping
  • consistently look to avoid balance sheet risk for new products (e.g. Express Offers) by being creative instead

This business looks scalable and to have many potential offshoots. It looks “agent-sticky”. I’m very happy to be up 65% since the end of October. The next earnings report could be quite impressive.

Roller

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eXp World Holdings Expands Real Estate Operations Into France

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/12/15/214512…

“Our expansion into France represents our final international expansion of 2020,” said Michael Valdes, President of eXp Global. “As the third-largest economy in Europe, France is an optimal location to launch our innovative, agent-centric real estate model. We have identified a significant opportunity in France to provide agents with a platform that allows for potential financial independence and access to our unique, proprietary tools.”

The company’s presence in France will encompass a national footprint, including all major cities and regions. France represents the last of five countries eXp Global has identified for expansion by the end of 2020. South Africa launched in October 2020, India and Mexico in November 2020, and Portugal in December 2020.

Continued…

Dominic
long EXPI

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