The Exit Strategy Every Agent Needs

Challenging the belief that real estate agents have to be stuck in the grind of selling homes forever, Garrett pushes against the industry normal. Instead, he casts vision for a better way to do business—one that prioritizes legacy, collaboration, wealth-building, and Kingdom impact.

Garrett explores the importance of having a clear exit strategy, why the traditional brokerage model often limits agents, and how new opportunities like revenue share, stock ownership, and agent collaboration can free you to live more purposefully. With a strong faith foundation, this episode equips Christian agents to think beyond the next deal and toward building something eternal through mentoring and serving others.

Key Takeaways:

✅ You don’t have to sell homes forever—create an exit strategy
✅ Most agents don’t plan for the long-term or legacy
✅ Traditional models often benefit brokers more than agents
✅ Revenue share and stock options offer new paths to freedom
✅ Collaboration > competition in this new model of business
✅ You can build wealth while serving others in your industry
✅ Ask: What is the Lord calling you to build?
✅ Legacy is built through mentoring and multiplying
✅ Real estate should be a vehicle, not a trap
✅ There is a better way to grow in real estate

Episode Chapters:

⏳ 00:00 – Why Every Agent Needs an Exit Strategy
🔄 03:07 – Breaking Free from the Transaction Treadmill
🏗 06:13 – Exploring New, Scalable Business Models
🤝 08:46 – The Power of Collaboration Among Agents
💰 11:58 – Building Wealth Through Shared Success
🌱 15:05 – Creating a Legacy Through Intentional Leadership
🙌 17:47 – The Call to Serve and Mentor in Real Estate
🎯 21:11 – Finding Purpose Beyond Just Selling Homes

Resources & Opportunities:

📩 Are you tired of the hustle? Download my free guide: 3 Lies Christian Agents Believe—and the Truth That Will Set You Free
🔗 https://www.210collective.com/podcast

📞 Want to be in Business with Garrett and Christian agents around the globe? Schedule a call with Garrett to learn about the 2:10 Collective on the eXp Realty platform
🔗 https://calendar.app.google/YmCPQRhWJaV7owmw6

🙌 Join Garrett’s FREE online community for Christian agents who want to sell 3-4 homes/month:
🔗 https://www.skool.com/servingnotselling/about

📩 Send Garrett your Hampton Roads & Richmond, VA buyer/seller referrals:
🔗 faithfulagent.com/referral

📲 Follow Garrett on Instagram for more insights and encouragement!

🔗 https://www.instagram.com/garrettmaroon/

Transcript

0:00

Do you want to be 70 years old, still trying to hit your Q2 numbers? Or do you believe God might have more for your life? What's up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Christian Agent Podcast. I am so glad that you have joined me once again today as we dive into, think, a really important topic. Now, we're working through a series of six different episodes. You've seen the first three of six different episodes that really unpack, I think, the balanced breakthrough beliefs. And here's what I mean. The first one is I want you to let go of these first three. I want you to let go of, I'm only as good as my next sale. Let go of, I've got to fit a mold instead of elevating the natural gifts the Lord has given me. And finally, let go of the fact that success is only defined by how many homes you sell and how much money you make. I want you to let go of this lie the real estate industry keeps selling you. Well, now we're moving into three beliefs that I want you to start adopting, that there is an exit strategy. You don't have to sell homes forever. that you can win in work without losing at life. That's next week and two weeks from now that your job, ultimately your job in real estate is to figure out who you are and be excellent at that. So today we're going to tackle the first belief that I want you to start adopting that what if there is a way out and you're not meant to die at the closing table? We're going to dive into that because I don't think anyone at the end of the day wants to be in this business for year after year after year with no exit strategy. And then ultimately you just die at the closing table and I'll share a little bit of my own personal story and how we got to this point. But before I do, as always, I'd love to share this joke with you. This actually comes from a good friend of mine, Shell. Some of you may know her, but Connie, shout out to you. She sometimes texts me with jokes and it's amazing. And I'm so proud of her. She said, Garrett, did you hear they discovered a fart from a dinosaur? Yeah, it was a real blast. from the past it's kali fantastic keep them coming anybody else if you've got one sit down my way i always uh... waste too much time trying to find a joke that you would like so i'd love for you to send them to be alright let's move into this the reality is that there is an exit strategy now in the real estate industry that you don't have to sell houses for the rest of your life you know here's the reality most agents are stuck in a cycle that never ends you work to live and then you live to work but there's another way there's an exit strategy that honors both your gifts and your future right because if you stop selling tomorrow what would happen to your income you know i've been coaching for a long time and i remember asking a woman she was out in north dakota she had a great business selling 40 homes a year by herself and i remember asking her she was getting towards retirement age she was about five years away she says or i asked her the question hey so when you get to that five years what what's the plan like what's the exit strategy was the retirement plan and she said uh... i don't know i guess i'll just stop selling that's a terrible strategy right but the reality is i think if you stop in think for just a moment what's your exit strategy right because i think the reality is most ages don't retire they just slowly fade out burned out and maybe broke maybe they have money saved maybe they don't That's not a good way for a real estate agent to retire, nor do I desire for us to be stuck in an industry that was meant to give us life and freedom and time freedom and all the things just to realize that we're actually stuck in the very thing that was meant to give us the life we were looking for. That very thing is now the wall that's in the way. I really want us to understand this, right? That they have uh... real talk right because the truth is don't retire the agents around you don't retire because one day they just stop selling it all the sudden income goes away now maybe if they've done a good job they've saved for uh... retirement they put money away maybe even tested in some real estate but let's be honest most agents that's not our scenario most of us think well this next closing is going to pay for that new car writer this next closing is paying for that vacation or not as early thinking in advance of how to make sure that one day we're going to want to so we don't have an exit strategy you weren't meant to die at the closing table if real estate doesn't have a retirement plan let's fix that in if you right now are building your business you're building a career the question is are you building a future also here's the reality here's the truth you don't have to sell homes forever you don't that the industry has changed now and and not all of us are aware of them that's okay but there are now smarter models that exist in this industry offer things like revenue share that let you build ownership over time right so i'm just gonna have some real talk with you because part of my passion for christian agents is to help us see that there's a better way there's a better way for us to do this business not only in terms of what income we can make right we're on this hamster wheel of i sell a house and i get a commission and i sell a house and i get a commission and trust me is a it is a good wheel to be on right the lord is gracious because the kind of income we can create in this industry is awesome And the kind of freedom we can create is awesome. The opportunity we have is amazing. But the reality is we're stuck on this hamster wheel and who wins right at the end of the day, this traditional brokerage model who wins? Well, the broker does as long as we show up and we do deals, they keep getting paid. We keep getting paid right. The minute we say I want to slow down, they're going to kick us out, right? Because we don't bring value to them anymore. Most brokerages. benefit from your hustle, but they don't help you build any long-term wealth. And I started to realize this, right? I started to realize this. was 10 years into the industry. I was selling 50 plus homes a year and I was super grateful for that. But at the end of the day, on January 1, I had to show up and do it all over again. every single year now i was young right i was thirty seven when i left but i was young i'd been in industry ten years i started when i was twenty seven years old and the reality is i did it and it was going really well and the lord was extremely kind to me as i was building out my business yes i was gaining more freedom yes i had more flexibility in my schedule i found an amazing rockstar agent he became my lead agent and took a lot of the deals so i had more free time to start a podcast write a book right start the faithful agent community all of those things that are good and i'm so grateful for what i've realized is i've tried to help agents along the way is that's not a common scenario for most of us most of us we get stuck doing deal after deal after deal Now again, don't hear me say that that's a bad thing. Selling houses is an amazing thing. Not only an opportunity for income, it's a great opportunity for gospel. It's a great opportunity to develop and deepen relationships. It's great opportunity to serve people. There are so many good things about it. But here's the point. What I want for you is more than just getting stuck in the transaction cycle over and over and over again. I want you to have the ability to actually start building something for the long term. And I'm going to share this quick story. I'm going to dive into a little more of this real talk and challenge. you a little bit to think maybe a little bit differently. We're having a conversation, I was having a conversation with a gentleman in Canada who I won't name, who is an amazing man of God and an amazing business owner. He's been in real estate for a very, long time. He's in his 80s. And we're having a conversation with him. Many of you listening know that I launched the 210 Collective. I'm going to explain what that is here in just a minute, but launched the 210 Collective. So we're talking to him about this, right? And he shares with us that four years ago, his wife had passed away. been married for a really long time. And he says, Garrett, I really believe that I should write a book on grief. I really believe the Lord is calling me to write a book on grief. I'm like, man, that's an amazing thing. My business partner, Dave says, hey, well, just curious, why haven't you written that book? And his answer was very telling. He said, truthfully, I've been too busy selling houses. It's the same concept over and over and over again that we hear. I'm too busy selling houses. I can't get to the thing I really want to do. Well, Agents, what if the Lord is calling you to something else? Now, maybe the Lord is calling you specifically to keep selling and keep selling it, sell 100 homes, 200 homes, build a massive team, whatever it is, or sell 10 homes a year, five homes a year and homeschool your kids. That's good and right and godly. But for some of us, the Lord is saying, I want you to do this. And we're using the excuse of, well, I got to keep selling homes. Real estate is kind of in the way at this point. And I don't know how to get out of that. What if the Lord is calling you to something else? I'm not going to say bigger or better because that would downplay the reality that whatever the Lord calls you to is good and right. So if it's to sell homes, sell homes to the glory of God, if it's to write a book on grief, then write a book on grief to the glory of God. But if it's to write a book and you let real estate stay in the way, there's a problem. And we've got to figure that out. Because what if the Lord verbally told you, which he won't? But what if he did verbally tell you, want you to write this book on grief. You would do whatever you've got to do to make that happen. But for some reason we fall back into the comfort zone of, well, I sell houses. I'm a little bit too busy. What if there's a better way that maybe you can stop selling as many houses and start doing that thing the Lord wants you to do. What if you can stop selling so many houses and start pouring more into other Christian agents? What if you could stop selling so many houses so you could start picking up your kids from school? What if you could stop selling so many houses so you could finally write that book? That's what we're talking about. There's a better way, right? The traditional real estate brokerage model, which has worked for a long time, is here's your split. You're a solo agent. We're going to give you some value. You sell a house, we always make our cut. We always make our cut. We always make our cut. Right. Then Keller Williams Realty came around who I was with for 10 years and love Keller Williams. They came around and said, you know what, we're going to put a cap on it. You can, you're going to pay us, but it's going to cap at X amount of dollars for me. was $28,000 after you pay us $28,000. You don't pay us anymore. Right. They created this idea of a cap. And then they introduced the idea of profit sharing that, if you help agents join us and they join the company and you support them. if we make money if our if our you local market center makes money will share a little bit of that with you awesome idea most entrepreneurial model by far especially when they launched within a company exp came along and there's been many cloud based companies that have come along after it honestly i think will continue to see more cloud based companies pop up because exp is like the amazon they change the way the game worked on explain that they change the way the game worked other companies see that And now they got to go copy that same model. That's OK. That's good. Everyone's trying to be Amazon in the e-commerce space. That's good. That's right. That's how business works. Well, eXp came around. Actually, the founder, Glenn Sanford, was one of Gary Keller at Keller Williams, one of his top 100 agents. And he actually pitched to Gary Keller, hey, want this. ah This is my idea. What if we were this cloud-based company? What if we created revenue share, all these different pieces? And Gary Keller, which was totally his right, said, no, I don't think so. That's not right for our company. Glenn Sanford left with other people and he launched eXp Realty, said we're gonna be the first online cloud-based company. Now, here was the main benefits, right? We're gonna have a lower cap than Keller Williams says. The cap is $16,000, right? So maybe you're in a traditional model and it doesn't mean the traditional model is not right where you're supposed to be. Don't hear me say that the Lord wants everyone in a cloud-based company. That's not true because that's not written down in Scripture. So I cannot tell you that's true. Right? You might be exactly where you're supposed to be. You might not be. And maybe you're too closed off that you need to be a little bit more open-minded just to see what else is out there and what the Lord might have for you. And guess what? After that exploration, it might be that you're supposed to be right where you are. Not everybody is supposed to be here. So never hear me say that. However, some of us that are listening need to realize there's maybe something bigger and greater and a different kind of opportunity that exists. So Clint Stanford came in and said, I'm going to launch eXp Realty. and I'm gonna set a low cap on it, $16,000. Now you might be at a company where you're paying 30 % split on everything. I just recently met a gentleman who's an amazing Christian man. He paid his company $60,000 the year before. He could have paid EXP 16,000, right? Immediately saved him 44 grand every single year. Now, if that company is giving him that much value, fantastic. That's something to consider and maybe he should stick around, right? It's not just about money, so don't hear me say that, but those are things to be aware of. The biggest game changer comes in. And eXp was the founder of this. are other cloud companies that you can look into as well. Right. But eXp was the founder of this. said, you know what? Not only are you just going to start doing deals, but we've got to solve this retirement problem for agents. So here's what they did. As you do deals, you earn stock. It's a publicly traded company. As you do deals, you can buy their stock at a discount with 5 % of your commission, right? Building for the long run, building for the long term. Right. So that's huge. Then. what we what they started was instead of profit share they said you know what we're going to do we're going to do revenue share which is a big difference they shifted from profit to revenue here's why right because when the market was down and i was at keller and he can't love keller williams you will never hear me say anything bad about them because that's why learned how to build my business but the last year i was a keller williams that office didn't have a profit so guess what i didn't get profit share and that's okay they shouldn't pay me if they haven't paid their employees and their stuff that's okay right i'm not frustrated by that but esp came around and said we're going to change that profit share into revenue share and what are we going to do not only are we going to give the agents another way to earn income we're going to incentivize that level of collaboration of them pouring into one another and we're going to create opportunity for agents who have the heart to serve other agents and would do it for free anyways, but now can do it in a way that's actually going to provide for their family. EXP in 2024 paid out $220 million to the 90,000 agents that were part of EXP, right? Revenue share is a real thing. So here's what happened. As I was looking out, to build my business and take my business to what I thought was the next level. Honestly, totally happy at Keller Williams. I was not in a pain point. was not upset at Keller Williams. I was not disappointed. I was perfectly happy there. But here was the biggest shift for me. I had closed myself off to any other company because I was totally fine where I was, right? And we're creatures of comfort. I didn't want to look. I didn't want to know. I just wanted to stay right where I was because that was easy. Well, finally, here's what happened. the story for me of how I ended up at eXp and launched what's called the 210 Collective for Ephesians 210. I launched the Faithful Agent nonprofit community in 2023. The mission, know, brokerage agnostic, I don't care. Kingdom affiliation, Trump's brokerage affiliation all day, every day, will forever, right? Our standing before the Lord is infinitely more valuable and important than what brokers are with. Who cares at the end of the day? But here's what happened, right? I kept getting questions from agents in that community. hey will you start if they full agent brokerage nationwide that we can join or i'd hear that or can we get into business together how can we do that and these are ages that don't live anywhere near me i'm in southeast virginia they were all over in the west coast in the north wherever they were and these are ages that you know they could join my team because i didn't have a team that reach that far away my thought in joining a brokerage one i'd ask my friends who are independent workers they don't do it it's not worth it And I didn't know that fair housing would let me start a Christian agent brokerage. So here was the challenge. At the end of the day, I couldn't solve that problem. Here were my Christian brothers and sisters saying, how do we get into business together? We want to be in business together. We recognize second Corinthians is clear to not be unequally yoked. So how do we do this together? And I didn't know how to solve that problem. And so thankfully I'm sitting down with a brother of mine, Dave Kajiano, who'd been in the XP for a while. He'd been talking to me about it. It goes like dude, I'm totally good. really glad you like it there. I'm perfectly fine There was no desire for me to make a shift, but I was telling him that so many ages were asking me How do we get Christian agents into business together? And I was telling him that and the frustration for me if I can't figure that out Well, he said you know what we can do that here. We can build out an organization specifically for Christian agents and we can get into business with Christian agents give them resources, coach them, train them, encourage them, and be in community with one another, literally all over the world, EXPs in 29 different countries. We can do that with agents all over the world. And best part of it, Garrett, every resource you have, all the ways that you want to serve these agents, guess what? It won't cost them a dime to be in business with us. It won't cost them a dime for you to get to pour into them and our other business partners to get to pour into them. It won't cost them a dime. Because all they're doing is as we help them become more successful, agents are paying EXP. EXP is rewarding us with, good job. Way to help that agent, right? Way to help them grow. It's created the highest level of collaboration in this industry I've ever seen. Because now we want to pour into one another, but also we can build a business by pouring into one another and helping one another succeed in this industry. The level of collaboration is incredible. And here's the beauty behind the entire thing. Right? The entire thing is most agents, we need to show up and we need to be better at selling homes. 100%. That's for most of us, I'd say 98 % of us, that's where our focus needs to be. Here's the beauty of it. The 2 % who maybe don't need to worry about that, but wanted to help other agents do just that. For me, for example, I was charging between a thousand and $2,000 a month to coach. Guess what? Now people in my world at the 210 Collective at EXP, I don't charge them a dime. and i get to pour into them and help them grow and help them succeed in ways that are going to class their family taken from five to ten to twenty deals a year which is going to change the trajectory of their family forever in in return the xp says good job we're gonna reward you get because you help this agent become more successful some coaching and helping and training and not charging these agents for all of a sudden agents could get access to it without a paywall all of a sudden agents could be in business with other christian agents literally all around the globe and share resources and encouragement and help one another grow in a faith community where we actually are in business together and we can do it by selling homes by building a business by building a future because along the way we're no longer just agents who are on the transaction treadmill we sell homes we're in stock we're in revenue share now we're building for the future. My heart is that one day, agent, you can say, you know what? I've loved my time in real estate and I want to start slowing down. And you're in a model that says, great, here's the way that you start taking all that you've learned and that heart as a Christian to pour into others. Here's how you start pouring into other agents to help encourage them, disciple them, mentor them in their life, wherever they live. help them sell more homes or maybe just be in the ear and listen to them and the challenges that they have going on. What beauty that is in this industry and you can turn around and do that and you can earn an income. You can earn a living doing that without selling homes. You can earn an income. The best part is in my opinion, as we build that out, we build that out by loving and serving other Christian agents. That's an incredible thing. The best part is Proverbs 13 22 says a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. As you build that out, as you serve more agents, as you care for them, right? Because you are going to go from I'm selling as many homes as I possibly can to one day I want to slow down. And now you can be in a model that says you've already been earning stock. You've had that opportunity, you've earned some revenue share. Now you shift to now I just want to love on and care for other Christian agents because this is what I know and this is my industry and I want to love on them. And EXP says, great, you can earn while you do that. Now you get to shift and say, I'm going to create this stream of income by loving on others. And guess what happens when you die? You can will that stream of income to your kids, to your wife, to your husband. Now, all of a sudden, we're by caring for others, collaborating with others, helping other Christian agents succeed. Now we're creating wealth that we can pass on to our children. We're creating inheritance that we can pass on to our grandchildren. We're creating opportunity for the generations behind us because we loved and helped Christian agents succeed. That's an incredible thing. My challenge to you is have you ever built anything that keeps paying you even when you stop working? Because Christian agent, here's what I need you to hear. Again, it doesn't mean that you're not exactly where you're supposed to be, but just because you're comfortable doesn't mean you're in the right place. have an open mind, see perhaps where the Lord wants you to go. And I don't know. The Lord has already decided where he wants you to be. It's my responsibility to share with you what has been a game changer. It has changed the trajectory of my family. It changed the future of my family to not only learn how to sell more homes with the level of collaboration I'm having with these incredible people all over the world, but now to participate in stock, participate in revenue share, because now there's a way out. There's a way. that I built this business for year after year after year that one day I can say to my bride, one day can say to my kids, daddy's gonna start slowing down. Not all of a sudden to give away all my money, daddy's gonna start slowing down because now this other form of income has kicked in. That's what I want for you, to be able to build something that keeps paying you even when you stop working and the cherry on top is to do it surrounded by Christians all over the world. What a blessing that is. Brothers and sisters in Christ, there are models like that now that exist. And they're all over and the more and more are coming. And I'd love to have that conversation with you and hear about your business. I don't know what you're supposed to do. I genuinely don't. It would be my honor to share with you what has been a gift and a blessing to me for you to have an open mind and just see, maybe understand what's out there. I want to serve you. I want to help you. I want to show you that there's a better way. And it might be the way you're supposed to take. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe a year from now, two years from now. It doesn't matter. I just want you to know. I hope that you'll download the free guide, subscribe to the episode, subscribe to the podcast, share this with a friend and check out the two 10 collective for Ephesians two 10. We're gathering Christian agents all over the globe to pour into one another, to be into business together and to honor the Lord with one another. There's a link. In the show notes for you to schedule a call with me, I'd love to have that conversation. It'd be my honor just to talk to you about it and hear where you are in your business and see whether or not we could help you. Because that's my heart is to serve you. And for all Christian agents to know that maybe the Lord is calling you to a different way and you should honor that call. I love you, Christian agents. This was a different kind of episode, but I genuinely appreciate you listening because my heart is really to help us understand. what exists and what's out there. Because my desire at the end of the day is for the Christian agent to be able to have the freedom to walk in whatever purpose the Lord is calling them to and that selling homes would not be the thing that stands in that way. There's a better way. I love you, Christian agents. I will see you next week.