8 minute read
TAKING YOUR EXIT
from The Integrity Issue
by EXITAchiever
with Franchisee, Ed Haraway
Retiring from the real estate industry was once a pipe dream until EXIT Realty’s business model showed agents and owners a better option 28 years ago. Nowadays, many professionals find their way into this business at a young age and enjoy EXIT’s supplemental lifestyle income for what it can do in the now. For some, like Franchisee, Ed Haraway, who saw the powerful shift in thinking residuals created all those years ago, it wasn’t just about the life he could have then; he chose EXIT because of the future it made possible for him and his family as he looks to retire now.
Ed was intrigued with the brand before it had even arrived in the state where he was working. He made the fateful decision to be the first to sign a franchise agreement in Maryland instead of signing with another competitor only months before because he was so attracted to the Formula. He would go on to own a total of five offices across the state, with a roster of some 200 agents at the height of his career, but today feels very different for Ed because, 20 years after opening his first office, he’s in motion on his plan to take his final EXIT from the business.
“I was used to working 16-hour days, six days a week. Now I work three days a week a month. I still do sales and listings when the opportunity arises, but I’m not aggressively looking for new business I guess is the best way to say it,” he joked.
Ed started planning his retirement in 2016 and has been slowly making the transition since moving to his income property in 2019. Situated on a golf course in South Carolina, he purchased it and has rented it out for 17 years. Now in his 70’s, knowing he has substantial investments, his wife’s pension, and only mortgages outstanding thanks to his EXIT residuals, he felt it was time.
Those residuals came from the process called Sponsoring, which provides EXIT agents with the opportunity to earn additional, single-level income on top of commissions while working, through retirement, and as a beneficiary benefit right past death. It also creates a natural retention within offices, which helps to build the company and the culture for which EXIT is synonymous.
Nowadays, many professionals find their way into this business at a young age and enjoy EXIT's supplemental lifestyle income for what it can do in the now.
Ed is personally responsible for sponsoring in 106 agents throughout his tenure with EXIT, several of whom are still active in the company. That works out to over $700,000 in total residual income, where he was averaging just over $4,000 a month during his best year. Being a follower of Author, Dave Ramsey’s financial program, these residuals were vital in helping him become almost entirely debt free before semi-retiring. And when I asked him what he used some of this income for he replied, “Oh, a little bit of everything. Our goal in 2016 when we decided we were going to retire, was to pay off every debt we had. We just earmarked residuals to pay off and pay down those balances. Now that we’re semi retired, we don't owe anything except for mortgages. Let me tell you, you don't realize how much you’re paying in car payments and credit cards until you don't have them anymore.”
A 19-year veteran in the business with another brand when he made the switch to EXIT, Ed was looking for something different and had his eye on both EXIT’s as well as another brand's model saying, “I felt [EXIT’s] residual benefits were more straightforward and couldn’t be played with. In contrast, profit sharing could be manipulated by the owner, and it was more complicated to explain to agents how it worked. Residuals were peace of mind really. I knew that if something happened and I wasn’t able to work, I still had money coming in or income coming in.”
With over three decades in the industry, Ed has seen his fair share of cycles and market shifts in this business, not to mention personal hardships. After beating cancer twice, once in 2007, and then again in 2013 when he needed a bone marrow transplant, he says the important things that kept him moving successfully forward were always consistency, prospecting, putting clients’ interests before his own, and above all else, having faith.
I sold homes when interest rates were 15%, when the MLS® went from weekly books to online, when buyer brokerage became a thing in 1993, through the market crash of 2007, and now, with the changes that the National Association of REALTORS’® has introduced. No matter what, there are always changes.
Of all the major milestones he has achieved and is known for in the company, by far the one he’s most proud of is using his ingenuity and skill as a franchise owner to become an instrumental part of helping grow EXIT’s brand across the state and throughout the country by pioneering office incubation.
“We used the concept in Maryland first and then EXIT actually had me go to different regions and talk to them about it,” Ed shared of the unique idea that continues to make launching offices so much easier to this day. “What’s the hardest thing when you start a new office? A, finding a place to open, and B, getting new agents so you don't have an empty office for six months. I would have people that were buying franchises operate out of my office. They would sponsor agents while they were looking for space, and the idea was they would be in my office for anywhere from three-to-seven months. Their agents would come on board with us. Those offices were able to get started right away and be up and running when they opened.”
Sharing and teaching are two things he’s always been a huge proponent of when it comes to real estate, as is helping to build people, a mentality he’s seen that’s not always a popular opinion among some in the business saying, “I would speak at a conference, or I would share ideas a lot of times at EXIT’s Convention. And you know, through the years I've had people ask me, ‘why do you just want to share all your ideas?’ And I explained that it's real simple. You'll have people think, ‘that's a great idea’ but not implement it, but you know, if you can help somebody else be successful, it reflects positively on you. It's funny. Through the years I've had ‘shooting stars,’ the guys that came into the business and were hot for two or three years and then flamed out and it was always the ones who were transaction motivated, not relationship motivated who didn't endure.”
For Ed, it’s always been about the people. He goes by “Special” Ed to those who’ve known him the longest; some who are very near and dear to him for the role they’ve played in his journey and success.
“Joyce Paron, EXIT’s Canadian CEO, has always held a special place in my heart,” he shared, “because she was the first person to open my eyes to EXIT’s possibilities. Also, Tami Bonnell, our Co-Chair, because of her leadership and because she’s always available for questions and help. My partners, Paul McIntye and Vernada Williams of course, and my past assistant, Kristin King, who kept my personal business running when I wasn’t able to while going through cancer.”
He also knows none of what he built would’ve been possible without his wife of 50 years, Mary, who he says supported and loved him all the way through. And while you’d think they’d be spending much more time together as they’re both now semi-retired, Ed says, it’s just given them more time to individually dive into their own interests, volunteering, and the work they do with other organizations.
He also knows none of what he built would’ve been possible without his wife of 50 years, Mary, who he says supported and loved him all the way through. And while you’d think they’d be spending much more time together as they’re both now semi-retired, Ed says, it’s just given them more time to individually dive into their own interests, volunteering, and the work they do with other organizations.
“I've always been a Mason, but that's the thing about being retired, now I have availability to spend more time in that organization. I'm real active in my church and the Shriners. We drive kids to the Shriner hospital and I'm on the team that drives three and a half hours to take kids to the orthopedic hospital. While I'm not doing real estate every day, it seems like I'm busier now than I was when I was working,” he admitted, saying he’s also hitting the golf course a bit more when he can these days too.
The true mark of success is a life well-lived both in and outside of business, and by that right one can say with certainty that Special Ed Haraway is as prosperous as they come. He has left an indelible mark on this brand that he chose all those years ago for a Formula that continues to provide for him, even when the job is done.
Wishing you nothing but the best Ed!
—your EXIT family
