When Robert Palmer, founder and CEO of LPT Holdings and LPT Realty, and Michael Valdes, then the chief growth officer of eXp Realty, first met in Las Vegas at CoStar Group CEO Andy Florance’s Super Bowl suite networking party last February, they hoped to do what most do at such events—enjoy the action on the field below while making significant new contacts.
Mission accomplished, for on July 22, Valdes was announced as the CEO of the newly formed division, LPT International Realty.
“This is a strategic step in our company’s growth trajectory, and Michael is uniquely qualified to lead this endeavor, having previously opened 86 countries across seven brands in his career,” said Palmer.
Valdes brings a wealth of experience to LPT International Realty. At eXp, he led the opening of 22 countries in just over two years and oversaw a net addition of 60,000 agents to the firm in less than four years. Prior to that, he was senior vice president at Anywhere (formerly Realogy), where he guided the global expansion of Sotheby’s, Coldwell Banker, Century 21, ERA, Better Homes & Gardens and Corcoran for 15 years. Under his leadership, his team managed operations in 113 countries, with just over 300,000 agents.
“I am thrilled to step into this role,” said Valdes in a release. “LPT has been the fastest-growing cloud-based brokerage in history and is uniquely poised to expand this model globally. Robert is a true visionary, and I am honored and humbled to join this impressive company. I look forward to contributing to the unparalleled growth we are about to embark on.”
Speaking alongside Palmer in a phone conversation with RISMedia, Valdes explains how his history will be of value.
“I did the global expansion for all six Realogy brands,” he says. “When I joined them, they were 22,000 agents, which grew to just shy of 90,000 in four years. When I met Robert and saw the LPT model, and knowing where it could translate to and grow to internationally, I got super excited.”
LPT is a cloud-based brokerage that features its HybridShare model. The approach provides agents with flexible compensation plans, empowering them to choose the option that best suits their individual needs. In two years, LPT has expanded to over 10,000 agents and achieved $1.4 billion in monthly sales volume across 22 states. The company plans to double its agent count and expand into Canada, the Caribbean and Europe.
Valdes, fluent in Spanish, says being bilingual will help him greatly as he sets out to build LPT outside the U.S.
“I became the first Latino C-suiter of a publicly traded real estate company,” he says. “In my role as chief growth officer of eXp, I was very, very active and involved in the Latino community. I’m able to really share through a lot of leadership in that community, and I think that resonated with LPT as they have a great focus in that growing market as well. The company has everything translated into Spanish, and Latinos are one of the fastest-growing groups in our industry.”
Valdes was asked if his leaving eXp had anything to do with the legal issues the company has and continues to face. He has never been directly connected to any of the allegations—that the company was complicit and covered up for agents accused of sexual assault at company events—though he was named as someone in a leadership position during the relevant time periods.
“Look, I saw greater opportunities for me to be able to share what I’ve done in the past, bringing my experience to a company that has such incredible growth potential, and that truly was the overarching decision to join Robert and LPT,” he says.
“From a brand perspective, of course that’s something that they (eXp) need to maneuver. For me, it was just clearly a much better opportunity to be able to contribute to what’s been built here already. LPT is the fastest-growing brokerage in the cloud space market ever.”
Palmer said he expects Valdes to have a major impact on LPT’s continued growth.
“We just came off the two-year run of reaching the 10,000-agent mark,” he says. “The goal is to double our agent count again. The company is not in California yet. We’ve been able to achieve this growth in only 23 states. In Q4 of this year, we’re going to be aggressively opening additional states and begin opening countries under Michael’s leadership.
“With Canada, then looking, I think to the Caribbean and then from there moving into Europe. With Michael’s experience, he knows the right countries for us to lead that international expansion. We have our roots, but we see international growth as being a very important part of the next leg of our journey, and there’s no one better suited than Michael to help us navigate and lead that.”
As a brokerage leader, Palmer also provided thoughts on the NAR lawsuit fallout and the coming changes in August, and what it means for his company.
“I’m very bullish,” he says. “I believe that agents are in a great position to succeed if they embrace the changes, if they embrace communication. As an entrepreneur, the idea of negotiating my own commission with my client versus relying on a listing agent to negotiate the commission I get is a win for the industry.
“We came out with a comprehensive outline of the changes the Monday after the settlement broke for our agents. We’ve had a lot of calls with them about embracing the change and what we think the world looks like after August 17. And with the tools we’re providing, we’re really excited for our agents’ potential to control their own destinies.”
