Hey everyone, Glenn Sanford here, founder of eXp Realty, and today I'm really excited to have Dunia Fi. She is the managing director of eXp Dubai, and she's been leading the expansion there for a few years now, doing an amazing job helping us grow there. But Dun, welcome.
Thank you, Glenn. Thank you for having me. I was looking forward to our podcast.
Well, awesome. Now, you've been a bit of a powerhouse in Dubai real estate for the past couple decades. I know you've been connected to a number of important figures in organized real estate in Dubai, but what led you to come over to eXp and what helped you sort of make that shift?
Honestly, Glenn, working with eXp was a pure coincidence. I was in a transitional period in my career where I ended my relationship with a franchise and I was going to go back and open my own because previously I merged my company with them. I met a very good friend of mine and he said, 'How is work?' I'm like, 'Work is not great at the moment, I am shifting.' He said, 'Oh, why don't you talk to eXp? There's this company, it's publicly listed, it's global.' I'm like, 'No, no, no. I don't want no more franchises. I'm not going to do this.' He said, 'No, no, it's not a franchise. It's a branch.' And I'm like, 'Okay.' So I had four calls with the team and I really loved what they had to offer. I was already in the process of starting my own. I got an office, the license was set up, almost everything was ready to just press the button and start. And I had four calls. I remember it was towards the end of May 2022 and I was traveling for a family wedding to Turkey and I had these calls. I remember once I was at the airport, once I was in the lobby of a hotel checking out, and I really got very interested in how eXp Realty's model works and the innovation behind it and the futuristic approach that it has. And I'm like, wait, I can start my own anytime I want. I want to be the one bringing change to our market because the market in Dubai by then was mature. It is, we can call it saturated, but not entirely because there's a lot of room for growth. But I'm like, if anything, I want to be the one bringing change to our industry, so why not? I halted all the plans of starting my own and I decided to go with eXp Realty, and honestly, it's a great decision.
So now, I guess what was life like really before real estate? I mean, I guess you've been in real estate for a couple decades now, but how did that shape you and then how did that ultimately help you in your transition to eXp?
Honestly, before real estate, the career that I had is real estate. So before real estate, I was a student. I was fortunate enough to get into the real estate industry very early in my age. It was 2005 and I just turned 20. You do the math, you would know how old I am. So I just turned 20 literally in September, I started my career, and in one year I became a sales manager. And from there on it hasn't stopped. I was managing director, then CEO, then founder, then COO with a global brand, and now with eXp. So I think every step of my career has been leading me to the next opportunity because every time anyone would think, 'Oh, maybe this is it, this is the end,' when a challenge presents itself and you end up exploring new horizons. So for me, honestly, I am so happy that my career has evolved in a way that it eventually led me to working with eXp Realty and occupying this current role. And of course, the growth and the potential is even greater right now.
So now, how long has eXp Dubai been set up?
So if we look at the first deal we closed and we were able to begin operation, it was literally March 2023. So if we look at it, it's like two years, full two years we've been running.
Okay. Now, was that the big deal that you closed or was that, I think didn't you do like a really big deal?
Yeah, the first deal we did for eXp Realty in Dubai, the first deal we ever closed was a $10.3 million deal that I closed because I was the only onboarded agent at the time.
Okay. And now what's been the largest deal in Dubai so far for a single property price tag?
It is my deal, which I'm challenging all the agents to break. But we have had bulk deals. Just recently, we had someone a couple of weeks ago close a bulk, not a bulk deal, actually four units together that amounts to 75 million dirham. That is double of what I closed, basically that's almost $18 million or something. And then there was somebody else who closed a small building. I think when you visited us in Dubai that one day you were here, someone closed a G+2 small building residential for $10 million. But yet there is someone, we have a couple of listings actually that are around $20 million. And today we visited another listing. One of the agents had a listing for over 200 million dirhams. That would be, I think, more than $60, $70 million. So we're working towards breaking my one property price.
