The Dave Ramsey Real Estate Agent Referral service matches homebuyers and sellers with local real estate agents endorsed by financial guru Dave Ramsey. Finding an ELP realtor program agent could save thousands in commission fees; however, other options exist such as UpNest Real Estate or Clever Real Estate that also offer similar services that provide top-rated agents while offering savings on commission fees.

The ELP (Endorsed Local Providers) realtor program provided an easy way for Dave Ramsey’s followers to connect with real estate agents, tax professionals, insurance providers and more who shared his financial philosophy. Unfortunately, though, joining was expensive for real estate agents as it charged up-front and monthly fees in addition to standard referral fees; moreover, leads were rarely vetted efficiently: usually customers filled out an online form answering questions about their real estate needs before being instantly matched with several real estate agents without human evaluation or an evaluation as there was no human representative evaluating how serious or far along they were in their journey towards buying or selling.

Some individuals who used the ELP program reported feeling disappointed that their Realtor didn’t share the same financial beliefs as Dave Ramsey, while others complained they weren’t offered enough choice when choosing their realtor and that their representative didn’t perform or communicate well with them. Others even reported feeling let down by how poorly it met their needs or expectations, thus not justifying its high fees.

Ramsey Solutions ultimately decided to discontinue the program due to disagreements between Ramsey and eXp Realty. The conflict began when eXp acquired Ramsey Solutions – which ran ELP realtor program – before forcing ELP realtors to sign with another brokerage or face losing their business. Ramsey later took to criticizing eXp Realty on radio shows and television shows and even created videos comparing them to snake pits.

There are various theories as to why Ramsey took such an aggressive stance against eXp Realty specifically. One possibility could be Grant Cardone, another notable real estate agent who recently affiliated himself with eXp Realty and who boasts 20 million listeners for his personal finance show and podcast. Furthermore, it could have been that there had been preexisting hostilities between Ramsey Solutions and eXp Realty which became public over time.

Although the ELP realtor program may have been beneficial to some agents, for many it was not. The high fees can eat into your finances while its lack of lead vetting means conversion rates may be lower than with agents who properly vet leads.