By Melanie Robitaille, Sr. Staff Writer & Graphic Designer
When is that defining moment in a real estate career where the mindset shifts from sales to ownership? For Franchisee, Jill Santandrea of EXIT Realty Defined in Franklinville, NJ, it was accumulating experience until realizing she was already thinking like an owner.
“It was those life lessons along the way, and it was also having the opportunity to mentor so many different agents; hearing and seeing what they were going through and realizing that I could come up with a resolution for them,” she recalled. “…Those were the little moments along the way where I was seeing that maybe I can do this.”
Jill came to real estate from a bank REO division with a young son at home. She gave herself one year to make it work, learning quickly that it’s not a get rich quick industry, where you must grind and be all in. She showed up daily, shadowed, helped with paperwork, and put herself in situations to learn. By year three she’d tripled her production, built the first team in her office at the time, earned her broker’s license, and stepped into management.
The Next Natural Step
EXIT aligned with her values, residual income made sense, but leading was significant she recalled saying, “I knew the moment I opened my office people were counting on me to be there for their legacy and their dream to continue. That’s probably the hardest thing that I had to decide on; to make sure that when I was here, I was making a commitment to everybody who was going to join me, and I didn’t know what that was going to look like.”
Two years in, and 32 agents later, Jill created a culture where she doesn’t compete with agents, has strong attendance, and a busy office. She’s built systems that keep people connected, accountable, and growing by converting from Trello to EXIT Workflows.
“We created our own four-week [onboarding] process, it’s very EXIT Realty Defined centered but it all links everything to the resources,” she explained of her systems-first approach, which reflects a shift she sees in the industry.
“There’s been a change in work ethic. There’s been a change in accountability and ownership of what has happened. Everybody has to play a part in something, and everyone has to contribute an amount of effort instead of things just being handed to them. Everybody has so much stuff right at their fingertips and it’s not being used.”
What Ownership Means
Jill routinely audits offerings and outcomes, learning tools herself before delegating tasks. Her take ownership approach: “You’re paying your dues, get your money’s worth.” And according to year-end sponsoring totals her agents do. As a result of real estate transactions generated at EXIT Realty Defined, sponsoring bonuses were generated in the amount of $64,000 for the calendar year of 2025, paid by EXIT Realty Corp. International.
“That’s huge for this little town. Some agents made more in residual income than they did in sales.”
When an agent and mentor recently passed away, it left Jill holding what she calls a “legacy check” thanks to EXIT’s Formula of beneficiary benefits. It was hard, but a good hard she teared up explaining, “When that check came, and I saw that address, I just shut my doors and had a moment. As a franchise owner now, that was that promise [I] talked about in the beginning…I took a moment to be with that piece of paper. It was live and it was in action, and I know it was very well needed for their family.”
She values the Formula and the financial difference it makes as someone who welcomes all new agents with a financial walk-through of the business, using onboarding materials and early closing conversations to build confidence and make splits, caps, and earnings easier to understand.
A Home for Agents
For Jill, an office is where agents see possibility because they’re surrounded by others doing the work. Even as local naysayers questioned whether the town needed an office, Jill focused on building a brokerage (literally arm-in-arm with family and friends) to create a place that not only she, but her agents would be proud of.
“When people come to my office, they want to be here. Agents just want to work here, and they could do that in their kitchens,” she said.
She did it in the face of scrutiny, overcoming obstacles, and by sticking to her values and mission saying, “I’m doing it, and I’m not stopping. I’ve learned from it…I’m super proud of all the people who are around me, the amazing things that we’re doing, and the opportunity that we’re making possible for people and their families.”
Instead of losing connection, Jill continues to prove the industry is better when you build together and craft legacy; something that lasts.
