Spokane’s 4 Degrees Real Estate joins eXp Realty

One of Spokane’s most active real estate companies, 4 Degrees Real Estate, has agreed to merge its residential real estate business with eXp Realty, which is based in Bellingham.

The company 4 Degrees was co-founded in 2015 by brothers Joel and Jordan Tampien and joined a year later by partner Steve James. According to the merger news release, 4 Degrees had $306 million in residential real estate sales from 755 units in 2024.

In a later interview, Jordan Tampien said the company did about $500 million in sales last year, once you factor in the commercial real estate transactions.

“We just had too many things going, project-wise,” Jordan Tampien said. “4 Degrees isn’t going anywhere. This was a way to ramp up one portion of our business.”

Jordan Tampien, who holds a law degree from Gonzaga University, has developed numerous real estate projects in and around Spokane including the $33 million effort to renovate Spokane’s historic Peyton Building in downtown.

Joel Tampein is a U.S. Army veteran and Steve James is a former minor league sports executive turned real estate agent. James has worked to train and mentor the 4 Degrees agents, according to a news release.

The Tampien brothers, along with Matt and Ryan Goodwin, co-founded Brick West Brewery.

“We weren’t looking to make a change just for the sake of it,” Joel, Jordan and Steve said in a joint statement. “But after researching eXp Realty, it became clear that this partnership would give our agents access to cutting-edge technology, unparalleled collaboration, and long-term financial benefits that an independent brokerage simply couldn’t replicate. We are confident that this move will help our agents scale their businesses while maintaining the values that built 4 Degrees in the first place.”

Jordan Tampien, in the interview, said 4 Degrees gets approached about once a month by larger firms seeking a merger. But this one made sense, he said.

At the time of the merger, 4 Degrees had about 90 agents. Some 35 have already transitioned to eXp Realty and Jordan Tampien expects about 60 to make the move before it’s done.

“We’ll have some attrition,” he said. “We just kind of wanted to scale up what we offer our agents. (eXP Realty) brings the entire platform, technology, websites, better masterminds and better stock and investment opportunities.

“This gave every one of our agents a better platform to build their business,” he continued. “This seemed like the natural next step.”

The 4 Degrees firm will retain its name, but the agents will show affiliations with eXp Realty, which touts itself as the largest-independent real estate company in the world with almost 83,000 agents in the U.S. and abroad.

“We are thrilled to welcome Joel, Jordan, Steve, and the entire 4 Degrees Real Estate team to eXp Realty,” company CEO Leo Pareja said in the release. “They have built a remarkable brokerage based on integrity, innovation, and excellence.”

Pareja said he looks forward to providing the tools that former 4 Degrees agents need for further success.

“Their decision to join us speaks volumes about the value we provide, and we can’t wait to see what they accomplish by leveraging the eXp platform,” he said.

Jordan Tampien said no cash exchanged hands as part of the merger, but he did say “incentives and stock options were part of it.”

He said customers should know that the merger involves only residential real estate and that 4 Degrees will continue to manage commercial real estate going forward.

“It’s not a sale. We were just biting off more things than we had time for,” Tampien said. “This gives me more time to focus on what I like.”