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RE/MAX

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RE/MAX Holdings, Inc.
Company typePublic
NYSE: RMAX (Class A)
IndustryReal estate
FoundedJanuary, 1973; 51 years ago (January, 1973); by Dave and Gail Liniger (formerly Main)
HeadquartersDenver, Colorado, U.S.
Key people
  • Stephen Joyce, CEO & Director (RE/MAX Holdings)
  • Nick Bailey, President & CEO (RE/MAX, LLC)
  • Karri Callahan, CFO
  • Grady Ligon, CIO
RevenueIncrease $177 million (2015)[1]
Number of employees
500 (2018)[2]
Subsidiaries
  • RE/MAX, LLC
  • Motto Mortgage
  • wemlo
Websiteremax.com

RE/MAX, short for Real Estate Maximums, is an American international real estate company that operates through a franchise system.

As of 2015, RE/MAX had more than 100,000 agents in 6,800 offices.[3] RE/MAX operates in over 100 countries and territories.[4]

History

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Early history: 1970–76

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RE/MAX was founded in January 1973 by Dave Liniger and Gail Main (who later married Liniger and became Gail Liniger) in Denver, Colorado.[5][6][7]

The company was established with a maximum commission concept, meaning that agents would keep nearly all of their commissions and pay their broker a share of the office expenses, rather than paying their broker a share of the commission of each sale, which is common in residential real estate.[8]

In 1975, Dennis Curtin purchased the first RE/MAX franchise outside of Colorado, in Kansas City, Missouri.[9] The company grew to 100 franchises in two years.[10][11] RE/MAX held its first convention in Las Vegas in 1976, which became an annual event.[11]

International expansion: 1977–98

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The RE/MAX hot air balloon at a balloon festival. RE/MAX introduced its hot air balloon logo in 1978 as part of its "Above the Crowd" advertising campaign.

RE/MAX opened its first office outside the United States in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1977, started by Don Fernie as RE/MAX South.[12] By 1981, the company had 30 franchises in Canada,[citation needed] and in 1987, RE/MAX became the top real estate company in Canada.[13]

In 1978, the RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon—a red, white and blue hot air balloon—was introduced,[14][15] taking its maiden flight at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico.[7] A year later in 1979, the balloon became the company's official logo.[7]

In 1994, the company expanded outside North America with the establishment of RE/MAX Europe. Regional operations expanded in Germany, Italy, Spain, and South Africa.[16]

In November 1994, the RE/MAX Satellite Network (RSN; renamed RE/MAX University in the 2000s)—a satellite training system for real estate—was launched in the US, debuting at the National Association of Realtors Convention in Anaheim, California.[7] The RSN offered training, professional designation courses, and company news.[3]

RE/MAX expanded to Australia and New Zealand in 1996.[17]

In 1998, Liniger attempted the first manned balloon flight around the world in a stratospheric gas balloon.[18][19][20][21] The flight was canceled due to design and weather problems.[22]

Online expansion and IPO: 2006–present

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RE/MAX office in Canada

In 2006, RE/MAX began to list all U.S. homes for sale on its website, including homes being sold by competitors.[23][24] By 2009, the company had franchises in 70 countries.[5]

In April 2010, the Obama administration announced the "Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives" (HAFA) program.[25] The day the announcement was made, leaders from the U.S. Treasury Department and Bank of America participated in a live, national broadcast detailing the initiative at RE/MAX Headquarters in Denver.[26] By 2011, the company had more than 6,000 franchises.[27]

In 2013, UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk released a report which alleged that real estate groups, such as RE/MAX, found to promote or sell properties in Israeli settlements may be held liable for complicity in the crime of promoting settlement activity in occupied territory.[28][29] As of November 2015, RE/MAX Israel was still selling properties in 18 different Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.[30]

Business building listed by RE/MAX
RE/MAX For Sale sign

RE/MAX Holdings Inc raised $220 million in its initial public offering (IPO) in 2013.[31] A secondary offering was completed of approximately $185 million in November 2015.[32] REMAX Holdings owns 58.3% and RIHI owns 41.7% of RE/MAX LLC. Total diluted share count (public and private) as of December 31, 2015, was 30.2 million shares.[33][34][35]

The company expanded into China in 2014 by opening an office in Beijing. The company had more than 15,000 agents in Europe.[36] As of 2016, RE/MAX operates in about 100 countries and has more than 115 hot air balloons in operation, the largest corporate hot air balloon fleet in the world.[37][38]

In 2016, they named Re/Max Results [1], a franchisee covering most of Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin as their largest franchisee[39] with more than 1200 agents, and averaging more than 20 transactions per agent.

In 2018, former president of the company Geoff Lewis,[40] and Liniger[41] stepped down from their roles to retire. Responsibilities were handed to CEO Adam Contos. In 2018 it was announced that Liniger had violated company ethics with a multi-million-dollar loan of his own personal money to Contos.[42]

Subsidiaries

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In addition to RE/MAX LLC, RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. owns two other brands.

Motto Mortgage (Motto Franchising, LLC) is the first national mortgage brokerage franchise brand in the United States. Motto was launched by RE/MAX in 2016.[4]

Wemlo (stylized as wemlo) is a fintech company that provides third-party mortgage loan processing services. The company was founded in early 2019 as a startup in Florida by David Rogove and Steven Gelley. RE/MAX Holdings announced its acquisition of wemlo on September 1, 2020.[4]

Philanthropy

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In 1992, RE/MAX became a sponsor of Children's Miracle Network.[43] The company hosts art auctions, organizes golf tournaments, and encourages agent fundraising activities. Collectively, all RE/MAX affiliates have raised $147 million for the Children's Miracle Network hospitals in over 20 years of sponsorship.[44]

In 2002, the company became a sponsor of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race For The Cure events in the United States.[45]

Local offices use hot air balloons for educational programs and non-profit organization fundraisers.[14]

Recognition

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RE/MAX University has been featured in Training Magazine's Top 125 US Organizations recognizing employee development.[46]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Re/Max reports agent growth, solid revenue in 2015". Inman. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  2. ^ "2018 Annual Report" (PDF). Re/MAX. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b Carol Patton (1 June 2005). "RE/MAX: Training With A Competitive Advantage". Via Satellite. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "RE/MAX Holdings Announces the Acquisition of Mortgage Processing Startup wemlo". Motto Mortgage. 2020-09-01. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  5. ^ a b John Rebchook (20 October 2009). "RE/MAX ranks high on franchise list". Denver Real Estate Watch. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  6. ^ Dinah Eng (19 August 2009). "Surviving recession #5: The Re/Max startup story". CNN. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d "RE/MAX History | RE/MAX Newsroom". www.remax.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-31.
  8. ^ Mike Taylor (October 2001). "Remax World Wide". ColoradoBiz.
  9. ^ "KCH&S Real Estate Experts 2015". Issuu. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  10. ^ Larry Parman (30 June 2013). Above the Fray: Leading Yourself, Your Business and Others During Turbulent Times. Morgan James Publishing.
  11. ^ a b Phil Harkins; Keith Hollihan (13 December 2004). Everybody Wins: The Story and Lessons Behind RE/MAX. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780471710240.
  12. ^ Holmes, Gillian K.; Davidson, Evelyn (2001-03-01). Who's Who in Canadian Business 2001. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-920966-60-0.
  13. ^ "Re/Max Western Canada". Calgary Herald. A Century of Success. 28 August 2005.
  14. ^ a b "Old Home Day Icon to Rise Again this Year". Londonderry News. 15 August 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  15. ^ "RE/MAX Celebrates the 35th Anniversary of Its Iconic Hot Air Balloon" (Press release). PR Newswire.
  16. ^ Garry Marr (11 October 2012). "One Canadian real estate pro's journey to cash in on Europe". Financial Post. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Sudden death of RE/MAX Australia founder Don Marion shocks real estate industry". Courier Mail. August 2016.
  18. ^ Tom Hamilton. "Around the World by Balloon". Balloon Life. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  19. ^ "Latest balloon quest to shoot for stratosphere". CNN. 27 December 1998. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  20. ^ Michael Cannell (16 November 1998). "Around the World in a Balloon". Science World.
  21. ^ Blanche Evans (16 August 1998). "What You Didn't Know About Liniger's Space Balloon Mission". Realty Times. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  22. ^ Eng, Cassandra (1997). Elert, Glenn (ed.). "Altitude of the highest manned balloon flight". The Physics Factbook. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
  23. ^ Kristi Arellano (19 August 2005). "Re/Max International to post all U.S. homes for sale on its Web site". The Denver Post.
  24. ^ Blanche Evans (16 August 2005). "RE/MAX to open national IDX website". Realty Times. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  25. ^ Anacker, Katrin B.; Nguyen, Mai Thi; Varady, David P. (2019-07-02). The Routledge Handbook of Housing Policy and Planning. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-28269-3.
  26. ^ Carrie Bay. "Government, Agents, Lenders, Vendors: One United Force When It Comes to HAFA". DSNews. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  27. ^ "About RE/MAX LLC". Entrepreneur Magazine. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  28. ^ Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 (A/68/376, 10 September 2013, Item 69 (c))
  29. ^ "US, European finances tied to Israeli settlements". UPI. October 30, 2013. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  30. ^ Murtaza Hussain: Why is RE/MAX selling properties in illegal Israeli settlements? The Intercept, 11 February 2016
  31. ^ Duprey, Rich (2013-10-02). "RE/MAX Begins Trading on NYSE After IPO". The Motley Fool. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  32. ^ "RE/MAX Co-Founder Files to Sell Shares – 24/7 Wall St". Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  33. ^ "10-K: RE/MAX HOLDINGS, INC". 26 February 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  34. ^ Elizabeth Dexheimer; Leslie Picker (2 October 2013). "Re/Max Gains After $220 Million IPO Priced Above Target". Bloomberg. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  35. ^ Michael J. De La Merced (19 August 2013). "Re/Max Files for I.P.O. As Housing Market Continues Upswing". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  36. ^ "RE/MAX Global Presence Hits Major Milestone". CNN Money.
  37. ^ "RE/MAX China Open for Business" (Press release). PR Newswire.
  38. ^ "RE/MAX Hosts Successful Global Franchise Sales Summit in Thailand". RIS Media. 18 September 2016.
  39. ^ "Largest Re/Max Franchisee". Real Trends.
  40. ^ "President Geoff Lewis To Retire". RealTrends. 12 February 2018.
  41. ^ "Dave Liniger officially steps down at Re/Max, Adam Contos takes over as sole CEO". Inman.
  42. ^ "Re/Max founder David Liniger violated ethics code with $2.38M loan to executive, company finds". The Denver Post. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  43. ^ "Children's Miracle Network". RE/MAX Achievers. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  44. ^ "Creating Real Miracles by Raising Funds for Local Hospitals". Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  45. ^ "RE/MAX Sponsors Komen's "Race for the Cure"". Realty Times. 4 March 2002. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  46. ^ "Training Magazine Ranks 2015 Top 125 Organizations". Training Magazine. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
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