RE/MAX, short for Real Estate Maximums, is an American international real estate company that operates through a franchise system.
 | |
 RE/MAX Headquarters in the Denver Technological Center. | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| NYSE: RMAX (Class A) | |
| Industry | Real estate |
| Founded | January, 1973; by Dave and Gail Liniger (formerly Main) |
| Headquarters | Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
Key people |
|
| Revenue |  $177 million (2015)[1] |
Number of employees | 500 (2018)[2] |
| Subsidiaries |
|
| Website | remax |
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
Early history: 1970–76
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
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
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]
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, 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
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
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
RE/MAX University has been featured in Training Magazine's Top 125 US Organizations recognizing employee development.[46]
See also
References
External links
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