RE/MAX Holdings, Inc.
TypePublic
NYSE: RMAX (Class A)
IndustryReal estate
FoundedJanuary, 1973 (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

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

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, 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

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 2018, former president of the company Geoff Lewis,[39] and Liniger[40] 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.[41]

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.[42] 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.[43]

In 2002, the company became a sponsor of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race For The Cure events in the United States.[44]

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.[45]

See also

References

  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. 1 2 Carol Patton (1 June 2005). "RE/MAX: Training With A Competitive Advantage". Via Satellite. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "RE/MAX Holdings Announces the Acquisition of Mortgage Processing Startup wemlo". Motto Mortgage. 2020-09-01. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  5. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 4 "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. 1 2 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. 1 2 "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. "President Geoff Lewis To Retire". RealTrends. 12 February 2018.
  40. "Dave Liniger officially steps down at Re/Max, Adam Contos takes over as sole CEO". Inman.
  41. "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.
  42. "Children's Miracle Network". RE/MAX Achievers. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  43. "Creating Real Miracles by Raising Funds for Local Hospitals". Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  44. "RE/MAX Sponsors Komen's "Race for the Cure"". Realty Times. 4 March 2002. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  45. "Training Magazine Ranks 2015 Top 125 Organizations". Training Magazine. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
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