RE/MAX

Last updated
RE/MAX Holdings, Inc.
Company type Public
NYSE:  RMAX (Class A)
Industry Real estate
FoundedJanuary, 1973;53 years ago (January, 1973)
FoundersDave Liniger
Gail Liniger (formerly Main)
Headquarters Denver, Colorado, USA
Key people
  • Karri Callahan, CFO
  • Grady Ligon, CIO
RevenueDecrease2.svg $307 million (2024) [1]
Subsidiaries
  • RE/MAX, LLC
  • Motto Mortgage
  • wemlo
Website remax.com
RE/MAX office in Kirstenhof, Cape Town, South Africa REMAX Office in Kirstenhof, Cape Town.jpg
RE/MAX office in Kirstenhof, Cape Town, South Africa
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. Remax balloon quebec 2005.jpeg
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 office in Canada REMAXOffice3.jpg
RE/MAX office in Canada
Business building listed by RE/MAX REMAXBusinessBuildingSoldSign.jpg
Business building listed by RE/MAX
RE/MAX For Sale sign REMAXForSaleSignUnionville3.jpg
RE/MAX For Sale sign

RE/MAX (officially RE/MAX Holdings, Inc., and short for Real Estate Maximums) is an international real estate franchise operating in over 100 countries and territories [2] that, in 2015, had over 100,000 agents in 6,800 offices. [3]

Contents

History

Early history: 1970–76

RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by Dave Liniger and Gail Main in Denver, Colorado. [4] [5] [6]

It 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. [7]

In 1975, Dennis Curtin purchased the first RE/MAX franchise outside of Colorado, in Kansas City, Missouri. [8] Growing to 100 franchises in two years, [9] [10] it has held an annual convention since its first one was held in Las Vegas in 1976. [10]

International expansion: 1977–98

It opened its first office outside the U.S. in 1977, when Don Fernie started RE/MAX South in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. [11] Having 30 Canadian franchises by 1981,[ citation needed ] RE/MAX became the top real estate company in that country six years later. [12]

Having made its inaugural flight at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico, [6] the RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon—a red, white and blue hot air balloon—was introduced in 1978, [13] [14] becoming its official logo the following year. Expanding beyond North America with the formation of RE/MAX Europe in 1994, it also began operating in Germany, Italy, Spain, and South Africa. [15]

In November 1994, RE/MAX Satellite Network was launched in the US as a sales training system for real estate. Later renamed RE/MAX University, it debuted at the NAR Convention in Anaheim, California, [6] and offered training, professional designation courses, and company news. [3]

In 1998, two years after his company expanded into Australia and New Zealand, [16] Liniger attempted the first manned balloon flight around the world in a stratospheric gas balloon. [17] [18] [19] [20] The flight was canceled due to design and weather problems. [21]

Online expansion and IPO: 2006–present

In 2006, three years before it was reported that its franchises were present in 70 countries, [4] RE/MAX began to list all U.S. homes for sale on its website, including homes being sold by competitors. [22] [23] By 2011, the company already had more than 6,000 franchises. [24]

In April 2010, the Obama administration announced the "Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives" (HAFA) program. [25] Leaders from the U.S. Treasury Department and the Bank of America detailed the initiative while participating in a live national broadcast held at RE/MAX headquarters. [26]

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. [27] [28] In 2015, RE/MAX Israel was still selling properties in 18 different Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. [29]

With over 15,000 agents in Europe, the company expanded into China by opening an office in Beijing. [30]

In November 2015, two years after its first IPO raised $220 million, [31] RE/MAX Holdings Inc completed its second offering of approximately $185 million, [32] holding a 58.3% stake and RIHI owns 41.7% of RE/MAX LLC. Total diluted share count (public and private) as of December 31 was 30.2 million shares. [33] [34] [35]

Operating in about 100 countries, RE/MAX maintained the largest corporate fleet of hot air balloons in the world (115) in 2016. [36] [37] Furthermore, covering Minnesota and Wisconsin, RE/MAX Results was declared its largest franchise, with 1,200 agents and an average of 20 transactions per agent. [38]

Two years later, former president Geoff Lewis [39] and Liniger [40] retired after leaving their roles, with responsibilities passing to CEO Adam Contos. That same year, it was reported that he had violated the firm's ethics by lending a multimillion-dollar sum 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. [2]

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. [2]

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. [13]

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 Holdings, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter 2024 Results" (PDF). RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. 20 February 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 "RE/MAX Holdings Announces the Acquisition of Mortgage Processing Startup wemlo". Motto Mortgage. 2020-09-01. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  3. 1 2 Carol Patton (1 June 2005). "RE/MAX: Training With A Competitive Advantage". Via Satellite. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  4. 1 2 John Rebchook (20 October 2009). "RE/MAX ranks high on franchise list". Denver Real Estate Watch. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Dinah Eng (19 August 2009). "Surviving recession #5: The Re/Max startup story". CNN. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "RE/MAX History | RE/MAX Newsroom". www.remax.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-31.
  7. ↑ Mike Taylor (October 2001). "Remax World Wide". ColoradoBiz.
  8. ↑ "KCH&S Real Estate Experts 2015". Issuu. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  9. ↑ Larry Parman (30 June 2013). Above the Fray: Leading Yourself, Your Business and Others During Turbulent Times. Morgan James Publishing.
  10. 1 2 Phil Harkins; Keith Hollihan (13 December 2004). Everybody Wins: The Story and Lessons Behind RE/MAX . John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   9780471710240.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ "Re/Max Western Canada". Calgary Herald. A Century of Success. 28 August 2005.
  13. 1 2 "Old Home Day Icon to Rise Again this Year". Londonderry News. 15 August 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "RE/MAX Celebrates the 35th Anniversary of Its Iconic Hot Air Balloon" (Press release). PR Newswire.
  15. ↑ Garry Marr (11 October 2012). "One Canadian real estate pro's journey to cash in on Europe". Financial Post. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  16. ↑ "Sudden death of RE/MAX Australia founder Don Marion shocks real estate industry". Courier Mail. August 2016.
  17. ↑ Tom Hamilton. "Around the World by Balloon". Balloon Life. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  18. ↑ "Latest balloon quest to shoot for stratosphere". CNN. 27 December 1998. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  19. ↑ Michael Cannell (16 November 1998). "Around the World in a Balloon". Science World.
  20. ↑ Blanche Evans (16 August 1998). "What You Didn't Know About Liniger's Space Balloon Mission". Realty Times. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  21. ↑ Eng, Cassandra (1997). Elert, Glenn (ed.). "Altitude of the highest manned balloon flight". The Physics Factbook. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
  22. ↑ Kristi Arellano (19 August 2005). "Re/Max International to post all U.S. homes for sale on its Web site". The Denver Post.
  23. ↑ Blanche Evans (16 August 2005). "RE/MAX to open national IDX website". Realty Times. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  24. ↑ "About RE/MAX LLC". Entrepreneur Magazine. 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. ↑ 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))
  28. ↑ "US, European finances tied to Israeli settlements". UPI. October 30, 2013. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  29. ↑ Murtaza Hussain: Why is RE/MAX selling properties in illegal Israeli settlements? The Intercept, 11 February 2016
  30. ↑ "RE/MAX Global Presence Hits Major Milestone". CNN Money.
  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 China Open for Business" (Press release). PR Newswire.
  37. ↑ "RE/MAX Hosts Successful Global Franchise Sales Summit in Thailand". RIS Media. 18 September 2016.
  38. ↑ "Largest Re/Max Franchisee". Real Trends.
  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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