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]
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]
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, 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]
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]
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]
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]
RE/MAX University has been featured in Training Magazine's Top 125 US Organizations recognizing employee development.[45]