There is a “flight to quality” going on in the real estate business for both consumers and Realtors, and today, I want to make a comprehensive case for why Re/max Southeast in Denver is the highest quality office for a career in real estate.
I just attended “RE/MAX Destination Day” recently at RE/MAX International Headquarters in Denver; an orientation of sorts for brokers who have just purchased a RE/MAX franchise, those considering the purchase of a franchise, or brokers considering a move to RE/MAX from a competitor. Like the rest of the world I pretty much viewed RE/MAX as the biggest name in real estate; I saw a lot of their commercials on television, but my knowledge pretty much stopped there. Well, I have just seen an inside view of RE/MAX that I felt compelled to share with you.
I heard from the Chairman and co-founder of RE/MAX, Dave Liniger, and all of his lieutenants about the past and the future of the company as well as all of the benefits and features enjoyed by the membership. I even had the privilege of meeting the other co-founder of Re/max, Gail Liniger, a world class executive in her own right. Let me just say candidly; it is absolutely astonishing at the length this company goes to give their sales associates the advantage in the market place, and far more than any other company at present, could hope to offer.
Let me start with the advantage realized on day one of an associate joining the company. The Re/max advertising campaign is massive in scale and colossal in scope. Consider in 2007, approximately 7,000 Re/max television ads aired in the US, generating 7.8 billion adult impressions. In the first half of 2008, over 3,600 TV commercials had aired, creating some 3.87 billion impressions, and that’s just TV; more than a two to one margin over the next competitor. But what does that really mean to the Re/max associate? When the clients and customers of a Re/max associate are sitting with friends watching the game, driving in the car listening to the radio, surfing the Internet, reading magazines, checking the mail, driving neighborhoods, reading a billboard they’re passing by in the car, and they see or hear that real estate advertisement; the Re/max associate can take satisfaction the they’re affiliated with the company that is most often reaching their clients and thereby reinforcing the Re/max associates value. That phenomenon begins the moment a Re/max associate announces the affiliation to their sphere of customers. There have been reports of customers “sighing with relief” when they learn of an associate moving from another real estate company to Re/max, because the customer perceives a value to that Re/max sign in their yard, and they understand it increases their chances of a sale, because selling a house is about getting as much exposure as possible.
Re/max has the most robust and comprehensive web strategy of all the national brands. Through a national network of IDX web sites, consumers visiting remax.com can view the vast majority of U.S. listings, whether listed by Re/max associates or outside competitors. A feat no other national company has accomplished to my knowledge. As you can imagine, billions and billions of advertising impressions creates some interest from the public. Lead Street was created to channel those leads straight back to the Re/max membership. Since the launch of Lead Street in 2006, it has delivered more than 5 million leads, an average of 175,000 each month, to Re/max associates; all with no referral fee. I was delighted when I received my first lead from Lead Street within about one week of joining, so I’ve seen it in action. In addition, you can advertise your open houses to drive visitor ship, or manage prospects with professionally designed drip marketing campaigns, and then track it all through the numerous reports created by the system, such as reporting to the seller the amount of traffic their listing has received.
Free Marketing Design Center. I used to spend a lot of time creating marketing pieces on publisher or some other design program; I have one word for you; fuhghetabaudit, pardon my slang. The marketing materials provided and produced by the professional design team at Re/max are incredibly well done, and endless! There are hundreds upon hundreds of designs for all kinds of marketing occasions, more than you could ever use. And do you think the biggest name in real estate can afford to hire the really expensive designers to produce the high quality, agency caliber marketing materials? You know it; I toured the production facilities; an entire floor of the executive tower at Re/max International is dedicated to advertising and media creation, production and broadcast, complete with TV studio set and control room; home to the Re/max Satellite Network, or RSN.
Re/max covets the real estate industry’s premier training program. Over 17,000 Re/max associates have received advanced designations, such as GRI and CRS, right from the comfort of their remote location via Re/max University. Broadcast straight to their homes or offices through the Re/max Satellite Network, or on demand through the Re/max Mainstreet web site, Re/max associates can take advantage of the insight from industry experts and the collaborative knowledge of more than 100,000 agents around the world.
Consistent marketing made easy. Re/max provides every associate with a marketing kit that enables the associate to advertise their radio, tv, Internet, and print advertising consistent with the national advertising campaigns. This is important because it creates consistent branding in order to increase advertising return to the associate. For example, if a Re/max associate is using a jingle on a given web site advertisement that is consistent with the national television jingle, it has a greater likelihood of being recognized by the consumer, thereby augmenting the associates campaign with even greater brand awareness. Here’s another example; Podcasting, or web commercials are becoming more and more useful in promoting properties, so I’ve been wanting to produce a video, pod cast, or commercial for my listings. But, if you haven’t done this kind of thing before, it becomes a scary proposition; where do I get the background music and avoid copyright infringement, what software program do I use, where will I find the time to learn this, and a million other questions. Well, I was delighted to see Re/max provides everything I need to produce a professional video; complete with background music, marketing theme, software, layout, everything! All I have to do is upload the photos and text copy…and poof; it produces the finished product ready to be attached to my listing for some lucky shopper to download and view.
The Re/max technology partners are the best of the best. When these companies are developing exciting new products for Realtors, Re/max is always in the forefront of their minds and that allows the membership to take advantage of all the best opportunities first.
Let’s say you have a goal of some day breaking into the foreign real estate market; that becomes easier when you’re affiliated with a company that’s already recognized in 72 countries around the world. Perhaps you have a sphere of influence in one of those countries; there is no better company in the world to help you capitalize on those relationships to create a stream of income. At the annual Re/max Global Referral Exchange, there is opportunity to meet face to face with affiliates who can help your clients buy and sell real estate in Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Southern Africa, Canada and many more destinations.
The luxury home division of Re/max is called “The RE/MAX Collection” and is comprised of listings equaling about 3 times the median sales price in the area. Through their massive buying power, Re/max has negotiated reduced advertising rates with the DuPont REGISTRY, The Wall Street Journal, and several other publications having readership with high income demographics. The differentiated luxury marketing materials designed specially for The Re/max Collection are gorgeous and have a classy high end look to them. Signs, cards, brochures, mailers, and more are ready on a moments notice in the free marketing design center; it’s like having your own advertising agency.
This was another giant gem I picked up; residential brokers can list their commercial properties for free through the Re/max Commercial Information Exchange, it has huge visitor ship and is second only to Loopnet, which is currently the largest commercial property database. The commercial side of Re/max did over 12 billion in business in 2008 and is no small operation. Through the Commercial Information Exchange, the residential broker that doesn’t necessarily specialize in commercial property can list their commercial properties without having to join a commercial association of Realtors and still benefit from the enormous amount of traffic visiting remaxcommercial.com.
Let’s talk political capital. When the CEO’s of large commercial banks are trying to dispose of their foreclosed and distressed properties, when the Treasury Department of the United States needs someone to bounce ideas off of in their efforts to ignite a housing recovery, when the National Association of Realtors is trying to craft a housing recovery initiative to present to the congress, who do they call? According to Dave Liniger, he is on the short list of executives they include in those high level conversations and meetings, and when your affiliated with Re/max, that ensures your place at the table too.
What about Re/max Southeast?
All of the above brings me to my original point; why Re/max Southeast in Denver is the highest quality choice of all the Re/max offices in the system. Pioneers, innovation, ahead of the curve, trend setters, and visionary are all terms and phrases that characterize the history and leadership of Re/max Southeast since it’s inception in 1973; one of the original four Re/max offices ever to exist, and the longest running original franchise in Re/max history. I remember being fascinated upon my first visit to Re/max Southeast at all the incredible history adorning the walls, and I thought to myself; this is a very strong brokerage, the kind of place you can really be proud to associate with. But history alone does not tell the whole story; because a constant integration toward the future is what has always been required to survive over the long term and that is exactly what the leadership at Re/max Southeast understand. How to take advantage of the market no matter what the conditions, identify important trends on the horizon and position their brokerage associates to take advantage of them and do everything possible to be the first in the market to deploy those tactics; all hallmarks of the leadership at Re/max Southeast.
The exclusive new Enterprise Program is a quintessential example of the kind of trend setting innovation I’m talking about. While too many in the real estate community are being forced to obtain a second job, put their spouses back to work, and cut their commissions to the quick, The Enterprise Program at Re/max Southeast enables smart Realtors to add a tremendous value added service to their menu of services to capitalize on the current market conditions. In other words, once again, Re/max Southeast has advanced on the battle field instead of retreat, and that’s the kind of company that’s going to get you through this; the kind of company that’s going to position you for longevity. For a low flat monthly fee, Re/max Southeast Realtors can participate in both real estate and lending. Currently, there is enormous opportunity to grow your business through loan modifications and refinances. Other than REO’s, short sales and distressed properties, mods and refi’s are practically the only thing going on. Gregg, one of our most apt Re/max Southeast Realtors with the program, earned an extra $160,000 during the last refi craze. This is no joke.
Now, before you shun this concept, consider that there is tremendous consumer demand for it; even your customers desire it, and for good reason; it saves a lot of time, money, and frustration. In February 2008 NAR and Harris Interactive conducted a poll on this subject; among several other findings, the bottom line was, when consumers were asked: “Would you consider using one stop shopping,” over 90% of respondents said yes, while only 7% were not sure or said no, and 95% thought it would make things easier to some degree. Are you going to be one of the last Realtors or Mortgage Brokers to realize this is an idea whose time has come? Even the Colorado legislature enacted Dual Status into law, which clearly allows joint real estate and mortgage practice, so forget the argument about a conflict of interest; it’s not. My friends, the writing is on the wall, recognize and act on this trend now. Don’t take my word for it though; ask you clients if you don’t believe me. Many experienced Realtors that we train for financing are quite surprised at the warm reception they receive from their customers and clients when given this one stop option. Most of your clients and customers are relieved at the idea of you assisting them with their loan.
The Enterprise Program is just the latest of such programs to come along. Re/max Southeast has an assortment of other relevant tools for today’s market as well. They’ve developed an advanced web strategy with in-house, full-time dedicated professionals who understand real estate and are happy to assist with web strategy. The lease-purchase market is also generating a lot of interest with such tight lending standards. Re/max Southeast has developed a wholly different kind of lease-purchase program that goes to great lengths to protect both parties. They hold “Power Hour” meetings every week in which different specialists in the office present what they’re doing successfully to help other associates. Believe me, these people are the cream of the crop, and you get to learn from them, it’s fantastic. They have a rotating “Floor Time” opportunity in which Realtors take consumer calls on the hundreds and hundreds of listing signs in all those yards out there. I know a broker who made over $80,000 in one year utilizing this benefit alone. In addition to all this, there is a real sense of community at Re/max Southeast and a caring and professional cast in both the real estate and mortgage management teams.
I could seriously ramble on even more about this company, but this piece is already long and I just stopped to take a breath. I encourage you to investigate all the tremendous advantages of Re/max Southeast and you will understand why it is the highest quality choice of office for a career in real estate. Please visit http://www.outstandingoffice.com to learn more about Re/max Southeast. I have worked at three major real estate companies, and have owned my own independent company over my real estate career, and nothing holds a candle to RE/MAX SOUTHEAST.