RE/MAX

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]

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]

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]