Following the big news of REMAX being acquired by The Real Brokerage, the company’s CEOs were quick to express confidence that the two companies had plenty of synergy and that the stunning joining of forces was the right move at the right time.
In an interview with RISMedia, as well as speaking to investors shortly after the announcement, Real CEO Tamir Poleg (who will lead the combined company, to be named Real REMAX Group) and REMAX CEO Erik Carlson said the deal would not impact agents, while discussing the culture and future of the new company, including how it will approach hot-button issues like private listings.
“REMAX is the most iconic brand in the real estate space,” says Poleg. “They have amazing agents that are focused on productivity. They’ve been around for a very long time. They have the scale, they have the global reach. We’re a younger company with great technology, agents and culture as well. When we looked at the two companies, we saw that they are very much complementary. REMAX brings the brand and the huge network, and Real brings the growth and technology. Together we can build an amazing business.”
How will the marriage work, practically speaking? Asked by an investor this morning, Poleg clarified that Real’s tech will not be mandatory for REMAX franchises, but that a dedicated team will begin offering it in the near future.
More pointedly, Poleg addressed concerns about Real potentially poaching agents from REMAX’s franchise network, claiming that “(Real has) been taking market share from pretty much all of the players in the industry in recent years.”
“So there will be measures that we will put in place to make sure that we protect their businesses and Real does not take agents from REMAX,” he said.
Speaking to RISMedia, Carlson was asked if the merger was a no-brainer for his company.
“Look, it’s combining an iconic brand with a tremendous consumer awareness, as Tamir pointed out, with the absolute best tech in the real estate space,” he says. When you look at the timing, our strategies, although a bit different, are somewhat aligned. And I think the most important thing about when you look at Real and REMAX, all our agents on the ground have a passion for real estate.”
Amid business practice changes and major mergers around the industry, this latest deal is sure to spark significant commentary, with industry luminaries and commentators always trying to parse out in real time what the impact will be.
RISMedia Founder and CEO John Featherston described the deal as a “bold move” that would allow the new company to “rapidly achieve positive impacts and help advance the goals and objectives of the real estate professionals they serve.” He also offered “sincere thanks to Dave and Gail Liniger and Erik Carlson for their incredible accomplishments at REMAX.”
“For more than 53 years, REMAX has built an incredible organization attracting tens of thousands of productive agents and fostering culture and community under the leadership of Dave and Gail Liniger, two close friends of mine,” Featherston said. “Our industry is constantly changing, and this change, driven by Tamir Poleg, who has already proven to be a visionary, solidifies his position as part of the new generation of real estate leaders who are collectively shaping our industry’s future.”
Cultural impact
Speaking to RISMedia, Poleg says that he’s not only always admired REMAX, but has had a good relationship with Carlson, making the consolidation easier to maneuver.
“I’ve known REMAX for many, many years,” he said. “Well before I got into the real estate space, because I believe every person on earth knows the name REMAX. For me, it was always a desirable name and brand. I’ve known Erik for the past two and a half years, and we’ve had a lot of conversations. I think very quickly we understood that there’s a good cultural face between us personally and between the two companies. We identified what’s working well, what’s not working well and what we think the future of the industry looks like. So we understood that there could be a good story about joining forces.”
Again, to investors, Poleg offered a slightly different angle from Real’s perspective, while still emphasizing his long admiration for the brand.
Speaking to the emotional weight of bringing together two very different real estate philosophies, Poleg acknowledged REMAX’s legacy and the respect he holds for how the franchise was built. The subtext was clear: this isn’t about dismantling an iconic brand, but elevating it with technology.
“We could not build organically,” Poleg emphasized when discussing why Real needed REMAX’s global footprint and franchise network. “And we cannot build it organically in the near term.”
RISMedia asked Poleg whether agents and brokers will be able to continue using REMAX’s branding and model, after he previously told investors that “we are not asking agents to change what works for them.”
“One hundred percent,” he replied. “This is a huge asset. REMAX will remain REMAX. They will operate in the same way. Nothing changes for their agents and their franchisees. The economics stay the same. The networks continue and will operate in the same way. Real operates the same way. Once we close the transaction, we will be offering Real technology to REMAX franchisees. Obviously we will try to combine the network for purposes of sharing listings and knowledge and education so that everybody can learn from everybody.”
Brave new world
With pre-marketing the new buzzword and strategy within the residential real estate realm, Poleg recognized that it is something that will be addressed. Real, notably, recently conducted a survey of agents that found most do not see much demand or value from private-listing or off-marketing strategies.
“I think that strategically with the potential changes that are happening in the industry, scale is important and will become increasingly important,” he said. “If we’re specifically talking about the ‘coming soon’ strategy, obviously REMAX opted into the preview program with Zillow. We decided not to partner with any of the initiatives that were going on so far, but I think that by joining forces and having 180,000 agents across the world, we are a force to be reckoned with.
“We will be able to lead. We will be able to react very quickly to any changes in the marketplace due to our capabilities. Size will matter, and everybody will want us around the table just because of the size. I think that we now solidify the fact that we are a player that everybody will want to partner with. So we will weigh our options and do the right thing. The right thing is going to our agent community and asking them, ‘What do you need? What do you believe is the right move?’”
Carlson was asked whether Compass’s many acquisitions and rapid expansion were part of the thinking for this deal. Compass’s strategy for integrating the Anywhere brands and brokerages has been closely watched, as executives at Compass have similarly said that the company will “preserve” brands and allow them to operate independently.
“Look, I think obviously Compass has been working on a consolidation strategy for quite some time,” he says. “I think the idea is that these two companies coming together brings two great cultures and two great agent bases. Our strategy is to accelerate and have a one plus one equals 10. I think that scale will matter in the future.”
Poleg, speaking to investors, noted that Real will also remain a separate entity as a brokerage.
“We will operate two distinct brands with the REMAX brand remaining a permanent part of the combined company and continuing as a leading global franchise network,” Poleg explained.
The future
Speaking to RISMedia, Carlson claims that the timing was right for the merger, from a more fundamental standpoint, saying that “it has to be the right type of scale” to justify the kind of deal his company struck, amid larger consolidation around the industry.
When you look at the Real agent base and the REMAX agent base, they are in the business of real estate. They’re in the business of helping consumers find the dream home. They’re in the business of helping clients with a highly emotional and largest financial transaction and providing the absolute best experience they can. When you bring two cultures like that together, there’s a high degree of success, and the timing is exactly perfect right now to bring these two companies together and accelerate our strategies.”
Carlson explains that while there was obviously no heads-up to anyone that a potential deal was in the works, after the fact, everyone at both companies was informed, with meetings, emails and events scheduled.
“Folks today have received an email from me with a video from myself and a video from Dave Liniger,” he says. “We’ll be conducting a town hall with a lot of our broker/owners, with myself and some of our leadership team, and we’ve got teams reaching out to brokers and agents right now to talk about all the excitement.”
As REMAX has struggled in recent years to maintain its domestic agent count (in the United States and Canada), Poleg and Carlson faced questions from investors on franchise renewal and retention at the new company. Carlson said that the company has been “impressed” with renewal rates in “recent years.”
RISMedia asked Poleg about the potential for more mergers or acquisitions, based on the deal.
“I think that there will be great organic growth for the combined company, obviously,” he says. “So we are focused on joining forces, getting this deal to the finish line and just executing on the strategy of the combined company. If there will be an opportunity in the future, we will explore it. But for now, I think this move is the right move and it will create a lot of organic growth.”
