RE/MAX Network Keeps Growing, Adds More Than 500 Franchises Through First Nine Months Of 2008

RE/MAX International Inc., one of the leading real estate brands in the world, recently announced that it has added more than 500 new franchises to its global network in the first three quarters of 2008. RE/MAX is represented in 69 countries with more than 105,000 sales associates and is also aggressively working on expansions into countries such as Brazil, India, Uruguay, and Egypt.

Notwithstanding the current economic conditions, RE/MAX continues to sell franchises and expand in the United States and Canada, with more than 200 new franchises sold during the first nine months of this year. Many of the sales were made to existing real estate offices that chose to join the RE/MAX network.

“New franchisees are joining RE/MAX because of our worldwide brand recognition, cost effective training, outstanding Web presence and excellent lead generation for agents, free of charge,” said Peter Gilmour, senior vice president for Franchise Sales & Brokerage Operations at RE/MAX International. “What sets us apart from our competition is our unique value proposition designed to help sales associates and broker/owners succeed in the current market."

In the most recent Entrepreneur Franchise 500 survey, RE/MAX is among the Top 10 franchise organizations in four different categories and has been the highest ranked real estate franchisor for eight of the last 10 years.

Jim Merrion, regional director of RE/MAX Northern Illinois, reports that the same trends RE/MAX is seeing worldwide are impacting the industry in the Chicago real estate area and other parts of Illinois.

“We’re seeing an increase in inquiries from many independent Chicago real estate offices about joining our local network,” Merrion said. “We’re especially interested in adding offices in the City of Chicago, and we think there are ample opportunities to do that with quality companies in the months ahead.”