RE/MAX International Launches a truly Global Real Estate Listing Website

global.remax.com Offers Customized Search of More Than 60 Countries

(Denver, CO) – RE/MAX, LLC, the recognized real estate leader, has launched a new website, global.remax.com, the first truly global resource for consumers, with hundreds of thousands of home listings in countries around the world. The site features customized search tools that allow buyers to search for properties in 30 languages, translate currencies and find the latest international real estate news. At launch, the site will contain listings from Brazil, France, Italy, India, Portugal, the United States, Canada, Italy and New Zealand - a total of more than 60 countries and territories around the world.

“We make our customers our priority, and they told us they needed a comprehensive resource for international properties,” said William E. Soteroff, RE/MAX Executive Vice President, U.S. and International Regional Development. “We’re seeing an increasing number of foreign buyers looking for property in the U.S. and American buyers looking overseas. global.remax.com is essentially a one-stop source for residential and commercial real estate, no matter where you live.”

Real estate trends differ from country to country, city to city and even neighborhood to neighborhood. Buyers and sellers who visit global.remax.com can stay on top of the latest real estate news and events through an in-depth and detailed news feed. The site will also feature a rotating spotlight on a specific country or region, offering visitors insight into that market and any new developments.

In countries like India, Brazil and China, as the population grows and incomes rise, families are searching for homes of their own and investment properties.

RE/MAX is also growing, adding offices around the globe. Franchise sales were up nearly 15% in the first half of 2011, a mark that looks to outpace last year’s total franchise sales, which recorded an impressive 30% increase over 2009. In Brazil alone, RE/MAX has seen 133% growth over 2010.

“We’re growing because there’s a need for experienced and professional agents,” said Soteroff. “In some countries, RE/MAX has been the first real estate brand to go in and open for business. It’s exciting to be a part of that.”

RE/MAX has a presence in more than 80 countries, a reach far greater than any competitor. With more than 6,300 offices around the world and a sales force of nearly 90,000 agents, buyers and sellers can take advantage of the experience and knowledge of the most productive professionals in the real estate industry.

For more information about RE/MAX global listings, please visit: www.global.remax.com.

Watch a video about global.remax.com.

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About the RE/MAX Network: RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by Dave and Gail Liniger, real estate industry visionaries who still lead the Denver-based global franchisor today. RE/MAX is recognized as a leading real estate franchise company with the most productive sales force in the industry and a global reach of more than 80 countries. With a passion for the communities in which its agents live and work, RE/MAX is proud to have raised more than $100 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and other charities. Nobody in the world sells more real estate than RE/MAX.

RE/MAX Ranks #1... in more ways than one!

"We accept this on behalf of all RE/MAX Sales Associates, whose high level of service made this recognition possible," Dave Liniger said. "This honor belongs to them."

A second study, conducted by national research firm Synovate, adds even more weight to the idea that RE/MAX is No. 1 in the eyes of consumers. In this survey, buyers and sellers ranked RE/MAX highest, by a large margin, in top-of-mind awareness, recalled advertising, firm most likely to work with, firm most likely to recommend, and many other categories.

When asked what real estate company first came to mind, 34 percent of the respondents said RE/MAX, easily outdistancing Century 21 (25 percent), Coldwell Banker (11 percent), Prudential (4 percent) and Keller Williams (3 percent). Overall, 95 percent of the participants were aware of RE/MAX.

This type of brand power brings business to RE/MAX Sales Associates, Liniger said. And when they combine their individual skills and talents with the "800-pound gorilla" of RE/MAX brand marketing, they have an unbeatable edge.

"Anyone who says brand isn’t important is either lying or stupid," Liniger said. "Advertising doesn’t cost; it pays. It brings more customers to our agents, makes things easier and generates business for them. And when they follow through with excellent service, they create repeat clients and referrals."

Custom marketing materials, Liniger said, will help Sales Associates use the results of both studies in their listing presentations and other promotions.

"We are developing all sorts of things for agents to use on the front lines," Liniger said. "This is their achievement, and they will directly benefit from it."

Broker/Owners in attendance were pleased at the news.

"Being No. 1 in one thing is great, but being No. 1 in lots of ways is much, much better," said Bob Carlseen, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Praecelsus in Chula Vista, Calif. "Sales Associates are looking for messages that resonate with consumers, and this will give them something very tangible to use."

Paul Turcotte, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Destiny in Cambridge, Mass., agreed.

"Every year, the tools keep getting better," he said. "And we have the proof to back up what we’re saying. Data doesn’t lie. I love the new direction."

Other highlights from the session:

• A new quarterly RE/MAX magazine, called Above, will debut in October in print and in an electronic version.

• RE/MAX CEO Margaret Kelly said the launch of the new remax.com site has been delayed by IDX policy changes at the National Association of Realtors. But while the site’s listing functionality has been impacted by the changing rules, work on the design and content has continued, and Kelly shared a glimpse of the fresh and user-friendly home page. She also emphasized that the current remax.com is completely compliant with existing IDX rules and would not be affected by any decisions at the NAR national convention in November.

Home Buyers and Sellers Prefer RE/MAX

RE/MAX Ranks Highest in Customer Satisfaction in 2011 J.D. Power and Associates Study

DENVER, CO – Results from the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Home Buyer/Seller StudySM, recognize RE/MAX for providing the highest overall consumer satisfaction for both home buyers and home sellers. In last year’s study, two different companies ranked the highest in each category, but this year home buyers and sellers both rated RE/MAX the highest.

“It all comes down to professionalism and a commitment to a premier level of customer service,” said RE/MAX Chairman and Co-Founder Dave Liniger. “Because RE/MAX agents average more experience and training than other agents, they are better prepared to deal with home buyers and sellers in any kind of market. And, consumer preferences tell the story . . . nobody sells more real estate than RE/MAX.”

This is the fourth annual study of home buyer and seller satisfaction with the largest national real estate companies, conducted by J.D. Power and Associates. For the home buying experience, three factors were considered: agent/salesperson, office and a variety of additional services. Four factors were examined for the home-selling experience: agent/salesperson, marketing, office and a variety of additional services.

Details from the study indicate that on a scale of 1,000, homebuyer respondents ranked RE/MAX with a score of 805 and home sellers put RE/MAX on top at 791. The 2011 study includes more than 4,200 evaluations from 3,680 respondents who bought or sold a home in the U.S. between March 2010 and April 2011.

In two other 2011 industry surveys of the country’s top real estate brokerages, RE/MAX agents averaged more transaction sides than agents at the other national franchises. The RIS Media Power Broker Survey and the REAL Trends 500 both showed that RE/MAX agents averaged over 14 transactions sides, more than double the average of many competitors.

The success of RE/MAX agents is the result of its comprehensive educational platform, RE/MAX University, which offers over 1,100 educational programs on-demand, and available online, on television, on smart phones and in classrooms around the world.

About the RE/MAX Network: RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by Dave and Gail Liniger, real estate industry visionaries who still lead the Denver-based global franchisor today. RE/MAX is recognized as a leading real estate franchise company with the most productive sales force in the industry and a global reach of more than 80 countries. With a passion for the communities in which its agents live and work, RE/MAX is proud to have raised more than $100 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and other charities. Nobody in the world sells more real estate than RE/MAX. Please visit www.remax.com or www.joinremax.com.

About J.D. Power and Associates: Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The company’s quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

RE/MAX Grows in the Caribbean & Central America

Top Real Estate Franchisor Adds Offices to Expanding Network

Denver, CO - April 6, 2011 - The RE/MAX network continues to expand its reach around the world, announcing five new offices in four countries in the Caribbean and Central America. RE/MAX is now in more than 80 countries, after increasing franchise sales nearly 30 percent in 2010 and outdistancing all competitors.

“We are changing the way real estate business is conducted in many of these countries,” says Ricardo Cardenas, Regional Vice President, RE/MAX Latin America and Caribbean. “Our blueprint for the industry is based on training and professionalism and that is what is drawing so many new offices to RE/MAX.”

In Honduras, the Broker/Owners of RE/MAX Bay Islands in Roatan have opened a second office in West Bay. Larry Schlesser and Janine Goben have named the new office RE/MAX Western Sunsets, and staffed the location with experienced agents who are long-time residents. Schlesser and Goben hope to double the staff at Western Sunsets this year.

“Tourists are returning to this area and many of them are prospective investors,” says Goben. “We expect to see as many as a million prospective clients come in on cruise ships this year and we have to be ready for them.”

In Puerto Rico, one new office is open and another will launch in June. Enrique Morales is the Broker/Owner of the new RE/MAX Divine office in greater San Juan. Broker/Owner Sandy Ramos will open RE/MAX Real Estate Group, in the heart of the island’s tourist area. The office will serve the townships of Rio Grande, Canovanas, Luquillo, Fajardo and Humacao.

“The buyers we see in the area around Rio Grande are second home buyers that live outside Puerto Rico,” says Ramos. “RE/MAX is a name they know and trust, and we’re thrilled to be able to bring first class customer service to them.”

In Panama, Yenci Milano converted her independent office in Panama City to RE/MAX Golden Dream Realty. Milano believes the change will help her agents better serve their buyers and sellers.

“The market has started to move again and there is great interest from investors from other Latin American countries, especially from Venezuela,” says Milano. “RE/MAX will give us more exposure to better serve the growing international clientele.”

And, in Costa Rica, a new office is scheduled to open in Playa Dominical, in the province of Puntarenas. New Broker/Owners Dave and Debra West are long time real estate professionals. They’re looking forward to helping buyers who are searching for properties along Costa Rica’s pristine southern Pacific shoreline.

“We’re focusing on the coastal region surrounding Playa Dominical and extending to where the mountains meet the ocean,” says Dave West. “This area is truly unique and once you’ve experienced it, it’s hard to leave. We’ll be busy assisting families in finding the home of their dreams.”

Zillow.com Partners With RE/MAX

Today I am pleased to announce a partnership which enables RE/MAX to automatically feed all of their listings to Zillow. This is great news for RE/MAX agents because their listings now automatically appear on the Zillow/Yahoo! Real Estate Network, the largest real estate network on the Web, and across Zillow Mobile apps on the iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Mobile.

RE/MAX joins the Zillow Listings Feed program, which launched in November 2007 and has grown to more than four million for-sale listings, and hundreds of thousands of rental listings.

Homebuyers & Sellers Get Top Agents

RE/MAX vs. the Industry Report Shows RE/MAX Agents Help More Buyers and Sellers in 2009

(Denver, CO – June 2, 2010) - As professional real estate agents across the country compete to get new homebuyers while marketing properties for anxious sellers, agents from one global franchise have been proven to be the most successful at getting the job done. According to independent real estate analysts and other government filings, RE/MAX agents are more productive than other real estate agents in the U.S., a claim now documented in the annual “RE/MAX versus the Industry” report.

The RE/MAX versus the Industry report is distributed through the RE/MAX Network, along with charts, tables and social media messaging, and shows RE/MAX agents average 13.5 transaction sides per agent compared to the next closest competitor at 7.3 transaction sides per agent. “These analysts, surveys and government documents substantiate the claim that RE/MAX agents are the most productive in the business,” said Dave Liniger, RE/MAX Chairman and Co-Founder. “Even in extreme market conditions, RE/MAX agents outperform others and are able to better help homebuyers and sellers across the country and around the world.”

The report is based on figures released from REAL Trends and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-K, 2009 annual reports. But, two recently-released national surveys also confirmed the company‟s standings nationally. Both the 2010 REAL Trends 500 survey and the 22nd annual Power Broker Report, from RISMedia, show RE/MAX agents have a commanding lead in production by number of transaction sides and sales volume.

Liniger equates much of the success to the education and training RE/MAX agents pursued as market demands changed, including training to manage short sales, distressed properties and foreclosures. RE/MAX Associates hold the greatest number of professional learning designations compared to agents of other national real estate brands.