In her first keynote as RE/MAX president, Amy Lessinger addressed market headwinds, buyer-broker commissions, homebuyer agreements and plans to revive the franchisor’s U.S. operations.
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The impact of a turbulent real estate market and a sixth-consecutive quarter of declining revenues was center stage at RE/MAX’s annual R4 Convention this week, as president Amy Lessinger delivered a rousing speech reflecting on the company’s history and plans to reclaim its franchise crown in the U.S.
“Our goal is to be the worldwide real estate leader and to be number one in every single market that we serve,” she told thousands of agents seated in Mandalay Bay’s convention center on Tuesday. “Let me give you an example. Our Canadian friends have had [a] dominant number one market share since 1987.”
“Of course many of our global regions [and] some pockets of the U.S. enjoy number one market share as well, but I have to be honest,” she added. “We have some work to do here in the United States. We have some growing to do. And we will take back the dominant market share in the United States.”
Amy Lessinger | Credit: RE/MAX
Lessinger didn’t share specific U.S. market share statistics; however, she said the brokerage’s 2023 global performance is proof RE/MAX has the technology, tools and systems to vault its U.S. operations back to the front of the pack.
“Our network has grown to over 140,000 agents in 110 countries and territories,” she said. “It might have been a challenging year for a lot of you in real estate, but I am so excited to tell you that, once again, we can say very loud and proud that nobody in the world sells more real estate than RE/MAX.”
“Your average is 11.8 sides while everybody else in the [Wall Street Journal] survey averaged 5.2,” she added. “This is not new. RE/MAX has been an industry leader for decades, but we can’t be complacent about that. It is in our RE/MAX DNA to grow and get even better all the time.”
Lessinger pointed to technology and education as the key to navigating current market challenges, including the National Association of Realtors’ proposed settlement that would remove offers of compensation from being displayed on the MLS and require homebuyers to sign representation agreements before touring homes.
RE/MAX was part of the first cohort of real estate companies to settle, contributing $55 million to the Sitzer | Burnett and Moehrl settlement funds.
“You guys have all seen these sensationalistic headlines and the massive quantities of clickbait out there,” she said before explaining that 19 states already require buyer agency agreements. “I love buyer agency. I think it’s a change for some that it feels foreign, but that’s the cool thing about our network — we will walk through this. Everybody’s here to help each other.”
Lessinger said RE/MAX is preparing agents to handle the pending changes to buyer-broker commissions, which will go into effect in July if courts approve NAR’s settlement proposal. The brokerage’s education platform, RE/MAX University, has a new page dedicated to buyers’ agents and a new Kaplan-backed course called “The Buyer Agency Professional.”
“During The Great Recession, I came to a conference and Dave [Liniger] rolled out the [Certified Distressed Property] designation. None of us knew how to do short sales. We didn’t know how to secure REO properties,” she said. “But what happened? We all became educated. We learned how to adapt. We know education is a huge piece of preparing you and moving you forward.”
In addition to launching a new designation, Lessinger encouraged agents to tap into the brokerage’s MAX/Tech powered by kvCORE platform to supercharge their marketing and lead generation efforts.
She said RE/MAX agents have uploaded more than 30 million contacts, sent 135 million emails and 6.3 million texts, and garnered 84 million social media impressions through the platform since its rollout in August 2022. The platform is also responsible for cultivating more than 600,00 new leads for RE/MAX agents since its launch.
“[This can] help you take more market share for yourself and get loud in your marketplace if you aren’t using it,” she said. “The platform is designed to help you work smarter, not harder, and it’s designed to position you in your market. But it can’t work its magic if you aren’t using it.”
Lessinger wrapped up the keynote by urging agents to continue writing their RE/MAX stories and take advantage of the opportunity to learn from thousands of fellow agents worldwide.
“I love this company, and I love this network,” she said. “My commitment to all of you is to ensure that we keep our eyes focused on the future [and] continue to provide you with the support and the tools and the education needed for you to thrive in any market.”
“I want you to have more than your fair share because you are the absolute best in the business,” she added. “That’s it, hands down. That is what RE/MAX is.”