By Wayne Einhorn
As the weeks pass and the news of Real’s acquisition of RE/MAX sinks in, I continue to be amazed at the execution of the transaction. I can honestly say that unless things drastically change, this transaction will make a great business case study on the impact of ground-truth realities post-acquisition and whether both parties can ultimately win.
I‘ve been in real estate for over 40 years, and early in my career, was a real estate broker/owner myself. I understand the stresses and risks of running the day-to-day operations of a brokerage. I have been coaching broker clients, including many RE/MAX broker/owners, for over 20 years, helping them build their businesses and sell them to finance great retirements. I’ve also assisted hundreds of brokers in mergers and acquisitions and divestitures, building on my own personal experience. I made my first acquisition of a 300-agent firm in 1992, which at the time, was considered a very large, market-changing acquisition. Needless to say, in the years since then, I’ve pretty much seen it all.
I have four serious concerns about this transaction for RE/MAX brokers. But first, let me set the stage by talking about the impact of a very important change. On Friday, April 24th, 2026, when RE/MAX brokers went home, their owner was a marketing company whose primary customer was the broker/owner. RE/MAX corporate’s success depended on their ability to deliver world-class service to their brokers to help them recruit and retain agents and sell new franchises.
When RE/MAX broker/owners came in to work the following Monday morning, all of this had dramatically changed. The major news of the day was that RE/MAX’s new owner was now a competitor. And yes, while Real agents were already competing with RE/MAX agents for transactions, the playing field has now changed. Real is one single, cloud-based brokerage (company owned), comprised of all 33,000+ agents under one virtual roof. As a single brokerage, under the “merged” company Real can now leverage its economies of scale to directly compete with individual RE/MAX broker/owners. Real acquired RE/MAX, and will compete directly with RE/MAX. Let that sink in.
This competition will manifest itself differently depending on the size of the RE/MAX franchisee. Small franchises that have paid for and depended on the RE/MAX value proposition are going to be most at risk of losing agents to the new owner. Real offers a less expensive option to agents, with no franchise fee. This is not likely to resonate with highly productive agents unless they have their own services or operate large teams. However, agents who are in the low production category will almost certainly be attracted to this lower fee.
Large multi-branch franchisees that have a solid value proposition are not likely to lose many agents to their new owner, but there will be some attrition.
However, I would contend that the large RE/MAX franchisee’s risk is far greater when it comes to the business itself. The new owner has been very public about Real’s strategic intent to sell title, mortgage, and other related services across the entire network. It’s already a key part of their platform. Of course, large franchisees also sell these products and depend on the revenue as an important part of their profitability. No matter whether you are a large multi-office broker or a small single-office franchise, it seems that your objectives are almost directly opposite of those of the new owner.
It seems Mr. Poleg doesn’t care which flag an agent flies. Either flag purportedly generates similar margin to him. I can assure you that every single RE/MAX franchisee cares which flag the agent flies. Those agents contribute to fixed costs like rent and staff, not to mention the decades of equity that most brokers have built up in their businesses.
The four biggest concerns I have are:
1. Real Agents recruiting RE/MAX agents. I have already seen this happening with some of our member brokers. Real has 33,000 plus agents, all of them financially incentivized to recruit agents. The initial pitch that I’ve seen to RE/MAX agents is: “We are going to be together anyway. You might as well get in with us on the ground floor.”
2. Real selling products to RE/MAX agents and RE/MAX customers. This will impact the biggest brokers first, but is a risk for all brokers, as this ancillary revenue stream is important.
3. Erosion of Broker Equity and Legacy. This represents the gradual loss of decades of work, risk, and investment that brokers have put into building their businesses to where they are today.
4. Loss of control of data. Real has made a “friendly” offer to allow RE/MAX brokers to utilize their AI and tech stack – a key selling feature of the acquisition. Let’s take Real and RE/MAX out of the equation for a minute. If I said to a RE/MAX broker that you could have free technology if you just gave your data to Compass, would you be interested? In my view, there is little difference in this offer. Data is the holy grail for the real estate broker. This should be protected at all costs.
At Inner Circle Broker Coaching, our purpose is to help brokers improve profitability and drive equity so they have something to sell in the future. Our commitment to our broker members to execute on that purpose is as strong as ever. Our purpose as an organization hasn’t changed, but the way we now look at RE/MAX as a franchise has. We have developed a list of strategies to ensure that RE/MAX Broker/Owners are prepared for the future, continue to drive profitability, and build equity in the businesses they have worked in for so long.
I’m celebrating my 41st year in the industry at virtually every level, and I’ve seen a lot. In addition, I’m a voracious consumer of data and information, and I am known for being a strategic thinker. That trifecta has allowed me to accurately see the future and guide our members accordingly.
In this case, despite all of that experience and data, I’m hoping I’m wrong.
