Denver, CO

“Times may change, but the RE/MAX business model does not, because it’s proven to be successful in all kinds of markets and in different cultures and countries,” said Dave Liniger, Chairman and CoFounder “At a time when consumers seek the advice of a trusted advisor, they’re turning to a RE/MAX professional more than anyone else.”

Perhaps, the most celebrated accomplishment in 2011 was the vote of confidence received from consumers in two respected awards. Results from the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Home Buyer/Seller StudySM recognized RE/MAX for providing the “highest overall satisfaction for home sellers and home buyers among national full service real estate firms.”

Liniger, who by popular online vote was named the year’s Most Influential Real Estate Leader by Inman News also said, “RE/MAX will continue to be the people’s choice because our agents are the best trained, most experienced and most productive in the industry.”

In addition to outstanding agent performance, RE/MAX franchise sales indicated significant growth in many geographic regions. Overall sales in the United States were 9.3% higher than last year. Leading the U.S. growth was Florida, up 20 new franchises, and Kentucky-Tennessee up 11 over their 2010 sales levels. Internationally, South America grew at rate 44% above 2010, Caribbean/Central America was up 33%, and South Africa was 31% higher.

Ten prominent 2011 RE/MAX achievements include:

1. Dave Liniger and Margaret Kelly were both named by Inman News as one of the 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders.

2. Highest ranking real estate firm in Franchise Times Top 200

3. 24 of the 25 top brokerages ranked by agent productivity in the REAL Trends 500 national survey.

4. In the RIS Media Power Broker Survey, RE/MAX agents ranked highest among national franchises with 14.7 transaction sides, an impressive 49.7% better than its closest competitor.

5. Launched global.remax.com, a real estate website with true global reach in over 30 languages and 60 foreign countries

6. Surpassed 10 million referral-free sales leads from the LeadStreet online system since 2006

7. Remax.com drew 49.5 million total visitors in 2011, the highest of any real estate brand website

8. Released an iPad application for brokers and agents

9. RE/MAX University ranked among the nation’s best corporate trainers in two respected annual reports

10. Named one of the country’s Top 20 Military Spouse-Friendly Employers

This week, RE/MAX offices across the United States and around the world will celebrate Founders Day with numerous special events. And in a few weeks, RE/MAX affiliates from these worldwide offices will gather at The Mandalay Bay Casino and Resort in Las Vegas, NV, March 5 – 8 to mark their many successes, and strategize innovative plans for the future. At the annual RE/MAX R4 convention, the industry’s most experienced professionals will share insights designed to help the country put the housing crisis firmly in the past.

Nobody in the world sells more real estate than RE/MAX. For more information please visit www.remax.com or www.joinremax.com.

“This young, newlywed couple could only afford a small, small mortgage payment. (“Find us a house that is cheaper than rent” said the buyers!).   They both work full time, and go to school almost full time. With a down payment in the bank, the search began.  This little jewel of a cottage was found, negotiations were firm and quick, and they moved in before Halloween.   Their first new purchase was a big bag of candy to pass out to the little costumed trick-or-treaters!

Foreclosed properties can have a  happy ending, and this is a fine example.

This entry level segment of my my market will never make me rich. But these two have a ton of friends, and have already sent me 2 referrals.  Working with sweet, solid young people is a great pleasure.  They learned patience, endurance, and an entire semester of economics, business, and savings and loan procedures.  They in turn teach their friends, and so on, and so on.  They are the future.  They are a wonderful part of my sphere of influence.  They also happen to be my son and his precious bride.”

Thanks for sharing, Kelly!  If you have a positive story to share, email me at pr@remax-nc.net.

Mary Campion – RE/MAX North Winds Realty – Lakewood, WI

Janie Conley – RE/MAX Realty 100 – Hales Corners/Greenfield, WI

Ramona Elmore – RE/MAX Realty 100 – Hales Corners/Greenfield, WI

Rodd Olsen – RE/MAX Advantage Plus – Savage, MN

Helene Severson – RE/MAX Advantage Plus – Lakeville, MN

Laurie Trombley – RE/MAX Results – Shoreview, MN

Welcome everyone!

If you would like to contact a RE/MAX associate, please visit www.remax.com/residential/find_an_agent.

Calendar:
The new calendar system features easy import into Google Calendar and Outlook so that you never miss another training or webinar. Click on the Add to Google Calendar button if you are using Google Calendar to manage your time. If  you’re using another program like MS Outlook, just click on the Add to Calendar button within a specific event/training and it will add the entry into your Outlook or other calendar system. You also have the option of choosing Subscribe or Subscribe in Google Calendar to receive daily updates from our Training/Events Calendar automatically.

Are you trying to locate a live training? The new calendar system syncs up directly with Google Maps and renders the event location for you.

Navigation:
We’ve simplified the navigation so that you can more easily find content. If you scroll over the individual tabs at the top, you can see some of the content you will find in those categories and can actually click on them to go directly to that content or click on the tab itself to go to that page. The article categories like Balloon Events have been moved further down the page on the right hand side below the Videos tab.

Social Networks
All of our Social Networks are now quickly and easily found on the right hand side of every page. You can also view our latest Twitter entries.

Subscribe
We’d love for you to come back to our site every day, but if you’re looking for another way to keep up with what’s going on, you can use the RSS feed in the lower right to add our content to your RSS Reader (if you don’t have one, check out Google Reader).

Feedback
We would love to know what you think of the new design and features. This week we will be making further tweaks to the settings so let us know what you want to see.

I bet you thought that the St. Paul Winter Carnival was the only winter event happening this weekend. But guess what? The annual Celebration of the Lakes in Lindstrom, Minnesota is going on this weekend as well. And do you know what one of the main attractions of the Celebration is? You guessed it, a hot air balloon rally! The RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon Team will be there along with the good people of RE/MAX Complete Realty for balloon launches on Saturday and Sunday morning and Saturday evening (weather permitting). It’s quite a sight to see!

Click here to view a KSTP story with a fellow hot air balloon pilot as he explains winter ballooning.

To view the Celebration of the Lakes brochure with a complete listing of the weekend’s event click here.

Well folks, that’s all I’ve got. Now get out there and take advantage of this winter weather!

Max… out!

RE/MAX Campaign, For All the Things That Move You

This month, global real estate franchisor, RE/MAX rolls out an entirely new national ad campaign focusing on “all the things that move you.” The innovative campaign strikes an emotional note with consumers and features the sentimental Jim Croce song, “I’ve Got a Name.”

For All the Things That Move You^sm includes a full schedule of TV, radio, Internet, print and outdoor ads that will run throughout 2012. Designed to identify with the personal moments that drive decisions by homebuyers and sellers – having a baby, getting married, landing a new job or downsizing –  the campaign reinforces the notion that experienced RE/MAX agents know how to help.

“These are the moments that literally move you and because they’re significant life-changing events, consumers seek the assistance of a trusted professional,” said Mike Ryan, RE/MAX Executive Vice President, Global Communications and Branding. “People see the housing market beginning to improve, so if they’ve had one of these life changing events, they’re starting to think about making a move.”

The campaign theme was created by R&R Partners, a Las Vegas-based agency and five TV commercials were filmed on-location in southern California. “Almost everyone has a personal connection to changes in the housing market,” said Arnie DiGeorge, Executive Creative Director for R&R Partners. “But one thing that hasn’t changed is the American Dream of owning your own home.”

RE/MAX is one of the few companies in the industry to maintain a national advertising presence despite the changing market place.  In fact, the popular straight-talk ads with RE/MAX CEO Margaret Kelly faced the situation head-on and offered frank advice to consumers.

Kelly is again featured in one 2012 TV spot thanking consumers for naming RE/MAX as provider of the highest overall satisfaction for home sellers and home buyers among national full service real estate firms in the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Home Buyer/Seller Study^SM.

RE/MAX has enjoyed a dominant advertising position in the real estate industry.  For the last few years, RE/MAX national TV campaigns have produced a share-of-voice greater than all competitors combined.  2012 should be no different.

The RE/MAX campaign will include radio spots during the big game on February 5, carried by Westwood One (Dial Global).  Television buys include popular prime time network programming, cable shows and regional programs.  The 2012 campaign will also take advantage of an extensive social media initiative, constructed around the “For all the things that move you” theme.

Welcome!

If you would like to contact a RE/MAX associate, please visit www.remax.com/residential/find_an_agent.

And since we’re on the topic of Awards….I just wanted to let you know that a number of our Specialty Awards, including our Top 5 Awards for Sales Commissions and Closed Transactions, are based off of our monthly-run Top 50s Report.  So, if you’re looking for the December 2011, year-end, Top 50s Report, I am sad to say that those numbers will not be released until after our Minnesota Day of Distinction event on February 9, 2012.

I know a lot of you used your ranking on the report for marketing purposes, but if we were to make them available now there would be no big surprises at our Awards Celebration….and we like surprises!  I hope you understand.  If you have any questions, comments, or concerns just give me a jingle at 800-878-8138.

Otherwise…thank you again to all of our RE/MAX North Central Office Administrators and Office Managers – we appreciate you!

LIVE Trainings:

NEW! Workshop: Why You Need to Blog
Wednesday, January 25 – 1pm-3pm
Northland Plaza, Bloomington MN
Conference Room 140

ONLINE Trainings:

January

Technology Forum
Tuesday, January 24
10:00 – 11:00am

February

Social Media: Beyond the Basics
Thursday, February 2
10:00 – 11:00am

Social Media: Beyond the Basics
Monday, February 13
1:00 – 2:00pm

Lead Generation using Social Media
Wednesday, February 15
11:00 – 12:00pm

Your LeadStreet Clients & Their “My Home Finder” Account
Tuesday, February 21
9:00 – 10:00am

Webinar: Why You Need to Blog
Monday, February 27
10:00 – 11:00am

For full details of each training and to register you can CLICK HERE!

And if you’re one of those who loves to plan ahead, check out our March calendar; we’ve already got some tentative trainings lined up there as well.  Hmmm, it’s almost like selling real estate takes a seasonal dip and we’re trying to help you stay busy until spring!  ;0)