This is a wonderful story. It’s a story only a few people in the industry can fully appreciate. I’m glad I’m one of them.
Both RE/MAX and Dominion Enterprises have gone through a lot in the past few years and its great to see when the good guys win.
It all began when Dave Liniger made the statement that the industry was being besieged by companies that were “bring nothing but a fork to the potluck”. Then in 2005 RE/MAX announced a bold new strategy where RE/MAX International would create a “network of broker idx sites” under remax.com and give all the leads free to RE/MAX associates. They selected eNeighborhoods as their vendor and with Kristi Graning leading the effort on the RE/MAX side they went on a roll that solidified RE/MAX as the top innovator in the online real estate market for the next several years.
I was leading the sales and marketing division at eNeighborhoods when we signed the deal with RE/MAX but the real credit goes to Andy Woolley for recognizing the opportunity and leading the effort to make it come to life.
A lot has happen since. eNeighborhoods had been bought by Dominion Enterprises, and then Dominion Enterprises tried to sell itself unsuccessfully. And of course the real estate crisis took over the country. Both companies retrenched. In the case of Dominion Enterprises they consolidated most of the companies they acquired and formed Homes Media Solutions. And who can blame them? Homes.com is a true player in the online real estate space. It made sense for them to finally do the hard work on integrating all the companies under one platform.
RE/MAX has also dealt with internal struggles as well. Independent brokers have asserted their independence from the mothership with mixed results. But with this partnership it appears that RE/MAX corporate has regained some of their footing. And ask any vendor in the industry what franchisor would be number one on their list to partner with? The answer is RE/MAX. Why? Despite the fascination with “agent count” anyone that really knows this industry knows that RE/MAX has consistently the most productive agents in the business. Period.
So congratulations all around. RE/MAX is hosting their annual convention in Las Vegas right now and I’m sure Andy, Kristi, Marnie, Staci and the rest of the crew are celebrating over some good food and great wine (chosen expertly by Andy ‘natch!).
Cheers!
Full Press Release Below:
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Homes.com and RE/MAX® Launch New Online Strategic Partnership
Homes.com selected to power remax.com and create new mobile apps suite
(Norfolk, VA, March 6, 2012) —Homes.com and RE/MAX®, LLC, announced today the launch of a major new online marketing partnership. RE/MAX has selected Homes.com to power the new remax.com website and the newly released suite of RE/MAX mobile applications for Apple and Android mobile devices. The two organizations will also be launching collaborative efforts to market Homes.com local advertising products and the new Homes Connect marketing platform to RE/MAX Sales Associates throughout North America.
“We’re thrilled that RE/MAX has selected Homes.com to power the most important elements of their online marketing efforts. Remax.com is clearly a leading property search destination and is the cornerstone of the RE/MAX online strategy,” says Brock MacLean, executive vice president of Homes.com. “By combining our proven search technology with the powerful reach of our Homes.com website and mobile applications, we’ve developed a complementary approach to ensure traffic and leads from both websites are delivered efficiently and directly to RE/MAX Sales Associates.”
Key aspects of the Homes.com and RE/MAX partnership include:
Homes.com will build and host the new remax.com, leveraging the same innovative technology that powers Homes.com and Homes Connect.
The new RE/MAX mobile application suite for Apple and Android devices was developed by and is hosted on the Homes.com platform. Versions for other devices will be available soon.
RE/MAX listings will also be showcased on Homes.com, driving new traffic to remax.com and leads downstream to RE/MAX offices and Sales Associates.
A RE/MAX co-branded version of Homes Connect is being marketed by the two companies to RE/MAX Broker-Owners and Sales Associates throughout North America.
“The selection of Homes.com as our preferred online marketing partner is the result of a two year evaluation, and considerations of a variety of approaches and potential partners,” said Marnie Blanco, RE/MAX Vice President of eBusiness. “In the process, it became clear that the best approach was to leverage the powerful technology of a national listing portal that could lead consumers to remax.com. Homes.com provides RE/MAX all the components and the clearest path to making this complementary approach a reality.”
“With all the negative attention lately surrounding syndication, it’s important the Homes.com brand and mission avoid getting caught up in that fray,” added MacLean. “We offer brokers and franchisors a unique approach, combining our innovative technology services with our vast consumer reach. When a technology strategy is in line with a marketing strategy, as it is with this new RE/MAX partnership, the two complement each other beautifully.”
About Homes.com
Homes.com, part of the Homes Media Solutions division of DominionEnterprises, is a leading provider of real estate marketing and media services, including brand advertising, property listing exposure and syndication, search engine marketing and instant response lead generation. Homes Connect by Homes.com offers the real estate industry’s first-ever all-inclusive marketing platform for agents and brokers featuring single-login convenience. Homes.com is visited by over 10 million consumers each month to search nearly 4 million properties for sale or rent, to locate real estate agents in their area and to find useful home buying tips. For more information, visit www.Homes.com.
About Dominion Enterprises
Dominion Enterprises is a leading marketing services and publishing company serving the automotive, recreational and commercial vehicle, real estate, apartment rental, employment, parenting, travel, and daily deals industries. The company’s businesses provide a comprehensive suite of technology-based marketing solutions including Internet advertising, lead generation, CRM, website design and hosting, and data management services. The company has more than 60 market-leading websites reaching more than 20.9 million unique visitors monthly, and more than 280 magazines with a weekly circulation of 2.4 million. Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., the company has 3,300 employees in more than 186 offices in the United States, Canada, England and Italy. For more information, visit www.DominionEnterprises.com.
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 one of the leading real estate franchise companies 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 $120 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. For more information about RE/MAX, please visit www.remax.com or www.joinremax.com.
