Merger Grows RE/MAX Brokerage by 60%

Ken Olive’s career with RE/MAX began in 2006 as a partnership with wife Phyllis. They purchased a franchise in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and gave the company a makeover with a new name and culture – RE/MAX Premiere Group was officially established.

Many changes occurred over the next few years: Ken Olive became the principal partner of the company, relocated the office and expanded it to a new 6,000-square-foot facility that could house 50 agents, and began dreaming of owning a location in downtown Tuscaloosa.

During his search for additional office space in 2015, Olive first considered the possibility of approaching owner Kathy Czukor of Realty Executives with a possible merger. She had a wonderful office location in his dream area and they had a good professional relationship.

Putting the idea on pause at that time, Olive went another direction, but a seed had been planted in his mind that he couldn’t shake. In February 2020, he finally went for it.

“Kathy is considered by me and many others as the premier real estate educator in our area,” Olive says. “I knew bringing her in would strengthen our company.”

Olive wanted to become known as the premier training company along with being one of the most professional. He hired Czukor to do some joint training for his brokerage’s new associates and to supply CE classes for veteran associates. A main focus of Olive’s is to integrate newer associates with veteran agents because he believes they both can learn from each other.

Hiring Czukor to run the training program allowed Olive to boost education in his office and encourage the relationship-building between novice and veteran agents.

“We developed a good working relationship and had a mutual professional respect for each other,” he says.

It was through these successful joint efforts that Olive finally took the leap of faith in February 2020 and simply asked Czukor what she thought about the possibility of merging offices. Surprised by the suggestion, Czukor worked with Olive to create a win/win plan and is now the Qualifying Broker at the downtown location.

“When you are working on a merger or acquisition, you have to believe that RE/MAX is the dominant brand,” Olive says.

The merger helped RE/MAX Premiere Group increase its agent count by 60% with a 35% increase in transactions and volume. It took five years, but Ken finally had that downtown location he dreamed of. Even better: The office came with 21 associates who stayed on and joined RE/MAX.

Olive believes that in addition to relationship-building, the biggest reason this merger worked is that his and Czukor’s offices shared many of the same ideals, with professionalism and integrity being paramount.

The 21 associates who had faith in Czukor’s decision and chose to join her at RE/MAX are extremely happy with all the tools RE/MAX has to offer. The merger has generated excitement and pride, even in this year of upheaval. Olive credits the staff at his RE/MAX regional office for making this merger as easy as possible.

“I’m thankful for their support,” he says.  

Czukor and Olive are both experienced broker/owners who are willing to think outside the box, step outside of their comfort zones (with their COVID-19 masks on, of course!) and still dream big.

“We are committed to growing with a focus on new agent development,” Olive says. “We must bring in new, qualified people that share our values that want to succeed in the wonderful career as a Realtor. I feel God has blessed us with this merger and I intend on making the best of it!”