They Came Back: When Stars Return to RE/MAX

It’s natural to wonder about life on the other side of the fence. But agents who leave RE/MAX often find that the grass isn’t greener at all. In fact, they soon realize just how much they’ve lost in the move. Meet four agents – from South Carolina, Indiana, Maryland and Texas – who left the network and then returned, discovering in the process that RE/MAX was where they should have been all along.

Agent: Peggy Harris, Greenville, S.C.
Deciding factor: Autonomy, brand advantages

Peggy Harris, a RE/MAX Hall of Fame member with RE/MAX Realty Professionals in Greenville, S.C., left for a regional independent brokerage more than a year ago when her broker decided to let go of his franchise. She was happy to return in December 2011.

“RE/MAX is home – there’s nothing like it out there,” she says. Harris, who had been in the 100 Percent Club, saw her sales drop drastically when she left. The difference, she explains, is that RE/MAX is structured to allow agents to make quick decisions and respond to sellers and buyers without navigating confounding channels of authorization. And in today’s fast-paced, always-on, instant-response world, quick action can make all the difference.

Factors like her brokerage’s administrative support staff, the remax.com website, quality leads and advanced technological tools also played a part in her return.

“RE/MAX is awesome,” Harris says. “It’s that simple.”

So now, she’s once again affiliated with a successful, globally known brand supported by national advertising campaigns.

“We’re always on television and we’re always out there,” Harris says. “Everyone knows RE/MAX.”

Harris also appreciates the personal support from other agents and the companywide ethic of investing in communities. “We want to see every agent be successful,” says Harris, who donates a percentage of her closings to RE/MAX supported charitable organizations, including Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

“Everyone is like family, and they have fun, but they also take their business seriously.”

And where does it all leave Harris? She’s back on track to rejoin the 100 Percent Club.

Agent: Laura Roskelly, Gambrills, Md.
Deciding factor: Brand quality

Laura Roskelly leads a team that specializes in military and government relocations and local moves around Fort Meade, Md.

The Roskelly Team had been with RE/MAX for nearly a decade before leaving two years ago to join Keller Williams, but found the experience to be lacking. “I’m thrilled to be back,” says Roskelly, who returned with her team in June, rejoining RE/MAX Leading Edge of Gambrills, Md.

“I really missed the brand name, professionalism and support that I get with RE/MAX.”

Though her business remained strong when she left (Roskelly reports that she’s closed more than $100 million in sales since 2000), she says she would have been even busier had she stayed at RE/MAX.

Her clients liked the Roskelly Team’s marketing plan, she says, but wanted the RE/MAX brand.

And for her part, Roskelly says there’s a simple, essential reason for her return: “We wanted to be back with the best.”

Agent: Mark Martin, Austin, Texas
Deciding factor: High productivity, tangible results

Mark Martin returned to RE/MAX in 2011 after leaving years earlier to start an independent brokerage. When the market tanked in 2007, he left real estate to work with a mechanical contractor.

“When I decided to come back into the business as an agent, my highest productivity had been with RE/MAX, so that was a natural choice,” he says.

Today he leads a team at RE/MAX Austin Skyline in Austin, Texas. Martin is primarily a listing agent, and he values the name recognition, market share and national and international exposure the RE/MAX brand provides.

Martin and his group were the No. 1 RE/MAX team in central Texas for the second quarter, a distinction they achieved by targeting expired listings and using complex systems to pursue them, such as a process that allows them to respond to Internet inquiries within five minutes.

“That’s been critical to our success with the buyer side of the business,” he says. Competitor Keller Williams, also based in Austin, has at least five times as many agents in the area as RE/MAX, according to Martin, but RE/MAX is far ahead in productivity per agent. “I go up against Keller Williams agents every day, and I rarely lose a listing opportunity,” he says.

In March and April alone, the team closed on transactions totaling $4.5 million in sales, and Martin reports that he’s closing in on Chairman’s Club status and the RE/MAX Lifetime Achievement Award. “I never have to explain why I’m with the No. 1 company in the world.”

Agent: Mark Linder, Greenwood, Ind.
Deciding factor: Support from local leaders

Mark Linder had been a RE/MAX agent for about 10 years when he left to join Keller Williams. At the time of his departure, the leaders of his RE/MAX office invited him out to lunch, told him there were no hard feelings and made a prediction.

“They said, ‘Hey, we know you’ll come back,’ and told me not to be embarrassed to do so,” Linder recalls. Within a few months, the RE/MAX Hall of Famer realized his former managers were right. Linder knew he had to get back to RE/MAX eventually; his sales weren’t as strong without the superior RE/MAX support, resources, advertising, national brand recognition and personal touch. He rejoined RE/MAX Select in Greenwood, Ind., in the fall of 2010 and has since closed more than $28 million in sales.

“That’s the best two years I’ve ever had in 17 years, and the market’s still recovering,” says Linder, who today is the No. 1 RE/MAX agent in the Center Grove area.

The support of RE/MAX Select Broker/Owner Paul Caldwell and Broker/Manager Dave McClain was key, Linder says, because they focus on helping their agents grow and improve. At Keller Williams, Linder felt like he was competing against his broker and that the office worked around the owner’s team. This disparity became even more pronounced as time wore on, and the RE/MAX team’s support never wavered.

“Every month or two they would call, email or otherwise check in on me and reach out,” Linder says. “And that made a huge difference in my decision to come back.”