Celebrating a Great 20 Years in Europe

For Europeans who want a career in real estate, RE/MAX is the place to be. That’s because of the pioneering leadership of Frank Polzler and Walter Schneider, who set their sights on expansion into Europe more than 20 years ago and turned Switzerland-based RE/MAX Europe into an industry juggernaut.

Even though the business partners had plenty on their plates running RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada and several U.S. Regions, they had their eyes on intercontinental growth. And Europe beckoned – particularly for Polzler, a native of Austria.

Convinced the RE/MAX model would work in Europe despite warnings from naysayers, Polzler and Schneider made their move in 1994, with RE/MAX Spain opening that year.

Within five years, Polzler and Schneider’s master franchise had launched RE/MAX Regions and brokerages across Europe. On its 20th anniversary, RE/MAX Europe is a behemoth: 31 nations, more than 1,500 offices and more than 13,000 agents. CEO Michael Polzler – Frank Polzler’s son – is determined to continue advocating for RE/MAX Europe Sales Associates and their businesses.

“RE/MAX offers agents extensive support to start and run their own business,” Michael Polzler says. “Associates enjoy a well-known brand and the best training, IT and marketing services. They’re in business for themselves, not by themselves.”

Polzler says RE/MAX continues to change careers and lives in Europe.

“My dad and Walter did an extraordinary job making RE/MAX No. 1 in so many European countries,” he says. “I’m committed to pushing RE/MAX Europe even further ahead.”

RE/MAX Spain Led the Way

When he began running RE/MAX Spain 20 years ago, Region Owner Javier Sierra knew that if RE/MAX succeeded, it would change the way real estate was bought and sold in his country.

“At the time, there was no real estate agent training in Spain, no MLS, no professional association,” Sierra says. “The concept of Broker/Owners with independent Sales Associates was completely unknown. Now it’s the standard.”

Today, the housing industry in Spain is changed for the better. RE/MAX Spain introduced the MLS to the country; founded Escuela RE/MAX, a pioneering education center for real estate agents; and co-created the nation’s dominant agent association, Asociación Empresarial de Gestión Inmobiliaria.

This period of positive transformation in Spain’s real estate industry also saw agents weathering the economic crisis that began in 2008, the country’s worst downturn in more than 80 years. RE/MAX Spain survived – and even expanded – during this difficult time, in part because of the strength of its business model and the professionalism of its agents.

It’s been an extraordinary 20 years for RE/MAX Spain, which currently has almost 90 offices and nearly 900 Associates. Sierra was right: RE/MAX helped transform Spain’s real estate industry.