Exclusive to RE/MAX: The First App, One of the Best Tools in Real Estate

When Kim Kelly heard about First, and how the technology company owned by RE/MAX was helping agents position themselves to earn more business from people they already know, she had to dive right in.

Kelly, an agent with RE/MAX of Orange Beach in Alabama, was immediately intrigued by the app, unveiled to agents in late February at R4, the annual RE/MAX convention.

She signed up for the app and within minutes, First was analyzing her contact list. The system gave a three-star rating to her contacts most likely to sell. Kelly knew several of them well, so right outside the convention in Las Vegas, Kelly sat on the MGM steps and started dialing.

“Of those five calls, at least three should result in very good sales,” Kelly says. “One person immediately listed with me. And the other two folks I called were happy to hear from me and were so impressed I called them from Vegas.”

Kelly is now a believer in the power of First – and a prime example of the importance of real estate agents reaching out to the right people at the right time.

First, a North Carolina tech company acquired by RE/MAX in December 2019, uses data science, machine learning and human interaction to analyze an agent’s contacts and identify those most likely to sell in the coming months.

The flagship First mobile app provides coaching and assists agents in determining when to reach out. Additionally, it gives agents an idea of how much business they’ve missed within their database of contacts.

“This tech was so good and so different that we bought the company,” RE/MAX Chief Customer Officer Nick Bailey says. “We know most clients say they would use their agent again, but not all do. Agents don’t always stay connected to their network, but this not only helps with that but also helps protect their database.”

First CEO and Co-Founder Mike Schneider says the app helps agents spend less time hunting for business and more time building it. On average, he says, agents miss about 60 percent of the deals within their network. First tries to close that gap.  It makes it easier for real estate agents to be prepared and available when someone they know is ready to sell a home.

Schneider says the result is a better experience for consumers, who end up working with someone they already trust, and a better outcome for agents, who avoid the pain of seeing homeowners they know list with a competitor – often one not as familiar with who they are and what they’re all about. 

“This gives them a huge competitive advantage,” he says, “There is no other tool out there solving this problem. There is no tool that builds your database and then focuses on upcoming sellers and helps you master your follow up.”

Schneider started First in 2015 after years in the venture capital world. At that point Schneider believed the next wave of technology was finding a way to assist people in their day-to-day workflow.

He met with 100 real estate agents to understand their biggest pain points. Most wanted to know where their next deal was going to come from. All agreed that seeing the for sale sign of a competitor in the yard of someone they knew was deflating. The First app was designed to hop into that day-to-day of the agent and help with both.

“This fits how agents work,” Schneider says.

“I think the point of building any great company, as cliché as it sounds, is to make the world a better place,” says Kent Keirsey, the chief operations officer at First. “In real estate, the best consumer experience comes from working with a great agent. RE/MAX agents are known for delivering a top-notch experience to the consumer. Really, we have the same mission. We want to help agents do more business, by focusing on the right people at the right time.”

After an early-access offering at R4, First became available to RE/MAX agents across the U.S. in mid-March. It’s now a RE/MAX exclusive, although existing users can stay on the system until their contracts end later this year.

The response at R4 to First was astounding. The addition of First is a sign that RE/MAX continues to strengthen its competitive advantage and add to its technology portfolio.

In addition to acquiring booj, an award-winning tech firm in 2018, RE/MAX recently rolled out an updated remax.com and new RE/MAX Real Estate Search App. The modern approach and technology-driven focus have been big for RE/MAX, which at year-end 2019 surpassed 130,000 agents worldwide, the highest number in company history.

Among those agents are people like Kelly in Alabama. Kelly says she isn’t into buying leads or pursuing the latest marketing trends or gadgets. She’s built her book of business through relationships and being genuine.

With First, she’s reinvigorated and ecstatic about what she can do.

“It’s just so easy,” she says. “It’s so important to follow up with your people. You need to make sure they know you’re still there, because if you don’t someone else will. This has made it so easy to do that I’m not sure I’ll use any other system.”