‘It Made Sense’: Why a Top Real Estate Team in New Jersey Moved to RE/MAX

Throughout more than 25 years in the real estate profession, Nick Christopher has been a go-to expert in his bustling suburban New Jersey housing market perfectly situated near both Philadelphia and Atlantic City.

Christopher Property Group – the thriving team he leads – ranked as Century 21’s No. 1 team in New Jersey last year. Now, after an early 2023 move to RE/MAX Community in Williamstown, New Jersey, Nick and his team are anticipating even greater achievements.

“My team’s primary goal is to conduct even more business – and this move to RE/MAX positions us to do just that,” Nick says. “I talked to them first about [the move] and we all did a comparison of what we had offered from our previous company to what RE/MAX could offer. Between the [value] and marketing resources available, it just made sense.”

The leadership behind a successful team

Nick credits much of his own real estate foundation to the knowledge he gained in a team setting. He ensures this same learning-centric environment is prominent within his own team.

“When I first started my career in real estate, I joined a team that really taught me all about the fundamentals and procedures, as well as how to be the most helpful agent when conducting any type of transaction,” he recalls.

This concept of agents being well-rounded – rather than ultra-specialized – has become a cornerstone value among members of the Christopher Property Group.

“My team members are dynamic,” he shares. “If you’re a part of my team, I want you to be able to do everything – soup to nuts. The people I work with aren’t just buyer’s agents or seller’s agents, they can truly help anybody with their real estate needs.”

Nick approaches leadership with a holistic understanding of the individual. When it comes time for annual goal-setting, he works with each agent to assess their short and long-term career ambitions, tailored to their unique business practices and skills.

Nick’s best advice? Take inspiration from others, but also find what works best for the individual, even if it’s not mainstream.

“I tell my agents they have to find their niche as far as how they like to run their business best. Whatever is their preferred – and most effective – way to stay in touch with their network, absolutely run with it,” he shares.

How marketing helps garner local business

Regardless of the approach agents take to stay connected, Nick prides his team on providing consistent value to past, present, and future clients alike. This can be done on a broader scale – like public-facing social media channels – or a smaller scale with individual communication.

Either way, according to Nick, it’s all about building trust.

“I recently filmed a quick video of me just asking if people needed any contacts for home services this spring, from power washers to landscapers and more. I had people reaching out to me saying things like, ‘Nick, who do you recommend for a duct-cleaner?'” he says. “I always tell my clients that anybody I refer them to is someone I trust to work on my own house, too.”

The outcome of providing valuable content to the community pays off for Nick.

“More than 90% of my business comes from referrals,” he says.

But as the Christopher Property Group looks to expand its size – and expand how many consumers can help – marketing is more important than ever before.

“Before we made the move, we wanted to check out the marketing tools RE/MAX offers,” he says. “We learned about Photofy and all of the other resources available through MAX/Center. My wife Gretchen, who is in charge of marketing, was like, ‘This saves me so much time and there’s so much more [customizable] content we can use.'”

This content is coming in handy on Nick’s growing social media channels, a main focus for marketing these days.

“Last year, it became clear that we needed to ramp up our use of video. Now, we probably film, on average, at least two videos per week,” he continues. “We do a lot of community videos highlighting local businesses, and we have been creating more Instagram Reels.”

The move to RE/MAX didn’t halt more traditional marketing for Nick either. He recalls being surprised at how seamless the transition to the brand was – and how his name was appearing alongside the globally recognized balloon in no time.

“We were moved into the RE/MAX Community office within one week. We were up and running quickly, even with our new yard signs ready to go,” Nick says.

“I felt like it was time to make a move and explore ways to grow – RE/MAX was a good fit.”

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