RE/MAX Broker Spotlight: Q&A With Illinois Broker/Owner Laki Hatzelis

I have been around real estate my whole life. My mom was a top producer during my adolescence and ran her own unaffiliated brokerage before joining RE/MAX®. When the former owner of the RE/MAX office my mom was managing decided to get out of the business, I saw it as a great opportunity and purchased the company.

I saw the power of the brand – everyone knows what RE/MAX is. But the biggest factor was seeing the power of the brand compared to the unaffiliated brokerages my mom used to own and manage.  That, and the success that sometimes comes from just being associated with the balloon.

I was definitely nervous in the beginning because of all the veteran agents.  I was only 26 at the time when I purchased RE/MAX 10 and felt like I had a lot to prove.

We have a great relationship with the regional team. We were originally with an independently owned RE/MAX region that transitioned to RE/MAX, LLC and it has been one of the best perks of being a franchise owner. The regional team is very supportive and offers guidance on a lot of things.

At first, I was just “Val’s son”. But after nine years at the helm, we have established a strong company that leads our markets and I believe we have the best agents out there. With the vision and goals we’ve established, we have consistently grown through mergers, acquisitions and getting top agents to be a part of our RE/MAX 10 family.

When I acquired the company, we had just three offices. Today, we have nine offices and a few hundred agents. And we aren’t done yet!

Great team effort and hard work. My mom is my partner and we have assembled a strong core team that includes my brother. I think the combination of fresh perspective and experience is what has helped us grow.

Our long-term goal is to have 10 offices with 1,000 agents. Along with that, we’d like to bring in all in-house services for a one-stop-shop experience for our agents and their clients.

The First app has major value that our agents love using. And I think MAX/TechSM powered by kvCORE will be our biggest asset on the tech side.

Support and education, but the right kind of education. I think it’s important to provide forward-thinking ideas and tips and skills to always be the relevant agent. Between myself, our management team and staff, we have the support piece down. With personalized coaching and weekly in-office training opportunities alongside RE/MAX University®, we have the education.