Top eXp Team Returns to RE/MAX for Brand Recognition, Resources

After just 16 months away with a competitor brand, Drew Woolcott – with his 31-member team in tow – was eager to return to RE/MAX. The Burlington, Ontario-based team leader’s operation was one of eXp Realty’s top teams in Canada for a year, but Woolcott soon realized he preferred the strong foundation for business growth at RE/MAX Escarpment Realty.

Now, the Woolcott Real Estate team continues to take their local housing market by storm – but with the RE/MAX balloon behind them.

Woolcott recognizes a culture of productivity as a must when finding the right brand to align with. As it turns out, that culture – one of constant wins and top producer success – doesn’t appear at just any real estate company.

“We’ve only been able to find it at RE/MAX,” Woolcott says.

Woolcott – along with Woolcott Real Estate General Manager Justine Woolcott – shares which aspects of the RE/MAX brand inspired the move for sustainable success.

‘RE/MAX knows how to operate in different market conditions’

Fluctuating market conditions call for the backing of a household brand name known around the world.

Woolcott notes that the current Ontario housing market is reminiscent of that in which he launched his real estate career in the 1990s.

“This market is going to require a different skill set. We wanted to be with a company that understands that,” the RE/MAX Diamond Club Team member explains. “RE/MAX has been around for a long time. They know how to operate in different market conditions. It’s very attractive to us going forward to have the resilience and experience of a company, and the leadership behind you, that has actually faced change in the marketplace.”

Real estate consumers, no matter the market conditions, are still undergoing what may be the largest financial transaction of their lifetime. Brand recognition can help create an extra layer of trust as consumers choose a professional to work with.

“Going forward, the real estate market could face headwinds – strong headwinds. And we think that our clients and our agents can be better served when allied with an internationally recognized brand with a firm foundation in the marketplace versus something that’s much newer and much less known by the general public.”

‘Leveraging the marketing is an advantage’

Justine Woolcott credits resources and tools offered by RE/MAX as a benefit of the affiliation.

“An advantage for our client experience is leveraging the luxury marketing piece and leveraging the Canadian and American websites to expand reach,” she shares.

Under the RE/MAX brand, affiliates are able to engage with the residential, commercial and luxury sectors while having easy access to exclusive marketing materials, customizable templates, social media graphics and yard signs for each avenue of business. The brand’s global nature also creates opportunities for international referrals.

‘Our Broker/Owners are a remarkable group of people’

“We really are a team – we work very, very closely together,” Woolcott says of his large team. “It’s not a part-time effort. We hire only full-time dedicated agents because we feel that that’s the way real estate has to be done in our marketplace.”

Woolcott shares his appreciation for the hustle culture of RE/MAX – noting that the real estate profession can require grueling hours – and citing that factor as reasoning to leave behind a company he felt had a slower pace of business.

On the brokerage level, Woolcott credits a strong broker relationship as a leading factor in finding a brokerage that feels like home for himself as a team leader, as well as his team of productive agents. Shared values – like that of running a family business – have created a special connection between Woolcott and Conrad Zurini, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.

He cites Zurini’s unwavering leadership, ethics and innovation as factors that make his brokerage stand out among the rest. Woolcott also quips that it’s near impossible to leave Zurini or his fellow brokerage leaders a voicemail because they are so committed to communication.

“The Zurinis are a remarkable group of people and they’re [an asset] to the RE/MAX brand,” Woolcott says.

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