Denver-based RE/MAX is a residential real estate institution, rewriting the agent and brokerage playbook back in the 1970s and 80s. But on Thursday RE/MAX announced that 17% of its staff, or 120 employees, would be let go by the end of the year.
The layoffs will affect company technology workers, including operators of the booj platform, its customer relationship management software for brokers and agents.
RE/MAX also said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the company is making a “strategic investment” in lending arm, Motto Mortgage, and plans to hire an unspecified number of workers in that division by the end of the year.
RE/MAX, whose business model is collecting fees from franchisees, notified the affected workers.* News of the layoffs appeared on page four of a six-page release. The first few pages discuss how RE/MAX is trying to attract and retain teams of real estate agents. The release also discusses an unspecified planned investment in mortgage sales and marketing.
The layoffs come amid other real estate companies such as Redfin, Compass and HomeLight announcing pink slips, not to mention a plethora of mortgage lending company layoffs.
RE/MAX, though, has not suffered the income losses of Redfin and Compass. The company generated $1.2 million in the first quarter of 2022, on $91 million in revenue.
RE/MAX CEO Adam Contos stepped down in January and a replacement has not been named. Steve Joyce has served as interim CEO.
* UPDATE July 7: After publication of the story, a RE/MAX spokesperson informed RealTrends that the affected employees have all been notified. Also the spokesperson noted that the layoffs were partly due to a partnership between RE/MAX and Inside Real Estate, a technology provider. “With this evolutionary step in our technology strategy, some of the existing software products developed in-house will sunset. As a result, the size of our technology team has been adjusted,” the spokesperson said.