{"id":13615,"date":"2017-08-31T01:00:33","date_gmt":"2017-08-30T15:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realestatetalk.com.au\/?p=13615"},"modified":"2017-08-31T01:00:33","modified_gmt":"2017-08-30T15:00:33","slug":"the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\/","title":{"rendered":"The rise, fall and rise of REMAX – Michael Davoren"},"content":{"rendered":"

 
\nReputed to be the world\u2019s largest real estate company, REMAX is a very new company in world terms. It\u2019s been around for 44 years now, but in Australia, about 20 years. \u00a0When it first started, it really did take off and that was very quickly followed by the GFC, and that smashed it for a while.\u00a0 Michael Davoren<\/strong> from REMAX tells the story of its recovery.
\nTranscript :\u00a0<\/strong>
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/strong>Michael Davoren is with me in the studio. Michael is the managing director for RE\/MAX Australia and New Zealand.
\nTell us the history of RE\/MAX into Australia.
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/strong>RE\/MAX generally is only a very, very new company in world terms as well. It\u2019s only been around for 44 years now, but in Australia, about 20 years. You know, you hear the football commentator say \u201cIt was a game of two halves.\u201d Well, RE\/MAX\u2019s story has been a game of three thirds, really.
\nWhen it first started, as you know with other companies, it really did take off. It took off immeasurably. It was very strong. A lot of the established agents joined. And then all of a sudden, whilst it was very fast growth, it was very quickly followed by the GFC, and that smashed it for a while.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/strong>Explain the business model for those who don\u2019t know.
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/strong>The pure RE\/MAX model is a model where good agents are paid a very high split of the commission. They run their own businesses. We have what we call conjunctional agents now. We don\u2019t use the term because it\u2019s nothing like an independent contractor anymore. We have changed all of that. But it really is people owning and running their own businesses within businesses.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/strong>Yes, the consumer generally wouldn\u2019t see the difference, but internally, the difference is quite massive, isn\u2019t it, because RE\/MAX gave agents the opportunity to truly run a business within a business for the first time.
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/strong>Absolutely. And where a lot of the growth for RE\/MAX in Australia has come from as well is they\u2019ve grown businesses within businesses, and then eventually the right ones \u2013 and that would still be a small percentage of agents who are appropriate to \u2013 go out and have their own business.
\nThere has been some good growth, but the numbers did fall away after the GFC there for a while, and when we took over about five years ago, we had to turn that around, and we have turned that around. We\u2019ve now got good growth, but the models have changed.
\nThere\u2019s a lot more variation in the models now, not just one RE\/MAX model. There are all sorts of models. We have totally traditional offices out there. The bigger agencies now concentrating on conjunctional agents.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/strong>Interesting, too, because the introduction of RE\/MAX actually brought about a number of changes in existing operations. Some of the major franchise groups have diversified as well. They have similar models inside their model.
\nThe commissions for the consumer haven\u2019t changed, so therefore they don\u2019t perceive a difference. But as I was saying earlier, the difference internally is quite large. It gave good agents the opportunity to start to run their own business and earn more of the commission.
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/strong>Yes. But it has also given them the opportunity to build their own brand, to create their own environment, to employ their own staff. There are a lot of advantages to it. The real estate industry has seen an increase in competition. I think the consumers have seen some benefit in that.
\nI think when the consumer is looking for \u2013 and this is a hard thing for them to do \u2013 the right agent, I don\u2019t think it should only be based around what the fee is. I think that it\u2019s really important that sometimes the cheapest agent can be the most expensive when it comes to ability to negotiate and the prices that are achieved.
\nI think, overall, the industry has become far more professional than what it used to be, but I think that there has been some evolution, and I think that that\u2019s one of the things that\u2019s going to stand very strongly for the real estate industry as the different models come in, all that sort of stuff. I think that we have evolved as an industry.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/strong>Will there be a change in the models, do you think?
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/strong>Yes. There will always be new models come in, but the traditional model will stead fast for I think a fair time to come. But it\u2019s very important that the real estate agent doesn\u2019t get so wrapped up in technology that they forget that it\u2019s a relationship business.
\nI can remember when I first started my real estate career many decades ago. I started with my father on the Gold Coast, and he used to make me walk with him to the post office every morning. It used to drive me crazy to be honest, because it used to take so long. But it was all about people wanting to talk to him and him wanting to talk to people.
\nThat has to come back into the real estate business. I think we got a bit carried away with who can build the biggest database. Yes, you have to have a good database, but you have to have people out there who really do know you, not just know of you.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/strong>That\u2019s a great lesson, not only for real estate agents but for all businesses, because they talk about how big their database is, but how well are they interacting with that database?
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/strong>Yes, and how many of the people on that database are actually advocates for them? As a topic of discussion, real estate is probably one of the most popular discussions. Even in a social atmosphere, people want to talk about real estate. And if people are talking about real estate, a good real estate agent is the one whose name has to pop up, and they\u2019re the ones who will really survive and thrive in the real estate business in the future.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/strong>Yes, it\u2019s a very interesting topic, and I can imagine\u2026 I know we have a lot of agents who listen to this who hopefully are getting the message that so many agents have got good databases, they just don\u2019t know how to communicate with them, so they just simply push out their listings \u2013 \u201cThis is my latest listing,\u201d or \u201cHere are all my listings\u201d \u2013 thinking that that\u2019s actually what consumers want.
\nBut it\u2019s not. They actually need information. They need \u201cTell me how to get through this transaction when it\u2019s time for me to do it.\u201d
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/strong>Yes, and it\u2019s the same with all sorts of stuff that real estate agents have been doing, be it door knocking, be it letterbox dropping. They have to understand that people will put their properties on the market when they\u2019re ready, not just because a real estate agent needs a listing.
\nIt\u2019s the communication that goes on right throughout that period of time until that time comes when they do want to think about selling, and that agent\u2019s name has to be the one that comes up in their thinking, in their discussions on who they\u2019re going to use.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/strong>Yes. This has been the big change, and you touched on it, that the move from the agent being transactional to being relationship and understanding that the houses are inanimate, they just stay there; it\u2019s the people who move in and out of those houses who are the real customers.
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/strong>Absolutely, and a good agent\u2019s strengths are in the marketing of that. You have to be able to talk about the asset itself, but you have to be able to understand that the buyers who are there are eventually going to be sellers, and so the relationships have to start there and have to be genuine.
\nAnd the same with the sellers. We are appointed by the sellers. I\u2019ve met thousands of real estate agents over my years in real estate, and I think the vast majority of them genuinely do want to try and do the right thing by their sellers and buyers.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/strong>Absolutely. Michael, all the best. Michael of course from RE\/MAX. Thank you very much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Reputed to be the world\u2019s largest real estate company, REMAX is a very new company in world terms. It\u2019s been around for 44 years now, but in Australia, about 20 years. \u00a0When it first started, it really did take off and that was very…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176692471,"featured_media":14385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,10,11,13,25,27],"tags":[101],"class_list":["post-13615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-studies","category-kevin-turner-sponsored-channels","category-kevin-update","category-latest-story","category-sponsored-channels","category-trends-topic","tag-podcast"],"yoast_head":"\nThe rise, fall and rise of REMAX - Michael Davoren - Realty Talk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The rise, fall and rise of REMAX - Michael Davoren - Realty Talk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  Reputed to be the world\u2019s largest real estate company, REMAX is a very new company in world terms. It\u2019s been around for 44 years now, but in Australia, about 20 years. \u00a0When it first started, it really did take off and that was very...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Realty Talk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-30T15:00:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rolanrush\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rolanrush\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"rolanrush\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/384a57ac9e52cb9bf19896cb15eaa52d\"},\"headline\":\"The rise, fall and rise of REMAX – Michael Davoren\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-30T15:00:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1436,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"keywords\":[\"podcast\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Case Studies\",\"Kevin Turner\",\"Kevin's Update\",\"Latest Stories\",\"Sponsored Channels\",\"Trends\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\\\/\",\"name\":\"The rise, fall and rise of REMAX - Michael Davoren - Realty Talk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-30T15:00:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/384a57ac9e52cb9bf19896cb15eaa52d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-remax-michael-davoren\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The rise, fall and rise of REMAX – Michael Davoren\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/channels.realty.com.au\\\/realtytalk\\\/\",\"name\":\"Realty Talk\",\"description\":\"Your Trusted Voice For Property Investing. 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