Nowadays, anything and everything is available online. Even services are offered straight from the web. Brokering services online has now reached maturity as one of the most preferred transactions, even for the real estate sector.
Such is the power of the digital platform, that a US-based company of real estate agents, Remax, upped the ante, from delivering services personally to branching out using the Internet to create a global network of real estate agents, offering expertise from one point of the globe to another, at real-time and without having to travel.
“What we offer realty agents in the world is the best training possible, advertising support and branding the Remax way. We offer technical tools to be able to serve the customer as best they can and give exceptional service to the clients. Remax is the best marketplace to list your properties,” said Remax Philippines president Leonard Campos, who also leads the Remax master franchise in Guam.
The Philippine office is Campos’ second master franchise, which is open for sub-franchises for a fee of about P880,000 and a monthly payment of roughly P40,000.
He said Remax Philippines is looking at growing its Philippine network to 200 offices or franchises in the next two years.
With the entry of Remax into the local real estate space, the Philippines is now part of the web of nearly 100,000 countries with over 16,900 Remax offices around the world.
The global organization oversees a network of more than 100,000 agents, all connected under the Remax system.
The Remax franchise network is described as “a global real estate system of franchisee owned and operated office and their affiliate independent professionals.”
Locally, Remax now has 20 franchises, with two more upcoming, and a network of more than a hundred real estate agents.
“But Remax is not just opening up to everyone. We’re looking for certain type of entrepreneurs, brokers who want to grow and be professionalized and investors who want to have their own businesses. We do have strict criteria of being a franchise owner,” said Campos.
When a broker becomes a Remax franchisee, he or she operates under the Remax brand, which offers instant credibility and global recognition.
“Nobody else in the world sells more real estate than Remax and this means Remax is a winning company that backs winners,” said Remax Philippines country manager Michelle Perlas.
The franchisee will also get first-rate office opening support and complete access to Remax’s training and support systems which are considered the best in the industry.
Operating in the Philippines for two years now or since 2012, Remax was formally launched just recently, amid the ongoing construction boom and growth of the property sector.
“Reason for this is because we want to make sure that we are prepared. Doing a grand launch after we opened makes sense because when you’re announcing yourself to the whole country, then people may want to use your services. We feel that we are now ready to accept and handle the businesses that come,” Campos said.
The first year was spent building the Philippine team.
“We started doing market and franchise recruitment in 2013 with three offices and from there, we were slowly building to get to the current point,” said Campos.
As the global leader in full range of real estate services, Remax is the only group, so far, that can aggregate developers into one site.
“They’re the ones actually coming to us. If they list with Remax, they get to have their properties seen all over the world as opposed to local only. Like Vista Land or Ayala Land, for instance, they go abroad to promote their products on roadshows with their selling team. With Remax, they don’t have to go with their team. We can network with our Remax agents all over the world,” Perlas said.
Other Remax partner-developers in the Philippines are Filinvest Land, Ayaland Inc., Rockwell Land Corp. and Vista Land.
Banks are also teaming up with Remax to dispose of repossessed properties, as well as with retail companies to help them scout for ideal spaces for their operations.
“A lot of banks are talking to us, but we’re not exclusive to any bank. Similar to developers, we’re not exclusive to [specific] developers. We do contract with developers because we have a sort of standards that we offer to Remax franchisee. We meet with partner-developers bi-monthly to see their portfolio. They’ve been very active with our franchisees,” said Perlas.
“We’re everywhere. The good thing with this is that having more Filipinos in the Remax system makes it easier to network with other offices elsewhere. So the opportunity to network is actually unlimited,” she said.
Perlas said with more than 12,000 licensed brokers in the National Capital Region alone, the potential to grow a significant pool of Remax agents in the Philippines is immense, with a promising and fast-growing property sector.
Remax Global believes that the housing boom in the Philippines, and in the whole Asia Pacific will continue for many years, with no indication of slowing down in the near future “because of the sheer demand by a young population.”
The Denver-based company founded by Dave and Gail Liniger in 1973 has almost 100,000 agents in nearly 100 countries with more than 7,000 offices.
“The Remax system has helped people be their own boss and provided them with opportunities beyond making money. We want to inspire more entrepreneurs, especially those who believe in what we do and its power to transform lives,” said Perlas.