RE/MAX CEO Adam Contos and Redfin CEO Glen Glenn Kelman
RE/MAX agents can now boost their business through Redfin’s referral program.
The two brokerages announced a partnership that will give RE/MAX agents exclusive access to Redfin’s agent referral program across 5,000 U.S. ZIP codes and Canada, Inman reported. Agents will get a discounted rate — and the initial partnership will last two years, with the two firms re-evaluating whether to continue beyond 2021.
“We just looked at it an opportunity to provide another value add for our network in terms of marketing and referral opportunities,” Karri Callahan, RE/MAX’s chief financial officer, told Inman. “Redfin is a good compliment to the REMAX model given their online presence and our offline presence.”
The move teams up a massive franchise brokerage with a newer discount brokerage. Redfin’s Partner Agent program allows agents from any brokerage to advertise listings in areas underserved by Redfin’s agents. The Partner Agent is displayed prominently on the listing.
If a RE/MAX agent closes a deal from a referral, Redfin gets 25 percent of the commission, the report said. That fee is otherwise 30 percent. Each referral is sent to one agent — who has an hour to accept it. To stay in the program, the report said the RE/MAX agent has to accept an undisclosed percentage of referrals.
In areas outside of the RE/MAX partnership, Redfin’s program will continue on a brokerage-by-brokerage basis. Chelsea Goyer, Redfin’s vice president of recruiting, partners and multiple listing service relations, said the partnership will help expand Redfin’s consumer-facing presence and RE/MAX will serve areas where Redfin isn’t growing right now.
Redfin currently has no plans to hire local agents in those 5,000 exclusive ZIP codes, where the company has access to MLS data, the report said. But there’s nothing in the agreement that prevents Redfin expanding into one of those areas. The company said more than 30,000 customers have started their home search on Redfin with a Partner Agent since 2009.
Earlier this year, Redfin announced it was expanding to Toronto and later Vancouver. The company also launched a national listing website. In every area outside of Toronto and Vancouver, RE/MAX agents have the exclusive chance to advertise on those listings. [Inman] — Meenal Vamburkar
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