RE/MAX Holdings turned a $4 million profit during the third quarter of 2025 as the company worked towards providing more flexibility for agents through new fee models and gave them added value with additional tools and services.
During an investor call on Friday, CEO Erik Carlson focused on overall agent growth, some key new hires and how the company is continuing to try and help agents perform during a challenging market. He also addressed questions about new tools and benefits for agents, and the current M&A landscape in the industry.
“Based on feedback from the membership, we believe our mix of new ideas and products, along with our reinvigorated recent network events, are enhancing our value proposition and generating great energy,” Carlson said during the call. “At the same time, our constant focus on operational excellence again drove profitability and margin performance that exceeded our expectations. And while existing home sales have yet to show sustained signs of recovery, our networks continue to perform resiliently.”
What follows are the biggest takeaways.
Staying profitable despite market headwinds
The franchisor’s total revenue decreased 6.7 percent year over year to $73.3 million. That decline was attributable to a decrease in organic revenue of 5.4 percent, largely driven by falling U.S. agent numbers and new modifications to the company’s fee models, and due to adverse foreign currency movements.
Even with a significant decrease in revenue, RE/MAX remained profitable with a net income of $4 million.
The company remained financially sound, in part, because it also slashed operating expenses by $8.3 million, or 13.2 percent, to $54.9 million during the third quarter of 2025, compared to $63.3 million the year prior. That’s because the franchisor had lower selling, operating and administrative expenses, as well as settlement and other impairment charges.
Agent growth overall, but still weakness in the U.S. and Canada
For several consecutive quarters, RE/MAX has seen its agent numbers in the U.S. and Canada decrease, and this quarter was no different. U.S. and Canadian agent count combined dropped 5.1 percent to 74,198 agents. Still the company was able to increase agent count overall by 1.4 percent to 147,547 agents, and said international agent count continued to be a bright spot.
RE/MAX also saw its U.S. agent count this quarter as a step forward, since the loss of U.S. agents was less than any other third quarter period during the last three years.
New fee models and tools
RE/MAX touted early positive feedback from the company’s newly adopted tools, including the Aspire agent success program and fee model and the Marketing as a Service (MaaS) tool, plus its new Ascend and Appreciate fee models.
“Our Aspire program continues to be a success, with approximately 1,500 agents benefitting from the program,” Carlson said of the program that gives agents access to Buffini & Company’s 100 Days to Greatness course, a specialized certification and hands-on experience with RE/MAX tech platform MAXTech.
“Although it is still early, Aspire is performing as intended, with an uptick in the recruitment of new agents and a higher retention rate,” Carlson added.
RE/MAX’s Ascend and Appreciate brokerage fee options give franchisees more options for how to best recruit and retain agents, Carlson said.
Ascend is an optional model that reduces fixed monthly fees in exchange for a higher variable component with a cap and transaction fee. It is available to all new recruits and agents transitioning from Aspire.
Appreciate is a program for retiring agents, which allows long-tenured agents no monthly fees and lower annual dues while they wind down their careers. Fixed monthly feeds are instead replaced with a higher variable component, including a transaction fee, the company said.
“These optional economic models offer greater flexibility with respect to how and when a franchisee pays us, further supporting durability to attract and retain quality agents,” Carlson said. “While these programs are new, the feedback from the network has been very positive.”
The new RE/MAX Marketing as a Service (MaaS) tool is giving the company and its agents a competitive advantage today, Carlson added.
“The platform is a data-driven, AI-powered system that simplifies marketing for all of our affiliates,” the CEO said. “The offerings include automated listing packages, complimentary campaign options, real-time analytics and property videos created seamlessly with AI. We’ll continue to add innovative products to the platform, all of which are designed to help agents save time, win more listings and grow their business.”
M&A and recent additions
“Throughout our many events over the past several months, excitement and a feeling that something is different about RE/MAX has emerged as a constant theme,” Carlson said, as the company continues to work on its recruiting efforts among agents and leadership.
He noted that in August, the company brought on Vic Lombardo to lead the Motto Mortgage and Wemlo brands, who will oversee the growth and development of RE/MAX’s mortgage offerings. More details on the company’s mortgage strategy will follow in February, Carlson said.
Tom Flanagan also joined the company as chief digital information officer at the end of September.
“Tom is leading into the potential of AI, both to improve customer experience and to make us more efficient in our day-to-day operations,” Carlson said. “Not only is he an industry-leading technologist, but his experience in ancillary businesses will also be a great asset as we continue to explore future growth strategies.”
Given the current state of the market, Carlson said, RE/MAX expects industry consolidation to continue — but it should only help the company overall.
“Obviously, since the last time we spoke, there has been a big announcement,” Carlson said, alluding to Compass’s planned acquisition of Anywhere. “We just think that brings additional opportunity for us and could help us accelerate our strategy. We are obviously open for business — we are seeing a lot of inbound requests, meaning, ‘Hey, something’s happening over at RE/MAX — what is that? I want to talk more about that.’
“Maybe I have a contract up, maybe I’m independent and feeling pressure, but we are definitely seeing a lot more inbound activity here, which is very encouraging for our franchise sales and our network to capitalize on some of the market conditions, but also the opportunity on what we’ve built to join this momentum that we’ve got on the market right now.”
A few other key details
- RE/MAX Holdings held cash and cash equivalents of $107.5 million as of Sept. 30, 2025, up by $10.9 million from Dec. 31, 2024.
- The company also had $437.9 million in outstanding debt compared to $440.8 million at the end of 2024.
- During Q4 2025, RE/MAX expects agent count to increase by up to 1.5 percent year over year.
- The company anticipates revenue during the fourth quarter to hit between $69.5 million and $73.5 million.
