Meet The RE/MAX CEO of 142,000 Agents in 118 Countries

Nick Bailey is not your average CEO.

For one, he started his career in the real estate industry as an agent – and even sold homes as recently as 2020.

Second, Nick’s 26 years of experience range from sales to Zillow to competing brokerages. This gives him incredible insight into many different perspectives of the industry. He combines this broad range of knowledge with gut instinct to drive RE/MAX forward as CEO.

But what impressed me the most were his responses. Nick answered every question with a level of transparency that is rare when speaking to one of the most powerful people in real estate (or any industry, for that matter).

Simply put, I was blown away by this interview with Nick Bailey and Tom Toole. Tune in to The Byron Lazine Podcast for the full conversation.

A CEO who Sells Homes

“It’s quite an honor to lead an organization of over 142,000 professionals spanning 118 countries.”

Nick Bailey

As CEO of RE/MAX, Nick leads the vision of the global company and all of its employees. So it’s safe to say he has a lot going on. Even with his workload, Nick stays in the business at ground level.

In 2020, Nick closed $4 million in volume. What began as a favor for a friend turned into five transactions. He didn’t refer these deals out and didn’t split them with an agent. He went throughout the entire process.

“It’s really good in this role for me to be at the front line of the transaction. And I can tell you in 26 years exactly what’s changed and what has not changed.”

Nick Bailey

Not many CEOs actively sell properties, but it enables Nick to fully understand what agents are dealing with in today’s market. He understands the challenges of the industry and the individual agent firsthand. Then, as the leader of a global organization, works to create the space for tools and systems that support agents.

Nick’s Advice for Agents

For the past couple of years, we’ve been hearing that the market has an inventory problem. But, that’s not quite the issue, as there were 6.1 million homes sold last year. The problem is a days-on-market issue.

Nick shares advice on how to help your clients – and your business – with this looming problem:

1. Call everyone in your phone. We all know there will be homes listed this year. We also know people buy and sell multiple times in their life. But even though 94% of consumers say they would use the same agent again, only 13% actually do, often because they never hear from that agent again. Or, if they do, it’s a terrible monthly newsletter that winds up in the trash. So, pick up the phone and call the people already in your database.

2. Try old school tactics with a modern twist. Door knocking still works. James Harris built his entire business by knocking on doors. Instead of going to every house, target neighborhoods or streets where a property was just listed. Why? Because statistically, if a house goes on the market, there is at least one house on the same street that will go on the market within 30 days, and 2-3 within the 90 days. You can also use AI technology and public data to determine who is most likely to be interested in selling, upping your chances of getting a lead.

Burnout to Broke

The real estate market has been insane the past two years, and it’s wearing on a lot of agents. But Nick is worried about more than the burnout:

“I worry about agents because I think they are going to go from burnout to broke.”

Nick Bailey

For many agents, all they know is the current market, and Nick states they have become used to taking orders. They wait for the phone to ring, or a buyer to tell them what property they want to look at. They have not learned how to fill their pipeline or hunt for leads. When the market shifts, the agents who don’t adapt won’t make it.

Don’t wait for the phone to ring. Go and fill the pipeline now, and shift your focus from taking orders to hunting leads.

This episode was packed with information. You’ll want to take notes as you listen to the full conversation, where we also discuss: