[VIP] RE/MAX Q3, 2019: Don’t Look Back

RE/MAX reported Q3 earnings on Halloween, and I can’t help but think there was a lot more trick than treat in its Q3 results. Yes, RE/MAX remains fundamentally healthy and it has some advantages over its main competitors, especially the other publicly reporting franchise company, Realogy, but there were a lot more walking dead in these numbers and these comments than there were candy bars.

In Q1, I wrote that RE/MAX was poised on the brink of greatness but refusing to make a leap. In Q2, I wrote that something’s gotta give because its business model is in conflict with the strategic vision it is laying out. Well, for Q3, I think RE/MAX is telling everyone not to look backwards, but forwards. It’s not about what has happened in the past three months (indeed, the past few quarters), but what will come in the days ahead.