They Laughed. He Bought RE/MAX.
As you can see here, on February 12, 2021, Tamir Poleg sent a text message to Peter Nobel.
"I think we should buy Remax."
Peter responded with nothing more than a laughing emoji. 🤣
Tamir was not kidding. He had a dream.
Five years later, he freaking DID IT!!!!
Brad and I were sitting at RISE 2026, our first annual conference with our new brokerage, Real, when this exchange appeared on the enormous screen behind Tamir. Of course, I immediately snapped a shot because I knew this was one I'd want to come back to, so here I am. This was one moment from the conference I cannot get out of my head.
I'm sure you can appreciate how outrageous this idea was at the time. At the end of 2020, Real had ,1475 agents. RE/MAX had somewhere around 140,000 agents. One was a relatively young, technology-focused brokerage still building its presence in the industry. The other was arguably the most recognizable name in real estate, with decades of history and an enormous international network.
Imagine running a company with fewer than 1,500 agents and casually texting your Chief Strategy Officer about buying an organization nearly 100 times your size. Come on! Most of you would laugh, too.
The difference is, Tamir apparently wasn't willing to leave the idea in the category of things that sound completely freaking impossible. He built a team, designed a path, and fulfilled his dream.
On August 24, 2026, Real officially completed its acquisition of RE/MAX holdings, creating Real REMAX Group. Real had grown to more than 36,000 agents by then, and the combined organization now represents more than 180,000 real estate professionals across over 120 countries and territories. ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY THOUSAND!!
Holy hell that's a broad network!!
I've spent a lot of my career working with executives, entrepreneurs, and people with some sometimes aggressively ambitious ideas. I've seen many of those ideas enthusiastically discussed, analyzed to death, and eventually filed away somewhere between "interesting concept" and "maybe someday".
I'm really not that impressed that Tamir had this idea. I'm impressed that he was relentless in figuring out how to make it happen. Of course, he did not do it alone. There were years of growth, strategic investments, healthy negotiations, big decisions, and a tremendous amount of work by some incredibly talented people. He built an organization capable of accomplishing something that must have seemed absolutely absurd when he first thought and suggested it. Now, look at what they've created.
RE/MAX brings more than 50 years of brand recognition, an enormous international presence, thousands of franchise offices, and a network of highly productive agents who have built successful businesses all over the world. Real brings an innovative, agent-first business model, advanced technologies, and a rapidly growing network of agents who genuinely believe in collaboration over competition.
The brands will continue operating separately, maintaining the identities and strengths that made each successful. However, the opportunities created by bringing them together are endless. Think about the potential for international referrals, shared knowledge, professional relationships, and collaboration across a network of more than 180,000 real estate professionals. Add in Real's tech platform, including reZEN, Real Wallet, and the new Leo Pro AI capabilities, and we are looking at some seriously exciting advancements in how agents manage their businesses and serve their clients.
You KNOW how much I love a good mastermind. It's basically my favorite pastime! Imagine having access to the experience and expertise of THAT many professionals at THAT level! As you can imagine, I'm pretty freaking pumped!!
Of course, integrating organizations of this size will take time, and not ever opportunity will be available this week. The best part about this whole thing is knowing Tamir and his team live by their #1 goal of making agents' lives better. We, on the other hand, are focused on our #1 goal of delivering the best possible experience for our clients. Ultimately, they don't care how impressive our brokerage's org chart looks. They care whether we know what we're doing, whether we have the resources to help them, and whether we are going to take good care of them.
Earlier this week, I wrote about our amazing experience at RISE 2026 and how blown away Brad and I were by the people and the culture. Nearly 2k agents attended, yet somehow the leadership team managed to make all of us feel like we were more than independent agents in a very large crowd. They were approachable, supportive, engaged, and genuinely interested in helping us find success, whatever success looks like to us.
So here is a guy who dreamed about acquiring a company nearly 100 times the size of his own, spent five years leading the charge in making it happen, and still spent the conference walking around, talking with agents, answering questions, and celebrating with everyone at the closing party. Brad and I even got a picture with him while we were all gettin' low on the dance floor. Think about that for a second...the guy pulled off one of the biggest deals in the real estate industry, and there he was, hanging out and taking pictures with us agents. No entourage, no sense that his time was somehow more valuable than ours. It was just Tamir, being Tamir. I, for one, FREAKING LOVE THAT!!!
Real talks a lot about "We Is Greater Than Me." and "Work Hard. Be Kind." After spending time with the people who lead the organization, I can tell you those are so much more than nice little words someone came up with for marketing materials. They are reflected in how people in this organization treat other people, how they collaborate, and how personally invested they are in helping others succeed.
Think about what it means to be part of an organization with THAT kind of leadership.
Seriously, can you imagine being surrounded by people who are so committed to pursuing dreams that seem wildly unattainable?!?!?! Can you imagine being surrounded by people who don't laugh you out of the room when you share a big, crazy idea, but instead help you figure out how to build the team and design the path to make it happen?
COME ON!!! How unbelievably fortunate are we!?
Brad and I have some exceptionally lofty goals for Next Chapter Partners, and I'll admit, a few of them feel a little...or a lot...intimidating. We've got big ideas about how we want to grow, how we want to serve our clients, how we want to serve our community, and what we want this business to become. Knowing we are part of an organization led by someone who turned a seemingly ridiculous text message into one of the biggest acquisitions in real estate history gives us a whole new level of confidence in pursuing our biggest goals.
We aren't expecting anyone to hand us success, and we certainly know there is going to be a shit ton of work involved. The difference is knowing we have people in our corner who genuinely WANT us to succeed, who have the experience and resources to help us figure things out, and who aren't going to tell us to dream a little smaller.
This is a TOUGH business, and the market we are operating in right now isn't making it any easier. We are challenged at every turn. Brad and I have no intention of simply hanging on and hoping things improve. Instead, we are identifying opportunities, investing in our business, learning everything we can, building relationships, and finding better ways to take care of the people who trust is.
Every improvement we make to Next Chapter Partners ultimately comes back to our clients, friends, and families. We want to build a business we are proud of...a business that allows us to do the work we live wihle providing exceptional service to the people who make it possible.
I keep looking at that picture of Tamir and his text thread. February 12, 2021. An insane idea. A laughable idea. Five years of hard work and determination. Growing from less than 1,500 real estate professionals to 180,000!
Now I look at the picture of Brad and me with Tamir at the closing party, and I can't help but smile. We are part of the organization he dreamed about building, surrounded by people who want to help us pursue and attain our own outrageous dreams.
I have no idea exactly where all of this will take us, but I can promise you we are feeling incredibly blessed to be along for the ride. We have some BIG ideas, an incredible team behind us, and absolutely no intention of dreaming smaller...EVER.
Thank you all for being a part of our journey!
With Love,
Brad & Shanna 🖤🧡
