RE/MAX is short for what phrase?

RE/MAX is short for “Real Estate Maximums.” The name reflects the company’s original business model: real-estate agents kept nearly all of their commissions and instead paid their brokerage a share of office expenses.

Dave Liniger and Gail Main founded RE/MAX in Denver, Colorado, in 1973. Their approach challenged the traditional commission structure used by many residential brokerages, giving agents greater independence and an incentive to produce at a high level. The company began franchising rapidly, opening its first franchise outside Colorado in Kansas City in 1975.

The name is sometimes written as Re/Max or RE/MAX, but those variations do not change the expansion of the abbreviation. It also should not be confused with a description of the company’s size or with “realty exchange market”—those are plausible-sounding inventions, not the brand’s origin.

RE/MAX later became known for its red, white, and blue hot-air-balloon imagery. The balloon first appeared at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in 1978 and became the company’s official logo the following year.