From the filed FDD — automated extraction, check the source
2026 FDD
RE/MAX
Residential real estate brokerage · parent company: not identified
RE/MAX is one of the largest real estate brokerage networks, where independent agents help people buy and sell homes and commercial property. The brand provides the name, tools, and referral network while agents work largely on commission. A franchisee owns a brokerage office, recruiting and supporting agents who handle transactions.
RE/MAX net unit count declined 10.8% over 2023–2025 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. Most numbers on this page come from that document; others come from federal SBA loan records and labor and census data, each labelled with its source:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened, transferred and left the system, the main basis for our verdict, which rates how strong the disclosed record is, or says when the system is too new, the filing too old, or the disclosure too thin to judge.
Our rating · opinion
Proven & steady
A real track record, though with soft spots. Units fell 11% (2023–2025: 3,358 → 2,994); the fiscal 2025 exit rate was 8.4%, in line with the 7.8% median across 8 comparable systems (residential real estate brokerage). SBA loans to its franchisees approved FY1992–2020 charged off at a rate not clearly different from franchise loans of the same years (38 vs about 47 expected, 0.8×).
Exit rate · fiscal 2025
8.4%
vs 7.8% median across 8 comparable systems (residential real estate brokerage)
Cost to open
$37K–$337K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan losses · vs same-year loans
0.8×
38 of 259 charged off vs ~47 expected
Market density · California
Dense market
19% denser than the national average
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Data as of 2026-10-29. Figures come from RE/MAX's public FDD filings (latest: MN 2026, extracted 2026-07-29) and SBA FOIA loan records (through FY2026), extracted by us and possibly containing errors. The rating is our opinion, not investment, legal, or tax advice. Franchisor or owner and see something wrong? Report a correction — we review every request.
Buying an existing RE/MAX? Transfer fee $2,500 plus costs, resale record and asking-price check →
What each source says
FDD record · SBA loans · model · auditor
The sources broadly agree, and the verdict follows the FDD's operating record.
FDD record · Item 20
Steady operating record
Units fell 11% (2023–2025: 3,358 → 2,994); exit rate 8.4% (fiscal 2025) vs 7.8% median.
SBA loans · vs same-year loans
About as expected (0.8×)
38 charge-offs among 259 resolved loans approved FY1992–2020; about 47 expected.
Modeled risk
Lower risk
Safer than 98% of scored systems.
Auditor opinion · Item 21
Clean opinion
Unqualified audit, 2026 FDD. Says nothing about franchisee results.
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
latest consecutive years · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness · shown, not counted in the verdict
Systemwide units
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 266 of 3,149 franchised outlets left the system — an exit rate of 8.4% (fiscal 2025), vs a 7.8% median across 8 comparable systems (residential real estate brokerage). An exit is not a failure: this counts terminations, non-renewals and "ceased — other reasons" as reported, and excludes transfers to new owners.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 517 | 497 | 3,477 | 3,358 | 3,149 |
| Opened | 18 | 29 | 201 | 130 | 111 |
| Transfers | 24 | 7 | 91 | 95 | 107 |
| Terminations | 4 | 2 | 106 | 101 | 22 |
| Non-renewals | 16 | 17 | 96 | 92 | 88 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 12 | 5 | 118 | 146 | 156 |
| Outlets at end | 497 | 502 | 3,358 | 3,149 | 2,994 |
| Net change | -20 | +5 | -119 | -209 | -155 |
The franchisor's own finances
FDD ITEM 21 · AUDITED STATEMENTS · 2026 FDD
Ernst & Young LLP gave an unmodified (clean) opinion on the statements in the 2026 FDD; revenue fell 11% from FY2023 to FY2025 and it reported a net loss in FY2023.
This is the company selling the franchise, not any franchisee. A clean opinion means the statements are fairly presented — not that the business is healthy.
Revenue · FY2025
$291.6M
p. 296 · matched to statement
Net income · FY2025
$14.2M
p. 296 · matched to statement
Where FY2025 revenue came from
39% royalties
initial-fee share not extracted
Show the statement figures ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Fiscal year | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $325.7Mp. 296 · matched to statement | $307.7Mp. 296 · matched to statement | $291.6Mp. 296 · matched to statement |
| Royalty revenue | $127.4Mp. 296 · matched to statement | $122.0Mp. 296 · matched to statement | $112.9Mp. 296 · matched to statement |
| Net income (loss) | −$61.2Mp. 296 · matched to statement | $11.3Mp. 296 · matched to statement | $14.2Mp. 296 · matched to statement |
| Equity (deficit) at year end | not extracted | −$67.8Mp. 295 | −$46.3Mp. 295 |
| Cash at year end | not extracted | $93.4Mp. 295 | $116.4Mp. 295 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan outcomes · compared with franchise loans of the same years
Banks have made 397 SBA-backed loans to RE/MAX franchisees since 1992. Of the 259 approved FY1992–2020 that have resolved, 38 charged off — where about 47 would be expected for franchise loans made in the same years. That is 0.8× the expected rate: these loans defaulted at a rate not clearly different from comparable franchise loans (a gap this size on this many loans could be chance).
All-time, 38 of 260 resolved loans charged off (14.6%). That raw figure mixes every approval year since 1992 — loans made in 2006–08 failed at several times the rate of loans made in 2010–13 across all franchises — so it is shown as evidence, not as the score.
0.8×
38 of 259 resolved (FY1992–2020) vs ~47 expected
14.6%
38 of 260 resolved, every approval year
64.2%
charged-off $ ÷ approved $, defaulted loans
$602,809
what recent franchisees borrowed
58 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
22 vs 30
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%) · dashed line = all franchise loans that year
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO RE/MAX BY SBA FRANCHISE NAME/CODE · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL · EXPECTED = SAME-YEAR RATE ACROSS ALL SBA FRANCHISE LOANS, LOANS ≥ ~6 YEARS OLD
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
The Huntington National Bank
7.5% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 10.0% of its resolved SBA loans to other franchise brands in the FOIA file, vs 14.8% nationally — a read on that lender's portfolio mix, not a finding about the bank.
Who buys it
81.4%
borrowers with no other franchise SBA loan on record
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators have charged off less often than brands sold mostly to newcomers (see methodology).
Does experience help here?
+0.5pp
multi-unit vs single-unit owners
Owners of multiple units default at 12.8%; single-unit owners at 12.3% (each on 15+ resolved loans, owners identified by borrower-name matching).
Computed from 397 SBA 7(a)/504 loans matched to RE/MAX by SBA franchise code in the SBA FOIA file. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. Owner-level splits rely on borrower-name matching and may misclassify. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $35,000 franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $37K–$337K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$37K–$337K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$35,000
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
See Item 6
not a single flat % — read the fee table
This is not profit. It covers what the FDD fixes: what you put in, and the royalty you owe on sales. Your take-home depends on agent commission splits, office costs, and the months to breakeven, none of which the FDD fixes for your unit (some Item 19s include cost data — read it).
Build a real pro-forma for RE/MAX with a buyer-paid CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 4 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $6K in back wages for 4 workers. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
4
Back wages owed
$6K
Employees affected
4
Since 2020
0
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual RE/MAX franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not RE/MAX itself. The franchisor is not the respondent and in most cases is not a party. What the record shows is how this system's operators run their payrolls, which is worth knowing before you become one of them. Counts rise with system size and with age: a 20-year-old, 10,000-unit system will out-count a young one regardless of conduct. Cases are matched to the brand by trade name and may include misattributed employers. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2018.
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · a prediction from disclosure and loan-file features
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks safer than 98% of the systems we score (lower-risk band).
Observed · vs same-year loans
0.8×
38 of 259 seasoned loans charged off
Risk percentile
2nd
Checkable · higher = riskier
Modeled · vs same-year loans
0.5×
≈ 7.8% at the all-loan vintage mix
Top drivers: System size (log units) (lowers) · Share financed by high-loss lenders (lowers) · Item 3 litigation (log) (lowers) · No Item 19 disclosure (lowers). The brand has 30+ seasoned resolved SBA loans, so the score can be checked against its own record. A linear scorecard trained on brands' vintage-adjusted SBA loss records; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Public records
Bankruptcy, closure & federal court records · coverage is selective · dockets are not scored
Franchise litigation docket: RE/MAX LLC v. MMS Investment Group, LLC (District Court, D. Colorado)
Filed by the franchisor · CourtListener/RECAP ↗ · 7mo ago
Franchise litigation docket: Roher v. RE/MAX, LLC (District Court, M.D. Florida)
Filed against the franchisor · CourtListener/RECAP ↗ · 8mo ago
Franchise litigation docket: RE/MAX, LLC v. Beachside Ventures, Inc. (District Court, D. Colorado)
Filed by the franchisor · CourtListener/RECAP ↗ · 20mo ago
Franchise litigation docket: RE/MAX, LLC v. JL United Realty, LLC (District Court, D. Colorado)
Filed by the franchisor · CourtListener/RECAP ↗ · 33mo ago
Franchise litigation docket: Siegle v. Re/Max LLC (District Court, D. Colorado)
Filed against the franchisor · CourtListener/RECAP ↗ · 35mo ago
10 questions to ask a RE/MAX franchisee
Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls
The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These questions come from what RE/MAX has disclosed. Each one carries the number it came from, so you can check the answer against the record.
- 01
RE/MAX’s own Item 20 shows 266 of 3,149 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2025 — about 8.4%. Do you know any of those owners, and do you know why they left?
A franchisor will call these “transitions.” An owner three doors down usually knows whether they sold at a profit or handed the keys back.
FDD Item 20 · FY2025
- 02
107 units transferred to new owners in fiscal 2025. When you look at those, were they people cashing out a good business — or getting out of a bad one?
Item 20 counts transfers as neutral, but a transfer can be a good sale or a reluctant exit — the filing does not say which.
FDD Item 20 · FY2025
- 03
The system went from 3,358 units to 2,994 over 3 disclosed years. What's the explanation you've been given, and do you believe it?
A shrinking system means fewer owners funding the ad fund and support staff you're paying for.
FDD Item 20 · FY2023–FY2025
- 04
SBA loans to RE/MAX franchisees approved 1992–2020 defaulted at a rate not clearly different from franchise loans made in the same years: 38 charge-offs among 259 resolved loans, where about 47 would be expected (0.8×). Did you finance with an SBA loan, and how close did your first two years come to trouble?
This is the lender's view of how these loans ended, from public federal records matched by SBA franchise code — independent of anything the franchisor discloses — compared with franchise loans made in the same years. A charge-off is a loan outcome, not proof the business closed.
SBA 7(a)/504 loan record, seasoned loans FY1992–FY2020 · 0.8× of same-vintage franchise loans
- 05
RE/MAX’s FDD makes no financial performance representation at all — legally, they've told buyers nothing about earnings. What did your first 24 months actually look like, month by month?
When a franchisor won't publish numbers, existing owners are the only source. Silence in Item 19 is a choice, not a requirement.
FDD Item 19 · 2026
- 06
How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?
Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.
Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner
- 07
Item 3 discloses 17 legal matters. Do you know what those were about, and were any brought by franchisees?
Franchisee-brought suits over territory, fees or support tell you how the franchisor behaves when there's a disagreement.
FDD Item 3 · 2026
- 08
What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?
Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.
FDD Items 6, 8, 11
- 09
If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?
The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.
Ask every owner you speak to
- 10
Who else should I call — including someone who left?
The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.
Ask every owner you speak to
Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?
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A broker is usually paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid only by you, never by a franchisor you're considering — and the job is pressure-testing RE/MAX’s numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Franchisors: send corrections with the page reference and we will review them against the filing and update or annotate the page. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
RE/MAX franchise questions, answered from the filings
How many RE/MAX franchised outlets left the system last year?
In RE/MAX's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 266 of 3,149 franchised outlets left the system — an exit rate of 8.4% — compared with a 7.8% median across 8 comparable systems (residential real estate brokerage) tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons" as the franchisor reported them; it excludes transfers to new owners. The FDD does not say why each outlet left, and an exit is not the same as a failure.
How much does a RE/MAX franchise cost?
Per RE/MAX's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $35,000 (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $37K–$337K (Item 7).
Does RE/MAX disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — RE/MAX's 2026 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.
How often do SBA loans for RE/MAX franchises default?
SBA loans to RE/MAX franchisees approved 1992–2020 defaulted at a rate not clearly different from franchise loans made in the same years: 38 charge-offs among 259 resolved loans, where about 47 would be expected (0.8×). All-time, 38 of 260 resolved loans since 1992 charged off (14.6%); that raw figure mixes every approval year, so we compare with same-year loans instead. A charge-off is a loan loss, not proof the business closed. Source: public SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA data.