I just came across an article posted yesterday over at azcentral.com. Apparently RE/MAX 2000 closed down on this past Friday, leaving 350 agents and 20 salaried employees without a job right before the holidays. 13 Offices closed its doors just 2 weeks after their company Christmas Party. One agent, quoted in the article, "did not see this coming". What a nice Holiday Gift for everyone, huh? Dax Watson, the attorney for the owner, stated that the company just wasn’t producing enough revenues to outperform the expenses. Keep in mind, this is one ‘branch’ of RE/MAX, it’d be equivelant to a handful of McDonald’s or Arby’s closing down specific locations. It’s still pretty shocking nonetheless.

It is my opinion that to be able to stay alive in the Real Estate market, you must be able to stay flexible, and adapt to the changes in the market place. This means not only staying up with technology, but adapting to the supply/demand issues presented. Learning the foreclosure process, how to get short sales approved, and bankruptcy law is going to become common ground for any agent wishing to survive this market. Finding deals for themselves and for other investors would certainly keep many alive and going strong. However, I know for a fact that there are some agents out there who have learned this, and are doing more business now than they ever did before. That’s encouraging to know the investors and foreign buyers are flooding into our marketplace.

UPDATE- AZ Department of Real Estate is performing an Audit on RE/MAX 2000