He emphasized the decision was made without agent consultation, and that Realtors are not required to follow the brokerage\u2019s move.<\/p>\n
Soper said Royal LePage brokerages are positioned to support agents affected by the change.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why it matters\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a market already defined by thinning margins and intense competition, the mass conversion of a major real estate brokerage to a rival brand could be viewed as a significant setback.<\/p>\n
The move comes at a time when brokerages are fighting aggressively to retain relevance, market share, and, perhaps most critically, agents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Risi added that the transition is ultimately about expanding opportunities for agents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur responsibility is to position our agents to win in any market. This decision does exactly that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Risi cites opportunities for business diversification\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Risi leadership team cited the desire for global brand recognition and international networking, and a strong commercial and luxury presence.<\/p>\n
They also noted that while their agents primarily serve clients in Canada, they increasingly see opportunities tied to international buyers and investors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur agents are working with clients who have global interests and properties, and we want to give them every advantage to compete,\u201d said Risi.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Risi family operation was founded in 1994.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Top performer sticking with Royal LePage <\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shawn Zigelstein\u2019s Team Zold has long been a part of Your Community Realty. As of Thursday, the Toronto-area broker was shopping around for a new home for his team to stay under the Royal LePage banner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been with this company now for over 20 years. At one point, it was a very family-oriented business,\u201d he said. \u201cI find, unfortunately, this has become a business decision with potentially not the best interests of the agents at heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zigelstein, who\u2019s in the top one per cent of Royal LePage performers, said he isn\u2019t happy with the way the conversion news was rolled out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just personally don\u2019t like being forced into a decision. As of about an hour ago, my listings are suddenly Remax listings, and I just don\u2019t believe in that happening in the way that it happened,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, of course, the problem is we\u2019re all scrambling to make decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zigelstein said he\u2019s made too many strong connections at Royal LePage to walk away. Speaking with REM on Thursday afternoon, he said he was actively having conversations with brokers of record at Royal LePage to align with, and he will likely make a decision in about a day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Happy either way <\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Richmond Hill\u2019s Mike Golshani has been a broker in Vivian Risi\u2019s office for over 20 years. He says he feels neutral about both real estate brands, so he\u2019s content to go with Remax with his longtime colleagues.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody here feels like family,\u201d he said. \u201cI personally don\u2019t see any problems with movement,\u201d he said, adding he sees some opportunity for growth with Remax\u2019s international presence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said agents all have clients who work with them regardless of their affiliation.<\/p>\n
\u201cA good company is a good company,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Courtney Zwicker is a digital reporter and associate editor for REM. Based in Atlantic Canada, she has over a decade of experience covering daily business news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Left to right: Justin Risi, Vivian Risi, Michelle Risi (courtesy Remax Canada) \u00a0 Remax Canada is confirming the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[173335,45,49,48,905,173336,147116],"class_list":["post-412298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-brokerage-conversions","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ontario","tag-remax-canada","tag-royal-lepage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} <\/a>
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