RE/MAX Town & Country and Linhart Realty Group join forces, creating a 775-agent franchisee network across six Southeast states.
RE/MAX Town & Country has formed a strategic partnership with Linhart Realty Group, combining two RE/MAX franchise organizations into a network of about 42 offices and 775 agents. The combined group spans Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama.
Lee Linhart, a 35-year RE/MAX broker, runs about 24 offices with 475 agents across Florida, the Carolinas and Tennessee. Molly McGrory, who bought RE/MAX Town & Country in 2006, adds 18 offices and roughly 300 agents in Georgia and North Carolina. Terms were not disclosed.
McGrory stressed that she is not retiring and that the Town & Country name, offices and local leadership stay in place. The pitch to agents is a bigger referral network, more marketing and technology resources, and expanded training, with day-to-day operations unchanged. That structure keeps agent retention risk low, which is the main thing that kills brokerage combinations.
The deal lands one month after The Real Brokerage closed its acquisition of RE/MAX Holdings, creating Real REMAX Group. Rival models are also consolidating: HomeSmart just absorbed NorthGroup's nearly 2,000 agents across the same Southeast states. Independent RE/MAX franchisees are responding by building regional scale among themselves rather than waiting to see how the new parent company treats smaller owners.
Commission rule changes and agent recruiting wars have pushed brokerage economics toward size. Combining two franchisees inside the same brand avoids the cost of a flag change while pooling overhead across 42 offices. Expect more same-brand franchisee mergers as owners approaching succession look for partners who already know the system.
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