RE/MAX Adds New Office in Rockford, Expanding Its Leadership in the Illinois Real Estate Market

By: RE/MAX | 0 Shares 99 Reads

Elgin, IL --(PR.com)-- RE/MAX Key, the newest RE/MAX office serving the Rockford, Ill., metropolitan area, recently opened at 5411 E. State St., Rockford, expanding the established leadership position of RE/MAX in the northern Illinois real estate market.

Owned by Joe Murray, 39, a real estate agent and investor with roots in Rockford, the new office contains more than 4,300 square feet of first floor space. Its location on State Street combines proximity to some of the strongest areas of the Rockford real estate market with outstanding visibility on the busiest street in town, according to Murray. Agents who affiliate with the new office can choose from private and semi-private offices or cubicles, and there is ample room for future expansion.

"We view Rockford as an extremely solid but somewhat underserved market in terms of top quality real estate services, and its central location in the Midwest makes it easy to do business over a wide area," Murray explained.

He said RE/MAX Key will provide all the traditional residential and commercial real estate services but also has special capabilities for dealing with distressed properties, particularly REOs, which are foreclosed properties owned by banks and other lenders. That segment of the business will be led by his brother, John Murray.

"Both John and I have considerable expertise in helping lenders dispose of these troubled assets on a wholesale basis, and our goal is to expand that aspect of our operations on a regional basis. Meanwhile we will be helping our affiliated agents provide outstanding real estate services to individual buyers and sellers, which I would call the more traditional retail side of the real estate business," Murray said. "We also expect to offer real estate auction services."

The decision to affiliate the new office with RE/MAX came after an extensive review of all the major real estate franchise brands, according to Murray.

"RE/MAX was the best fit based on its strong market share, extensive advertising and long-term stability, plus RE/MAX offers a great assortment of tools and technology," Murray said.

A grand opening celebration for the office is planned for this spring.

RE/MAX has been the sales leader in the metropolitan Chicago real estate market since 1989 and also is number one across northern Illinois. In 2009, the RE/MAX Northern Illinois real estate network closed more than $6 billion in sales.

The RE/MAX Northern Illinois network consists of 2,500 associates and 121 individually owned and operated RE/MAX offices that provide residential, relocation and commercial real estate services throughout the northern one-third of Illinois. The network's Web sites, www.illinoisproperty.com and www.remax.com, are two of the most popular real estate Web sites in northern Illinois and nationwide, respectively, according to Compete.com, Comscore and Hitwise, which are online intelligence services.

RE/MAX Northern Illinois is part of RE/MAX International, a global real estate organization with 6,500 independently owned offices and 93,000 member sales associates in 78 nations.