Former Realty Executives International (REI) president and co-owner Rich Rector and his wife have an airtight plan to keep the company running as they transition into retirement.
David Tedesco (Photo credit: True North Companies)
Today, REI CEO David Tedesco announced that he bought the remaining shares of the company (for an amount company PR representative Nantale Muwonge told Inman REI wouldn’t disclose), giving him 100 percent ownership of the franchisor that has been in the Rector family since 1965.
“I’m excited to know that the Realty Executives brand is in the best possible hands for future growth,” Rector said in a statement.
“My wife and I have been working on succession planning for a number of years. This is the final step in our plan. We brought David and the team at True North on and could not be happier with the progress that’s been made.”
Tedesco has been the CEO and controlling shareholder of REI since April 2014 and is the founder of True North, REI’s parent company. In his three years with the company, Tedesco has focused on growth, technological advancements, and other system improvements.
“Rich and his family began building a business with innovation and entrepreneurial spirit at its core 50 years ago,” he said in a press release.
“Owning 100 percent of the company frees us up to pursue our growth strategy even more aggressively, with our focus on expanding our network of high-performing brokers, agents and teams.”
Tedesco says his “aggressive growth strategy” includes continuing to build on the company’s proprietary tech tool, Prime Agent, which aggregates essential real estate business functions into one platform, eliminating the need for multiple third-party systems and tools.
In addition to improving their proprietary technology tools, REI has launched a recruitment campaign to pull in agents from across North America. According to REI CMO Melissa Marchwick, the team has grown by 500 within a few short months — a 20 percent annual growth rate.
Lastly, Marchwick says Tedesco and his team will focus on strategic acquisitions that include purchasing key brokerages and franchises that “can be folded into the Realty Executives family.”
The company expects to grow from 8,000 to 25,000 to 30,000 agents over the next few years.
