Two brokerages affiliated with RE/MAX are joining forces in a gambit to expand the mega-brand’s coverage on the north side of Chicagoland. RE/MAX Premier, an office most closely affiliated with downtown deals, announced today that it had acquired RE/MAX NorthCoast in the Edgewater neighborhood. The company noted that the merger would help them target Chicago neighborhoods such as Andersonville, Rogers Park and West Ridge, as well as northern suburbs like Evanston, Lincolnwood, Niles and Skokie.

Janice Corley, broker/owner of RE/MAX Premier, said the move is all about growth: “Not only does it expand our reach geographically, but it allows us to immediately add to our existing team of brokers the outstanding group that Connie Abels has put together at RE/MAX NorthCoast.”

The RE/MAX NorthCoast office, located near the Red Line Granville stop on North Broadway Street, was opened four years ago by Abels, a longtime broker-owner with RE/MAX. She was recently recognized by the Chicago Association of Realtors as No. 1 in sales in Rogers Park in 2018.

While she noted that she’s certainly not ready to retire, Abels said she’s excited for the change. “I am looking forward to focusing on the selling side of the business and letting Janice handle the management part,” she said. “My team and I closed roughly one transaction a week last year, and now we should be even more productive on the sales side.”

The acquisition may also mean a hiring spree. Corley said she anticipates adding sales staff to the office. “My goal is to build a team of 50 brokers at that office within the next 18 months,” she said. However, it sounds like there are no plans to expand the physical office. “Today you no longer need a large office space to serve that number of brokers because almost everyone in our business prefers to work from a home office.”

And this may not be the last move of this type for Corley; she characterized this acquisition as just one step in her plan for RE/MAX Premier. “My passion is managing this business and seeing it grow,” she said. “Our strategy going forward will emphasize more acquisitions of this type, where we can give owners who are also top sales people the opportunity to step out of their management role and just do what they enjoy most, which is selling homes.”