By Jim Adair
Re/Max chairman and co-founder Dave Liniger recently visited Toronto to address a group of Re/Max brokers, and to promote the new book Everybody Wins: The Story and Lessons Behind Re/Max. An excerpt of the book, in the print version of the June 2005 issue of REM, outlines the rocky start to the relationship between Liniger and Re/Max Ontario-Atlantic Canada founders Frank Polzler and Walter Schneider. They went on to become vital to Re/Max’s survival, eventually operating not only their Canadian territory but several U.S. master franchises and leading expansion into Europe.
During his Toronto visit, REM spoke to Liniger about how Re/Max got started in Canada, and his special personal relationship with this country.
“It’s fascinating how a couple of Canadians took an American concept and took it all through Europe, and also how they run five or six of our regions in the U.S.,” says Liniger. “They are great businessmen.”
While Liniger has often credited Re/Max Ontario-Atlantic Canada with saving the entire company from financial ruin in the early days, Polzler and Schneider were not the first Re/Max Realtors in Canada.
“I did a seminar in Chicago in 1976, and after that, Don Fernie came up to me and wanted to buy an office in Calgary.” Liniger recalls that at the grand opening of the office in mid-winter, he had a cast on his foot and bare toes. It was a cold introduction to this country.
The successful Calgary operation had a lot to do with why Polzler and Schneider decided to pursue Re/Max. But after the deal had been struck, Liniger thought he had made a mistake by signing the Ontario-Atlantic Canada deal.
“At that time, the Canadian real estate industry was dominated by the trust companies, and the small independent brokers were competing against big companies with brand name awareness and unlimited company resources,” he says. “It was unlike the U.S., where we didn’t have national companies, only regional companies.
“Secondly, Frank was an older man. When you are 30 years old and you are dealing with somebody who is 50, he seems old. That was my youthful stupidity.
“The third problem was that they were struggling financially with Polzler Realty. I thought, if you can’t run your company to make it profitable, how can buying into my system make it work? But Frank and Walter were a godsend to us.”
Liniger says that not long after signing Polzler and Schneider, “They came to me and said they knew an individual named Pierre Titley who would like to open Quebec. He had tremendous success there.”
He remembers going to a speaking engagement in Montreal during a period when separatist talk was running rampant. At a news conference, “the loaded question came up,” he says. “They wanted to know what I thought about Quebec separating from the rest of Canada. I thought, ‘This is none of my damn business, I’m an American.’ But I answered, ‘Well, if Quebec secedes, I can tell you that Re/Max will then be Number One in three countries, not just two.’ Everybody laughed and it got me off the hot seat.”
At about the same time, “an absolute prince of a man”, Bob Cherot, purchased the rights for Western Canada. “He had been in the grocery business, and he understood what it took to build a western organization,” says Liniger. When it came time for Cherot to retire, the territory was purchased back by Re/Max International. “We just had a handshake agreement – between two gentlemen who respected each other a great deal,” Liniger says.
“Those three groups in Canada – Frank and Walter, Pierre in Quebec, and Bob – were three of the most successful partners we’ve had.”
More than just a business opportunity, Canada became a second home to Liniger in October 1983, when a seaplane carrying Polzler and Gail Main, Liniger’s future wife, crashed in the Muskoka area of Ontario. The pilot was killed. Polzler had a crushed hip and a bruised kidney, and Main suffered a head injury, partial paralysis and shattered bones. While she was in a coma in Toronto’s Sunnybrook hospital, Liniger spent most of his time with her. “I had our dog with me, and just one day’s change of clothing,” says Liniger. “Walter and his wife adopted us – he and his wife looked after me….and there was such an outpouring of love from all of the Re/Max brokers and agents. I was here for several weeks and they kept asking if I wanted to borrow their car or use their homes.
“I would go from sitting with Gail while she was in a coma to visiting Frank. He was in really bad shape too, but he had ($20,000) insurance, and he said, ‘I’ll give it all to Gail. We have to take care of her.’ Here’s Frank lying in pieces, and he’s saying we have to take care of the one who was hurt the worst.”
But the pair were not all emotion during the period – while Polzler was in hospital, he and Liniger negotiated the purchase of the New England territory.
Main recovered from her injuries and she and Liniger were married in their office in 1984. Liniger has never forgotten the kindness of his Canadian colleagues.
