RE/MAX Malta recently successfully launched a new strategy to grow its letting business, by creating opportunities for experienced agents and current RE/MAX franchise owners to open a franchise exclusively dedicated to business in the lettings sector.
RE/MAX Malta co-owners COO Jeffrey Buttigieg and CEO Kevin Buttigieg first opened a dedicated letting office under their previous brand JK Properties in 1999, highlighting their long-term relationship with this aspect of real estate in Malta.
Speaking about the launch, Kevin Buttigieg said: “The lettings sector has always been close to our hearts because it was the very origins of our business. Today it is hurtful to see how many companies have opened up in the industry, but which do not offer proper services to their customers. We know that we have always held top standards in the area because we have invested heavily in giving our team the skills needed to excel in it. Now we intend to invest even more into this new venture.”
RE/MAX’s new initiative comes as part of the company’s overall strategy to restructure its business and create further opportunities for the entire group. The company also attributes this move to the gap that exists between the service standards and customer expectations in the market, based on data from a research exercise commissioned by RE/MAX Malta’s regional office in the first quarter of the year.
Until recently, RE/MAX Lettings only provided lettings services from within its current sales offices, and had a few dedicated lettings agents in each RE/MAX base across the country. However, this new initiative will see the launch of a dedicated RE/MAX Lettings franchise, with offices opened across the Islands.
“As a franchisor it is our responsibility to provide the best service to our customers,” Mr Buttigieg continues. “By specialising in letting and having a letting manager in each office, we believe our lettings business will triple within two years.”
RE/MAX Lettings Malta will thus operate from a dedicated office, which will also be the home of the company’s real estate academy where real estate-specific courses will be delivered daily. The company has already hired a training manager to focus exclusively on the lettings market, giving them the time to cope with the anticipated growth within the industry.
RE/MAX Malta foresees that it will open 10 offices within the first 12 months of this operation, and that each office will house an average of 10 to 12 agents. “This will create a dedicated workforce of 120 lettings-specialised agents; a definite first for Malta,” Mr Buttiegieg said.
As part of this development, RE/MAX’s current regional letting manager Edward Agius will be promoted to managing director of the new entity, and will be running the operation. Mr Agius was the first letting agent hired by the-then JK Properties Limited in 1999, and he has been part of the company’s growth from five agents to over 40 in lettings alone. He sees this opportunity as a challenging but important pivoting point in the RE/MAX Lettings journey.
“I am very excited to be part of this new era in lettings in Malta because we are growing, but also because we are consolidating our business model,” he says. “Besides the new training set up, we have also launched a new technology suite that will ensure better productivity across the board.”
Once the Lettings franchise is open, RE/MAX Malta will also introduce a number of new services to the public, with the intention of further improving their offering to their loyal customers.
Jeff Buttigeg concluded by saying: “Over the last 15 years we have held the number one position as letting agents that service the iGaming sector in Malta, as well as other key industries. We now look forward to further improving our positioning by developing systems through which we can continue to offer and improve on the already second-to-none service that we offer to the market.”
