Local Real Estate Company Third in Nation. Who Knew?

By Ed Munson

You’ve got to be kidding! Who would believe that a local real estate company would rank third in the nation? Who would believe it is based right here under our noses?

But it’s true. RE/MAX Real Estate Consultants of Palm Desert has been ranked by REALTOR Magazine as third highest in the nation for individual agent production/sales volume, with an astonishing average of more than $7 million per agent.

Their local, motivated sales team has fueled the company’s overall success so profoundly that the company grew an enviable 50.4 percent this past year, ranking it a very healthy ninth in the country in total sales growth. This effort has also earned the company an outstanding rating of 89th in the nation in total sales volume.

How’d they do that?

To get some answers, I arranged to meet with Lorenzo Lombardelli, owner/broker of RE/MAX Real Estate Consultants, at the main office in Palm Desert.

Lorenzo attributes the company's success to the quality and expertise of the agents. But he is quick to add that their "dedicated staff is essential to our success." He also welcomes newer agents who are ready to move up to the next level of performance with the company’s proven programs and methods.

In addition to offering his associates top commissions, Lorenzo pulls out the stops when it comes to providing them with state-of-the-art tools to perform administrative functions with maximum efficiency. Fax machines are gone. Vital documents such as appraisals, disclosures and contracts, lifeblood of the process, can still be faxed in, but are converted automatically into email documents. These can then be accessed from anywhere in the world, maximizing the agents' flexibility and helping to increase productivity.

But there has to be more to it than just slick electronics. What is it that gets these 230 agents to produce an average of more than $7 million in individual yearly sales? And what does that mean to you and me when buying or selling a house?

"We don't fill schedules with meetings," says Lorenzo. "We don't impose quotas -- the agents sell what they want." They also don’t engage in any "smoke and mirrors" that can drive both an agent and customer crazy. "We just can't do that," he adds. "We are dead-on honest, that's all."

But that is not all.

It just might be the work environment. "It's more important to give the agents enough room to work their best, with the fewest constraints," offers Lorenzo. A culture has evolved in this company, casual but intensely committed to excellence.

You can feel it when you walk in. The offices reflect an attitude of serious business without the flash and flair you might find elsewhere. The comfortable air of a busy, smoothly running office full of pleasant people offers a big clue to the company’s success.

"Without a doubt," explains Lorenzo, "all of this would not be possible without our excellent support staff. And that means everybody from the General Manager on down." Indeed, supporting 230 agents to achieve an average of $7 million in sales per agent is quite a feat.

So, it seems that agents will do a better job for the customer, themselves and their broker, if they are given the elbow room and the necessary support to keep them happily productive. This sounds like a management concept often talked about but rarely implemented successfully.

Lorenzo might be described as "laid-back intensity." He is comfortable in T-shirt and jeans and at the office his tie might be pulled loose, but there is no mistaking the intensity of his energy as he discusses his passion for real estate.

This passion for taking care of the agent translates into the agent's passion for taking care of the customer. This is where fluff meets reality. The numbers do not lie. Fluff doesn't sell, productive agents do. Agents like this will allow you to decide to buy the house rather than try to push it on you and that makes a world of difference between the fluff and the top performers. It makes a difference when you and I are buying or selling a house.

Third in the nation. Wow! Who would've guessed they’d be right here under our noses.

RE/MAX Real Estate Consultants is headquartered in Palm Desert, with offices in Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs, La Quinta, Desert Hot Springs, Yucca Valley, Coronado, Chula Vista, and downtown San Diego.