The growing real estate franchisor announced a Weichert and Regus vet is joining the company as chief growth officer, showing the company is committed to growth even as the industry slows.

JP & Associates Realtors (JPAR) confirmed to Inman Monday that it’s hiring Brad Smith, a veteran of Weichert Realtors, Regus and Dairy Queen, as the chief growth officer for the company’s franchise business. Smith will report to Geoff Lewis, the CEO of the company’s franchise division and help manage and drive growth as well as train franchise sales teams and put systems and accountability in place.

Brad Smith | Photo credit: JP & Associates Realtors

Smith has more than 20 years of experience leading sales teams, according to Lewis, including most recently at Regus, a co-working company where he was chief development officer. He also previously served as vice president of franchise development at Weichert Realtor.

“His whole career has been in franchising and he has 20 years of experience leading teams, so we’re adding him to our team to help drive and manage our growth,” Lewis said.

The role is a new one for JPAR and comes at a time when certain markets are grinding to a halt, due to the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus).

“We are confident that this is a temporary situation that will pass and there is going to be a lot of pent up demand when it does pass,” Lewis said.

Lewis was serving in an executive role at RE/MAX during the 2008 housing crash and said he saw a lot of brokers and agents fleeing to lower-cost models. JPAR offers a capped transaction-fee model and he believes it’s going to ultimately attract a lot of franchise sales when the market turns around.

“We’re moving to position ourselves to capture that growth,” Lewis said.

 

JPAR is also temporarily waiving its minimum transaction fee for franchisees, due to COVID-19 and reducing the fee to onboard new agents by 50 percent. In the past, franchisees paid a small monthly minimum fee that would count towards their transaction fee and then would pay a set transaction fee afterwards. For the month of April, franchisees just simply need to pay per transaction, according to Lewis. The change is currently only for April but JPAR will reevaluate.

“We all hope this thing passes quickly but nobody knows right now,” Lewis said.

Email Patrick Kearns

Show Comments Hide Comments
Sign up for Inman’s Morning Headlines
What you need to know to start your day with all the latest industry developments
By submitting your email address, you agree to receive marketing emails from Inman.
Success!
Thank you for subscribing to Morning Headlines.
Back to top
Only 3 days left to register for Inman Connect Las Vegas before prices go up! Don't miss the premier event for real estate pros.Register Now ×
Limited Time Offer: Get 1 year of Inman Select for $199SUBSCRIBE×
Log in
If you created your account with Google or Facebook
Don't have an account?
Forgot your password?
No Problem

Simply enter the email address you used to create your account and click "Reset Password". You will receive additional instructions via email.

Forgot your username? If so please contact customer support at (510) 658-9252

Password Reset Confirmation

Password Reset Instructions have been sent to

Subscribe to The Weekender
Get the week's leading headlines delivered straight to your inbox.
Top headlines from around the real estate industry. Breaking news as it happens.
15 stories covering tech, special reports, video and opinion.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
It looks like you’re already a Select Member!
To subscribe to exclusive newsletters, visit your email preferences in the account settings.
Up-to-the-minute news and interviews in your inbox, ticket discounts for Inman events and more
1-Step CheckoutPay with a credit card
By continuing, you agree to Inman’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

You will be charged . Your subscription will automatically renew for on . For more details on our payment terms and how to cancel, click here.

Interested in a group subscription?
Finish setting up your subscription
×