It was 30 years ago this February that RE/MAX Cayman Islands opened its doors in Grand Cayman as the first official RE/MAX office in the world outside of the USA and Canada.
Back in 1990 when Kim Lund opened his real estate agency, First Realty of Cayman, he quickly realized that it was extremely difficult to launch a new real estate company in Cayman and needed a competitive edge.
“Even 30 years ago, I knew how important a franchise was,” commented Kim Lund, Broker/Owner. “A real estate franchise with a proven history and stellar reputation would make a mark in Cayman, but also enable us to showcase our islands to the USA and Canada and later, the rest of the world. The biggest challenge back then was that every company said no, that Cayman wasn’t a big enough market, and that they weren’t even interested in the Caribbean region at all.”
After months of rejections, Lund finally received some good news. RE/MAX said they would consider it. Lund immediately flew up to RE/MAX headquarters in Denver, Colorado and after 3 days he convinced them to sell him a franchise.
RE/MAX Cayman Islands was originally operated out of Regency Court on West Bay Road. Including Lund, there were 3 employees including a receptionist and Kim’s late wife, Brenda Tibbetts-Lund, who came on board as the company’s office manager. Within a few months, Edna Ebanks, who has been with RE/MAX Cayman Islands ever since, was the office’s first new agent.
James Bovell, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Cayman Islands, joined RE/MAX Cayman Islands in 1994. In 1998, he became a co-owner and took over the management of the company as the Managing Partner (Broker in Charge).
“RE/MAX is the #1 real estate brand in the world,” added Bovell. “Since its launch in 1991, RE/MAX Cayman Islands has not only dominated the Cayman Islands as the island’s #1 real estate company, but also within the entire Caribbean and Latin American markets, where RE/MAX Cayman Islands consistently ranks #1 among RE/MAX offices.”
In fact, in 2018 the office was honored as the #1 office in Top Sales Volume for a Single Office Globally having completed more than 600 transaction sides and generating over $500,000,000 in sales volume for the year.
Within 6 years of its launch, Kim Lund became the #1 sales agent in the world for both 1997 and 1998. RE/MAX corporate took notice and expanded its presence not only in the Caribbean, but worldwide. Today, RE/MAX has more than 130,000 agents in over 7,500 offices in over 100 countries.
