--- title: "Why Chris Mosier Left The World of Big-Box Real Estate Franchises For Lakefront Living Realty" url: https://burnaze.com/article/a412f904-c04d-4a52-aaa7-76572e30ee64 source: "1851 Franchise" original_url: https://1851franchise.com/why-chris-mosier-left-the-world-of-big-box-real-estate-franchises-for-lakefront-living-realty-2712164 category: "Real estate" industry: "Business Services" segment: "Real estate" published: 2020-01-31T16:11:05.000Z modified: 2026-11-01T02:14:37.404Z image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/76013f24ef32f166e352d5d76ff5bc8b8158.jpg --- # Why Chris Mosier Left The World of Big-Box Real Estate Franchises For Lakefront Living Realty **TL;DR:** Chris Mosier left RE/MAX to co-found Lakefront Living Realty, a brokerage specializing in lakefront real estate. Mosier's decision to leave RE/MAX was driven by her desire to focus on a niche market and create a system that supports her specialty. *originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2020-01-31. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/why-chris-mosier-left-the-world-of-big-box-real-estate-franchises-for-lakefront-living-realty-2712164).* ## Key facts - Chris Mosier co-founded Lakefront Living Realty - Mosier left RE/MAX for a specialty market - Lakefront Living focuses on lakefront real estate ## Story Chris Mosier has always been a visionary with an entrepreneurial spirit. Before beginning her real estate career with RE/MAX, the woman who would go on to co-found Lakefront Living Realty dabbled in landscape architecture and the world of corporate travel, teaching herself everything she needed to know to succeed along the way. After taking time off to start a family, Mosier was itching to get back into the working world and decided pursuing her real estate license would be her next move. Without any experience in the field, she chose to join a brand she was familiar with. Put simply, Mosier said, “I knew the RE/MAX name and thought the brand recognition would be essential for my success.” She quickly discovered RE/MAX was for seasoned agents and was once again in a position where she had to teach herself everything. Mosier attended every educational seminar and conference she could find while working with real estate coaches, building up her skill set on her own, quite successfully, at that; Mosier went on to receive numerous awards including the RE/MAX Hall of Fame award. In the fall of 2005, Mosier and her husband purchased a lakefront cottage about an hour away from their Columbus, Ohio home. “The process of finding and purchasing our lake home was beyond frustrating,” Mosier recounted. “Not only was it impossible to locate just lakefront listings, but we also wanted to understand all the details and amenities of the lakes within an hour’s drive of the Columbus area, ad there were no online resources available.” Even more frustrating was the experience with the local agents at the lake. “They were more interested in getting both sides of the commission than letting an out-of-town agent view their listing, meaning I could not get phone calls answered nor offers considered,” Mosier said. She and her husband finally found a ‘for sale by owner’ home at Apple Valley Lake, putting an end to the grueling process. Little did she know at the time, her own struggles during the buying process would come to define her career. ## Lakefront specialty “We lived for the weekend when we could escape to the lake with our kids and friends,” Mosier said. “I soon found myself wanting to help others find this same lifestyle but without the frustration I went through.” So that she did—on a pillar of ethical service, Mosier dubbed herself ‘Central Ohio’s Lakefront Specialist,’ and got to selling exclusively lakefront homes. The word spread, and her business took off. Ever the visionary, Mosier knew she was just beginning to scratch the surface of the business possibilities of her specialization. As her vision expanded to having a resident specialist at every Ohio lake, Mosier began running into trouble with her RE/MAX affiliation because every lake fell under a different MLS. She considered buying a RE/MAX franchise to circumvent the issue, but found the support and fees undesirable. “I searched the nation to see if there was a company that exclusively sold lake homes because that was all I wanted to do, but it didn’t exist. That’s how I found Scott.” The Scott in question here was Scott Freerksen, co-founder of Lakefront Living Realty . The two bonded over the glaring need for specialization in the buying and selling of lake homes, and eventually decided to team up to create a solution. ## Building a brokerage “I’ll be honest, the thought of becoming a broker came with fear for me,” Mosier said. “I worried about being a leader to future agents, if I’d be able to manage all the systems required to run a brokerage and expenses. I thought, ‘Why on earth am I considering putting this on my plate when I am happy with the amount of money I’m making now? Am I making a mistake?’ But the passion for this vision wasn’t going away, and after my husband and I met with Scott, we knew this was our next step.” Fast forward 5 years, Mosier feels more confident in her decision by the day . “I like this acronym for the word FEAR: False Expectations Appearing Real,” she said. “The fears I had were lies. Starting this brokerage, while it did take time, was seamless, and our systems have set me up to run a business instead of the real estate business running me. I wasn’t nearly as productive or as lucrative in my RE/MAX days as I am now .” Mosier said the decision to leap into the specialty market of lakefront real estate with Lakefront Living has not only brought her joy, but tremendous success. “With RE/MAX, you can be a specialist, but there’s no system in place to support your work within a certain niche,” Mosier said. “ There’s a niche focus to everything for me now . With a big-box franchise, you’re in a huge melting pot of all homes out there. With us, everything is designed for our niche, with the systems and training in place to enhance that specialty to make you the lake expert. Our concierge-level service for every lake home buyer and seller provides a true competitive advantage. Plus, with our exposure spreading nationally, I look forward to where this is going.” Maddie has spent her career in the media industry, serving in various editorial roles before migrating into a hybrid content strategy and PR role with No Limit Agency. Her passion for storytelling and love of writing help her create meaningful content on behalf of her clients and fulfill No Limit Agency’s mission to tell people-driven stories. Maddie is a graduate of Saint Louis University, where she studied Communications with a focus in journalism and media studies as well as Sports Business. In her spare time, Maddie can be found exploring Chicago’s food scene, watching an NBA game or lamenting over her middling fantasy baseball team. ## Entities - 1851 Franchise (publication) - Business Services (sector) - Apple (company) - RE/MAX (company) - real estate specialty (topic) - brokerage founding (topic) - niche market focus (topic) --- Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/why-chris-mosier-left-the-world-of-big-box-real-estate-franchises-for-lakefront-living-realty-2712164). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/a412f904-c04d-4a52-aaa7-76572e30ee64).