Real estate companies in Maine: agencies, licensees and what sellers need to know

Google treats "real estate companies in Maine" as a search for a brokerage: the results are agency home pages, agent directories and "top agents" lists, with an AI summary on top. This page is for that reader, a buyer or seller choosing an agency, and for job seekers and businesses that work with Maine's real estate firms. It uses the state's licence records and Census data rather than reviews, so you can see the whole market and check any firm in it.

How many real estate companies Maine has

The Maine Real Estate Commission licenses individuals and agencies. Its public licence search, run on 30 October 2026 for active licences only, returned:

Of the 1,803 agency and branch licences, 1,365 have a Maine address, led by Cumberland County (494), York (227), Penobscot (101) and Kennebec (77). Out-of-state licensees take part too: 1,431 individuals have a mailing address outside Maine.

The Commission's company records name a designated broker as the responsible individual for each agency. The Real Estate Brokerage License Act (Title 32, chapter 114) covers agency licences, written brokerage agreements (section 13177-A), trust accounts (section 13178) and a required brokerage relationship disclosure (section 13279).

Maine real estate in Census data

County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 counts real estate establishments (NAICS 531) with paid employees:

By size, 1,656 establishments have 1 to 4 employees, 169 have 5 to 9, 57 have 10 to 19, 31 have 20 to 49 and 6 have 50 to 99. The Census Bureau doesn't publish Maine's classes above 100 employees one by one; subtracting the published classes from the total leaves 4 establishments with 100 or more.

Read the brokerage line with care. CBP counts only establishments with paid employees and leaves out the self-employed, so the 814 brokerage offices employ 1,178 people while the Commission lists more than 7,000 licensees. Property managers are the bigger employers: 298 offices with 2,381 staff. Developers aren't here at all; the Census Bureau puts them in construction. The county rows add to 1,922 because one establishment isn't assigned to a county.

Public real estate companies in Maine

No SEC-registered listed company with a real estate industry code has its business address in Maine, so there's no public company table for this state. For the national ranking by revenue, see the biggest real estate companies in the US.

Choosing a Maine agency or property manager

1. Search the licence. The state's licensing search (Search Individuals, then the Real Estate Commission) shows each licensee's status and any disciplinary action. Search Companies for the agency itself.
2. Find the designated broker. The agency's record names one; ask who it is and how they supervise the agents.
3. Read the brokerage relationship disclosure. It tells you whether the agent represents you, the other side or both, before you share your price limits.
4. For a manager, check the scope. Maine's licence law covers brokerage "calculated to result in the transfer of an interest in real estate," and owners, lessors and their regular employees are exempt. Ask a manager how leasing for owners is handled and which licensee is responsible.
5. Ask for local sales. Coastal, lake and northern markets behave differently; ask for the agent's last ten sales in your town.

If you're selling a home in Maine

Maine law (Title 33, section 173) requires a seller of residential property to give the buyer a property disclosure statement, unless the sale is exempt. It covers:

• the water supply, including recent water tests and any PFAS detected;
• the heating system, its service history and fuel use;
• the waste disposal system, with septic details and shoreland zone disclosures;
• hazardous materials such as radon, asbestos, lead paint and underground oil tanks;
• known defects, how the property is reached and who maintains a private road;
• flood hazard zone and the seller's flood history, and shoreland zoning violations.

Gather water, radon and septic records before listing; they're the questions buyers ask first.

The transfer tax is $2.20 for each $500 of value, half paid by the seller and half by the buyer (Title 36, section 4641-A). On a $450,000 sale that's 900 × $2.20 = $1,980, or $990 each. Above $1 million the statute adds $3.80 per $500 on the excess, so a $1.5 million sale carries $6,600 plus $3,800, $10,400 in all.

Commission is negotiable: since 17 August 2024, sellers' agents can't offer buyer-agent pay through a Realtor MLS, and buyers sign their own agreement before touring.

Selling to Maine real estate firms

Most agencies are owner-run, so the designated broker usually buys. Property managers, with eight employees per office, buy maintenance, software and insurance through a principal or operations lead. For how agents buy, see selling to real estate agents.

Illustrative example. The company, rates and results are invented.

Casco Water Labs (cascowater.example) tests wells for PFAS and radon and wants agencies to recommend it before listing. It targets the 721 agencies and branches in Cumberland and York counties, one designated broker each. At a 4% reply rate that's about 29 conversations, and if one in four becomes a referral partner, about 7 partners. Bebop can find the agencies and write the first line for each.

Subject: Water and radon results before listing

Hi [first name], Maine's disclosure statement asks sellers about water tests, PFAS and radon, and buyers ask about them first. We test wells and air in five business days and send results your sellers can attach to the disclosure. Would a referral arrangement for [agency]'s listings in [town] be worth a short call?

Maine sources

Next step: for the right industry code for a Maine agency or manager, see the NAICS code for real estate.