Real Estate Franchise

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Breaking ground on the real estate franchise

Owning your own home is an important step in life. From rapidly growing families to independent professionals, finding a home can be a trying and complicated process; this is where the services of a real estate franchise come into play. Real estate franchises provide customers with homes and offices, and locations for everything from restaurants to resorts. In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors; almost half of all realtors are affiliated with a franchised company.

Real estate franchises are relatively inexpensive to establish. While a typical retail store costs around $300,000 to $600,000, a real estate franchise can start as low as $12,000. There's variety in real estate; you can set up shop in a community and help people find homes, or perhaps you prefer to deal with developers and specialize in commercial properties. Real estate firms can deal with both purchases and rentals.

RE/MAX Real Estate is one of the largest real estate franchises in the nation. With over 62,000 agents in charge of their own locations, RE/MAX is a popular choice for those investigating a real estate franchise. A RE/MAX franchise costs $20,000 to $200,000. Other real estate franchises require similar investments; a Coldwell Banker franchise costs $23,500 to $477,300, Century 21 franchises run from $11,700 to $522,500 and a Better Homes Realty costs around $61,500.

The total investment, royalty fee, franchise fee, terms, availability of financing and franchisee qualifications all depend on the franchisor's policy. The time it takes to have your real estate franchise in operation depends on the individual brand and size of the franchise.

Why would you want to own and operate your own real estate franchise?

There is no need to build a new site; a real estate franchise can be established in any type of location from the typical office to a store setting or even a renovated residence
Agents are largely responsible for themselves, translating to low labor costs
A sense of community in working with other real estate agents towards a common goal
A large amount of nationwide publicity
No inventory to maintain other than basic office supplies

But what is the downside?

The startup licensing and fees can be costly
Franchisees are not as independent as if they ran their own individual firm
Stiff competition in the real estate industry
Must be sure to hire licensed, quality agents