Realty Franchises

BY ROBERT FREEDMAN2003 Franchise report, plus the five emerging companies

Is it time to brand your company? For many companies in the last year, the answer has been yes. The country’s residential real estate franchise companies are seeing healthy growth, an exclusive REALTOR® Magazine survey shows. Many of the national and regional franchisors surveyed posted gains in franchisees. The study also tracks companies, including Howard Hanna Co. and Long & Foster Real Estate, that license their brand name and services to affiliated offices. Of the three Cendant brands—Century 21, Coldwell Banker, and ERA—Coldwell Banker led the Cendant pack and the national franchises, reporting 150 new offices and 14,700 new associates in the past year. Those additions bring its totals to 3,400 and 104,900, respectively. Regional franchisors saw growth, too. In a typical case, Crye-Leike based in Memphis, Tenn., added four offices and 167 associates within the past year, giving it a total of 66 company-owned and franchised offices with 2,367 associates. This year we cover 26 companies that offer franchising or licensing opportunities—up from 21 last year. In addition to these, watch for five emerging players we’re beginning to track—from Realty United in Cary, N.C., which has just one office but hopes to grow nationwide through a profit-sharing model, to West USA Realty in Phoenix, which has grown in two years to 12 offices and nearly 2,000 sales associates with the help of Web-based transaction and lead management.