initial fees

ongoing fees

what is the best deal if any

40k initial investment (minimum), 10% of gross profits.....NOT worth it considering NAR states clients dont follow names

picking a company is like picking a cell phone plan, they all have different benefits, commission splits, etc. if your just starting off get a company that will provide you with the most practical training, and one that will help you generate business.

The value of a franchise is that it provides you instant credibility with the public and tools & systems for you, your agents and your customers.

The CENTURY 21 System offers owners the following:

* The value of the most preferred brand in real estate (according to a host of consumer surveys --- the latest shows a preference of more than a dozen points over the nearest competitor), reinforced with $70 million in national television each year.

* Extensive owner training. New owners start with International Management Academy, a week long session in New Jersey where they get an overview of how to set up their company and the tools & systems available. Every month, there are free sessions available on line on topics like technology training, use of various tools, etc. The single best training is ORBIT, a year long program consisting of 2 day sessions, conducted all over the U.S. Focused on building a world-class company. Best company training in the business. Utterly superb.

* Complete Internet strategy including posting of listings on CENTURY21.COM, GOOGLE, Trulia, RealEstateJournal.com, and commercial listings to LOOPNET.COM.

* Host of backend reporting tools, creating all kinds of monthly reports on agents, productivity, office health, etc. Also, the Broker Financial Tool which allows you to build a financial plan and benchmark your expenditures against other brokers of similar size and in equivalent markets.

* Complete agent training including CREATE 21 for new agents, PEP (Productivity Enhancement Process) for agents with a couple months experience, over 200 hours every quarter in free Virtual Solution Series courses, BLAST (a coaching program for more advanced agents), and NAR courses (CRS, ABR).

* Agents obtain free access to the following tools through the corporate intranet site: Egreeting (animated email messages), three monthly newsletters for clients, complete listing & buyer presentations, a tool to build flyers and ads, an email account, a complete financial planning platform, a tool to send mailing online, build slide shows for every listing and add additional pictures, and the ability to build and host a personal web site, featuring a live feed to yours and your office's listings for just $60 a year.

* Agents recieve discounts on a host of services, including the placement of tv commercials on local cable stations, deals on virtual tours and web site hosting, computer discounts, travel discounts, and a free prescription discount card.

* Brand extensions including Fine Homes & Estates for high-end properties, Recreational Properties for second homes, and Commerical Investment Network properties. Each has unique signage, logos, and designation plus unique marketing materials including affordable access to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

* A complete award package for agents and brokers including recognition nationally for performace and quality service. Agents operating at the Masters Level can attend Top Agent Retreats each year (usually in Hawaii, Bermuda, the Bahamas, etc.) Brokers have opportunity to attend Leadership Conference each year (this year in Puerto Rico).

* A superb national convention each year. This year it was in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay. The keynote speaker was Colin Powell. The entertainer was Howie Mandel. Over 120 classes conducted. Very inspirational and a great source of motivation.

* Assistance in expanding your business through mergers and acquisitions.

* A complete pr platform designed to get you coverage in your local market (it works).

* A commitment to Easter Seals, the nation's leading charity for the disabled.

* Flexibility to devise your own commission program. I know some companies that operate on a traditional split commission program, others that are 100% geared and still others that use combinations.

Each franchisee pays an acquisition fee plus a franchise fee based on sales. Also, a national advertising fee to fund the television ads.

You get great systems, training and tools for your bucks. They help you grow your market share and recruit agents. The package helps you make money. That is the bottom line.

Franchises are not all they claim to be. As one C21 broker/owner once told me, "they need you more than you need them."

staggart, all those bullet items you said above are frankly crud...to be frank
Bottom line, clients follow agents, not names. At the VM Group,we provide our market centers with everything a C21 or a Remax does except we dont charge ridiculous sign on fees. Do you know why they do this? Ill tell you. because the rate of drop out of a market center is 3 years or less. A broker will realize paying that much of an initial investment plus gross profits is impossible to attain your own financial goals. Therefore, they charge a high start up fee knowing that they will recuperate any losses if you fail early.

oh staggard, you mention the annual meeting every year as a benefit, but you failed to say how much it was...go ahead and tell everyone! its a "staggaring" number, excuse the pun.

vm,

have you hired any agents with the 100% split...

there is a company opened 3yrs ago in toronto....79 per month...350 per deal...100% commission.....obver 700 agents have joined

while clients follow agebts not brand....i think the agents , especially newbies follow the brand....

VM Group --

* What do mean by a "sign up" fee? And, what is that bit about success of a market center is 3 years or less? I'm really not sure what on earth you are referring to . . In the CENTURY 21 System, I know most of the brokerages that were in my region when I started 7 years ago are still in the system. The only ones I remember "leaving" were bought by other franchisees. Many of us have added multiple offices. The initial franchise fee is rather modest. I've opened two new offices the last two years. It is only $10,000 an office (not $40k). And, you get a chance for opening gift funds (which are really helpful) which can be several times the franchise signup cost.

* As to the cost for the annual International Convention, the signup right now is $550 for the Gaylord Palms in 2008. It was $100 less at convention. That is for 4 days. Our state association convention is not much less. I don't get your point . . For convention keynoters & entertainers like former President Bush, Goldie Hawn, Reba McIntyre, Ringo Starr, Walter Cronkite, Hootie & the Blowfish, Kevin James, Tony Robbins and Katie Coric, it is not a bad value. I've have a slew of agents who make sure they go each year.

we dont hire newbies, only experienced agents. our avg agent has 8 years experience. I have 46 under me now and they are all on a monthly/per transactions split, they love it and so do i

And, you get a chance for opening gift funds (which are really helpful) which can be several times the franchise signup cost.



what is an opening gift fund

CENTURY 21 has a program where you can recieve funds for startups if you have certain levels of production.

Can be very handy.

pls elaborate on the gift funds

thats ok, we dont hire newbies anyway, C21 can have them

And every other franchise also has this stuff or very similar.

The real estate industry needs new agents for new franchises. I can not solicit business as to the rules, but is there really any difference between ANY of the OLD DINOSAURS in the real estate franchises?

i agree with vm group. so many times people engage me in re related discussions, or i am working with them, and they ask "so what company are you with again?". people use me because of me. if i went to century 21, long and foster, coldwell banker, era, could i do a better job for my clients? probably not in my opinion because i would be discruntled that i am paying a high commission split for generating my own business. the traditional brokerage 20 years ago generated alot of calls from floortime, however in todays market the buyers and sellers alwready know what they want because the information is so publicc on the web. they dont call the brokerage. if i were handed enough deals to lead a cushy life i would take a 50/50 split, but hte reality is htat i know not one agent who gets enought leads from their broker to be above the poverty level. so for the fact that i work from home and support my business i should be at a higher split. and vm group is absolutley right about the 3 year thing. i had a talk with my manager the other week about the same thing, and i am on the opposite coast as vm group. so there must be something to that number of 3 years if brokerages across the country use the same number.

We are independent brokerage, $25/month...100% commission for experience (at least 6 deals); $250 Trans Fee.
What more can you ask for???

Eveline
http://www.House2HomeRealtyGroup.com
Las Vegas, NV

Actually, it's $69 per month ...$275 per deal... 100% commission ... with now over 900 agents joined

I am a C21 agent and I will never work for anyone else. They have great training and the branding that people so want. Sorry VM I have never heard of your company so how is some one from several states away going to find a home? They will go to century21.com! or another national/international company, hate to burst your bubble.

Actually, they're more likely to start with REALTOR.COM

I find a lot of buyers through my blogs and through my website.

A good national franchise offers . .

* Recognition & brand awareness
* National marketing (which in your local market is perceived as yours -- tv on a national level is very cost-effective. Locally, it tends to be cost-prohibitive)
* A comprehensive internet strategy (mine sends listings to GOOGLE, YAHOO, TRULIA, LOOPNET, etc. -- I was shocked how much traffic those now generate for our listings (2-3x the previous level))
* Training for agents on a scale that is impossible to duplicate at the brokerage level or board level
* An awards program to recognize productive associates
* A host of marketing tools, lead development systems, etc.
* Networking and motivational opportunities (conventions, regional events, broker training, relocation events, regional sales rallies, etc.)
* Vendor relationships (I provide my agents everything from REALTOR.COM to virtual tours to presentation software at rates I couldn't begin to negotiate)
* Benefits for agents & staff (health care, discounts, etc)
* A stream of incoming referrals and a method of sending outgoing referrals
* Training for brokers
* Sources of funding for growth


An independent/small franchise offers . .
* The chance to craft a unique local brand
* The chance to pick and choose what tools are offered to agents
* The ability to create a boutique feel
* A focus on the board for training or the development of some source of in-house program
* Most tend to rely on individual agent marketing and avoid group efforts or buying of advertising

What I don't get is how these guys make any money. They carry huge overhead with low agent counts and even lower closing numbers. These five C21 offices are the biggest offices near my one of my offices in Utah. We have very low over head and our office is almost twice as big as all the C21 offices together. We close more then 14 times the volume as all the C21 offices closed together. Coldwell Banker, Prudental, Exit, and many others in my area are all also very small with low numbers due to having lots of new agents I'm sure. My office has a larger agent count and far better numbers then any of the franchies around. I got four page letter from a frnachies in my area about 3 weeks ago wanting to buy us out. This is the second time in the last 12 months someone has tried to buy us out. The big names hate the 100% companies. I'm sorry to say but we are here to stay.

Here are the numbers.


Century 21 McAffee Realtors
Salt Lake City, UT 84121
Agent count: 13

Century 21 McAffee/West
Salt Lake City, UT 84118
Agent count: 9

Century 21 Allwest
Sandy, UT 84070
Agent count: 9

Century 21 At The Rockies(American Fork)
American Fork, UT 84003
Agent count: 1

Century 21 at the Rockies/Union Park
Sandy, UT 84093
Agent count: 31

UTREOBROKER --

The comparisons you are making are somewhat shaky.

The CENTURY 21 companies you are citing are small outfits. As you know, Salt Lake Metro is dominated by a few mega-companies, most importantly Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage & the large Prudential franchise. I'm puzzled by your statement that Prudential and Coldwell Banker are small. I know Coldwell Banker has a massive office in Union Park near one of the offices you cited. What do they have? Seventeen offices and 1200 associates??

A better comparison would be CENTURY 21 Golden Spike in Ogden. Multiple offices. Substantial agent base. Well-run.

Franchising itself is not magic without application (Sad to say, most folks buy the franchise and then only use the name). But, a broker and management team that applies the tools available can have a competitive advantage.

award program. there is no award that my broker can give me that will actually do anything other than give me office bragging rights. that does not equate to pay and the truth of the matter is that to get an award would mean that i am already producing and making money, so that alone would make me wonder exactly how much of my commission i am giving away.


benefits. even though i might get discounted benefits at a large national brand i will be at a much lower split and the difference of money that i am making at 100% outweighs the discounts that i would get at a lower split with a national brand.


the broker training does not put money into my pocket. it is training that i am paying for at a company with a 50/50 split.


i know an agent who was producing 30+ mil a year at a champion brokerage and she was on a sliding scale that reset to 50/50 every year. there is no way that the broker was responsible for her success. she tried to negotiate with him and he would not budge because he would have to move the scale for all agents if he did it for one.


i like the fact that i pay less thank 3k (including e and o) to my broker. there is nothing that i can think of that would make it worth paying my broker half of my paycheck, and all of the benefits and training come at a cost to the agent. i can pay for them on my own at a 100% split and still walk away with more money at the end of the day.


we all talk about not discounting commission, but the reality is that we discount commission when we sign on for a company and take less than a 100% split and then fight for a 6% commission.

not only should agents learn to get paid what they are worth from a client, but they need to learn that they need to get what they are worth from a broker.

the 6-8% franchise fees are pretty high and for an agent to have to pay that after their lower than 100% split makes it even harder for them to make it.

the reality is that a new agent on a 50/50 split is more likely not to be in business after their first year, so the broker has to make his money off of them on the 1-2 deals that they will bring in. after they make that 1-2 deals they probably wont knwo how to drum up business and they will be out of business.

i know there are people who say that the broker does this and the broker does that and they defend the split that they are on. if they were at 100% and they paid their own expenses they would realize how much more they could make at the end of the year.

estatereal --- You are making an assumption that all franchisees start folks at 50/50.

I don't. My folks can get to 90% quick. And, we have a 100% plan. Oh, and the company pays the franchise fee on most plans.

What I do provide is unmatched marketing tools, often at rates they never could touch on their own.

Just a couple examples might suffice.

We upgrade every listing on REALTOR.COM. To do the same would cost an agent somewhere between $800-$3000 a year. I can get a 40% discount. And, I bill my agents per listing, not in a lump sum. Plus, we pay half the cost.

We found a great virtual tour solution for our folks. The vendor normally charges agents a $249 set-up fee. I got that waived. They normally charge $29.95 a month. I got it for a fraction of that. And, we can post to REALTOR.COM without paying $25 a virtual tour. Its Free.

Last year, my relocation department generated a half million dollars in commissions for our agents. Agents, individually, can't even approach the companies that provide the business.

My point is simple: A good brokerage can provide substantial value and great commission plans.

staggart,

what is the amount that an agent will pay into the brokerage before going to a 90% plan?


from the research that i have done in my market the amount of money paid to the brokerage is pretty high before going to a decent split.

one national example that i can think of is exit realty. 70/30 split up until you bring in $100,000.00 in GCI. so the broker would make $30,000.00 then the agent would go to a 90/10 split.

Approximately half those numbers.

I'm a new agent and am on the 50/50 split. I'm thankful for my Century 21 brokerage. Theres so much training and learning opportunities available. I keep hearing about these 100% commission firms and I wonder what the point would be if the agent didn't now how to sell...? VM says he only takes experienced agents...I wonder how those agents got the start, probably with a big franchise..My broker/owner has 5 offices now and continues to grow. I can't name a no-name firm that has more than 1 office and more than 10 agents or so...Bigger is Better!

i was with a non-franchised company that had 19 offices. the office that i worked at had around 130 agents. the training was much much better than the training that i got when i was at a 50/50 company(remember each office is independently owned and operated). the fact that offices are independently owned and operated means that you can get great results and training in one national brand office and go to the next office of hte same brand and walk into a dump.