Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Franchise Fee and Capping Trends

Coldwell Banker, Century 21, ERA, etc. established the franchise fee model many still follow today by charging a flat 6% of commission – sometimes providing brokers rebates or caps on the back-side. Then models like Re/Max and Realty Executives followed with flat fee, 100% commission programs for agents. Today, Keller Williams has grown significantly with capping plans and a profit sharing model which enable brokers to compete well for agents in many markets.

Agents and brokers being independent minded appreciate choices. With that said, we at Real Living are taking our own path and incorporating a mix of plans – essentially providing brokers and agents with choices and options to better tailor their commission schedules. These franchise fees or “Service Fee” (as we at Real Living refer to them), options will enable brokers to recruit top performers and new licensees, which, in conjunction with our superior marketing, technologies, training and financial support will lead to growth of Real Living nationally.

Real Living is developing the foundation for national franchise growth and is the “next big thing,” in real estate franchising. We expect significant growth year after year and are growing with like-minded companies who expect more from a franchise partnership.

With that said, it is not all about the fees. If you are not providing value for agents you will lose them. This is evident from a recent announcement made by Keller Williams where they boas 40,000 new agents in the past year. If you do the math on their total number, this stat shows reflects a loss of around 20,000 agents in that same time period. Hence, value proposition is paramount.

To learn about Real Living, our tools, technologies and franchise opportunities with service fee choices enabling you to grow your business, visit us
www.RealLivingFranchise.com, e-mail me Chris.Svec@RealLiving.com or call me personally 614-273-6084.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Marketing in Today's Environment - 360 degree

In today’s ever changing real estate landscape it is 100% necessary for your brokerage and your agents to change their approach to marketing to consumers. Trulia tells us that 80% of buyers in the market are “gen x and gen y.” These are buyers with an immediate communication expectation – anything less will force them to continue searching for information and answers. And, they eventually will find it.

Agents and brokers today need a marketing model and franchise partner who understands this consumer and empowers them to reach them. Real Living
innovatred our 360 degree marketing concept which speaks to a full spectrum of marketing venues to reach and communicate with today’s consumer who demand information - yesterday.

To incorporate our 360 degree marketing platform you simply need to tap into the Real Living franchise system. Our 360 platform will incorporate traditional marketing (signs, newspaper, etc.), mobile marketing (text leads, click to talk technologies), and digital marketing (listing enhancements, search engine optimization, blogging/social networking). Real Living not only discusses and trains you on this platform, we actually provide these tools as part of our franchise offering.

If your current franchise or brokerage is not discussing a 360 degree marketing platform, why?? It is time for you to partner with franchise partner who does. To reach today’s consumer you have to fish upstream, get creative and become comfortable with all three of 360 degree marketing components.

To learn about Real Living, our tools, 360 degree marketing platform and a franchise opportunity arming you with the tools to grow your business, visit us
www.RealLivingFranchise.com, e-mail me Chris.Svec@RealLiving.com or call me personally 614-273-6084.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Exclusivity in Real Estate Franchising

In my experience 2 out of every 3 brokers we meet with are interested or bring up the question of exclusivity when discussing franchise opportunities. At Real Living our opinion and philosophy is this…

Of course we want to grow the Real Living brand fast and have Real Living offices where they makes sense. However, we do not aspire to be the “Starbucks” of real estate with an office on every corner. In any given market there are brands (typically Century 21 or Re/Max in my travels) with offices in some cases the next block over or even across the street.

With that said, Real Living provides all of its franchise partners with a limited amount of exclusivity in their respective market to ensure an opportunity to grow the brand in said market and the broker is not in direct recruiting competition with another Real Living firm. We take into account several factors including population, demographics, competitor office locations and more before mapping out a “trading area” for our partner.

If exclusivity is an issue and you are interested in partnering with an innovative firm who respects this, and provides much more than exclusivity, visit us www.RealLivingFranchise.com, e-mail me Chris.Svec@RealLiving.com or call 614-273-6084.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Franchising in a “Down” Market

We continue to receive the question from our franchise prospects, “the market is struggling, why should I franchise now or wait for it to improve?” The reality is a “down” market is prime for someone to start a Real Living franchise.

When times are tough, agents get antsy and begin to doubt the level of support they are currently receiving from their current brokerage and the marketing strategies and tactics they’ve been employing. As a broker and recruiter in this environment, this is opportunity. But, before you run out and start your company you first need a compelling story to tell perspective agents. The story needs to encompass a higher level of support, real money savings via tangible tools, use of technology and more. If agents continue doing what they have been doing, they’ll get the same results – which a down market coupled with a changing consumer means technology is of the utmost importance.

As a Real Living franchise partner, you’ll have these tools, support and technology at your disposal to show agents and bring them into your company. If you are interested in leaning more, visit us
www.RealLivingFranchise.com, e-mail me Chris.Svec@RealLiving.com or call 614-273-6084.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Real Living is Growing

Real Living is growing fast. In fact, over the past two weeks we’ve hosted 5 brokerage groups from across the US in Columbus, Ohio for our “Real Deal” presentation. During this one day meeting, prospective Real Living franchisees will see the unique culture we boast, meet the leaders of our fast growing real estate company and delve deeper into out technology, training, tools and systems.

Our stated goal is “world dominance” and after this week we’re on our way. From our recent “Real Deal” meetings, you’ll see Real Living offices and yard signs popping up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Chicago, Illinois, Ashville, North Carolina, Carmel, Indiana (Indianapolis area), and Smyrna, Tennessee (Nashville area).

If you are interested in learning more about becoming a Real Living franchisee, our mind-blowing technology and innovative systems, check us out at
www.RealLivingFranchise.com. Or give me a call personally at 614-273-6084.