The Franchise Decision - A Profile of Some of the Largest

One of the oldest real estate franchises, and still one of the largest, Century 21 Real Estate is definitely an influential real estate franchise. They aren't resting on their laurels either.

Profile of the Century 21 Franchise.

Definitely a force in the marketplace, Coldwell Banker is a large and respected company. Their broker franchisees appreciate the education they receive to better operate their businesses.

Read about some of the benefits of this franchise.

A relative real estate franchise newcomer, Exit Realty has grown dramatically due to its business model's rewarding of associates for recruiting new agents.

Learn about their residual income for agents who recruit.

Keller Williams Real Estate has grown steadily since their startup in 1983. Some of their ideas were considered quite radical then, but their dramatic growth is proof of their validity.

The philosophy and profit sharing innovations of this franchise.

With their cooperative venture with Yahoo, Prudential Real Estate placed their respected financially-related business into the mainstream of internet marketing.

Read more about Prudential and the franchise.

Re/Max Real Estate has more than 100,000 agent affiliates around the world. Their first-on-the-scene 100% commission model grew their agent base steadily over time.

Learn about the 100% commission and some new things at Re/Max.

Whether you're an agent looking to hang your license, or a broker who is considering taking the franchise route, there is no substitute for good research. There are a number of great choices in franchises, with a great deal of difference in philosophies and compensation models.

This group was listed alphabetically, and not by importance or size. They each have unique characteristics, while they all have a few similarities. The way the real estate business is changing, and the rapidity of change, should generate even more and newer business models. These aren't all the franchises, only some of the largest. There are many more, some with dramatically different consumer pricing models, as well as how the agent is served and compensated.

If you're an agent, there really isn't a franchise-related culture to any great extent. With the independent nature of real estate agents and brokers, it's only natural that they would employ varying management styles in their brokerages. Though there are obviously marketing and business operations standards and rules in each franchise and they would be uniform across the offices, the feel and culture of any given office is much more likely to take on the character of the broker in charge.

If you aren't ready to make a decision, it's a little like the weather. Wait a short while and things will change....especially in today's new real estate business.