Real Estate Brand Names Not So Important Anymore
I just read a blog post (from Bloodhound Blog) about an article in Consumer Reports that stated consumers aren’t as interested in brand names (such as the big real estate franchises) as we would all think (and the franchises would hope for). A statistic I was interested in was that sellers were just as satisfied with non-franchise companies, even if they offered less services, as they were with brand name companies.
This is important to me as I left a popular franchise after being with them for 22 years to join a local independent company, Classic Realty Group. I have never looked back!
What Consumers Don’t Understand About Franchises
Most (not all, but most) franchise offices are independently owned and operated. Some are real "mom & pop" businesses. And I was with one of those family run offices and for those 22 years I always felt there was something missing. Brokers have to run a business efficiently but that was one of the problems I felt. Our staff consisted of one secretary working M-F from 9-5. She took an hour lunch and when she wasn’t there it was up to the agents to answer the phones and set appointments. We did this by taking "floor time." This was our chance to acquire buyers and sellers that were not already represented.
I did get a lot of business by taking floor time but I hated setting appointments and having to handle the phones. I am an independent contractor and do not get paid an hourly wage for doing office work. Many of us complained and the broker decided that he and/or his family members would man the phones for the most part. Some of the family members were less than professional and appointments got goofed up and more.
So why did I stay for all those years? I was otherwise comfortable with my broker and the other agents. Besides my complaint above we were able to "train" our Broker to learn new techniques and try new marketing and he was easily approachable. I had seen other agents flit from office to office and they were never happy. So I knew that all offices had problems. Plus, I had been with my office almost from the beginning and I held a position of authority that I wouldn’t have had at a different office. That was hard to give up.
But Don’t the Big Franchises Offer More?
Truthfully, the brokerage you choose is only as good as the agent you end up working with. There are good and bad agents in every real estate brokerage worldwide, no matter if it is a popular franchise or independent company. There is only one listing agent (unless it’s a team) that will be representing the brokerage.
Each brokerage has their own advertising policy. Some big brokerages have ceased doing any kind of print advertising because it is so ineffective and expensive. Some brokerages make their agents pay for advertsing, some don’t.
Some brokers have a decent web presence but in my area my websites are usually found before even the most popular franchise company sites. And these are my personal websites - not sponsored by Classic Realty Group (they have their own website but again, you’ll find mine first depending on what your search terms are).
For instance, if you do a Google search for Cook County real estate my website is usually the first real estate website you’ll find and it is positioned right under the Cook County Assessor site. Wouldn’t you expect to find a big name-brand franchise under that popular search term? Nope. Other major search terms I show up at the top are Chicago Suburb real estate, Orland Park real estate, Oak Lawn real estate (with my other website) and I’m working on top position for Tinley Park IL real estate.
You might notice sites above mine on some of these search terms but they are the big real estate portals such as Realtor.com, Trulia, etc. Some of these portals try to get buyer and seller leads that they then sell back to real estate agents. Hopefully, most prospective buyers and sellers won’t fall for these portals as they just add to the costs of buying and selling as agents have to pay for these leads.
But the whole idea here is that none of the big names even show up for these popular search terms. Sure, Re/Max advertises their website yet it doesn’t show up locally in search engines (at least not in this area). Also, I’ve had many buyers call me after trying to search on these large franchise sites and they couldn’t find a home they knew was for sale. There are different types of searches different brokers and agents offer and some of these searches do not include the entire MLS inventory. But they don’t tell you that. You only find out if a home you know is for sale doesn’t show up on their search.
My MLS search offers each and every home that is up for sale in Northern Illinois. By MLS rules, in order to get this full search you must register. Your information is not shared or sold to anyone else but this is the only way to get the entire inventory of properties available for sale. You will not be able to search for sold and closed properties and you’ll have to ask your agent to do that for you (they can e-mail you this information).
Don’t the Big Franchises Offer More for Buyers?
Again, if you call a brand name franchise because you think you’ll be treated better beware! Many franchises are training companies that have a lot of brand new agents. Agents with very little experience and training. Agents that have not honed their negotiating skills and simply have a lack of all-around experience.
You could be taking a risk!
Don’t Franchises Offer More for Sellers?
Again, you’ll get what your designated agent offers. Depending on the brokerage, some agents pay for their own advertising. If they do they will have more control over the amount of advertising you’ll receive. Or, they might choose to advertise less. I agree that print advertising no longer works but then you need someone who offers a good website presence. As I’ve pointed out, none of the actual franchise companies have top search engine position for the most popular real estate search terms. So once again, website advertising is up to the agent you are working with.
Will buyers call more off Century 21 signs than indpendent brokerage signs? Absolutely not! If the house looks good to the buyer driving by they will call no matter who the listing company is. If they’re already working with an agent they’ll write the address down and have their agent get the information. Either way, they don’t care who the listing brokerage is.
Communication is a complaint I hear about a lot with sellers. Again, there is no guarantee that a Coldwell Banker agent will give you any more communication than an independent agent will. Each agent has their own marketing program and/or style. It has little or nothing to do with the franchise (or independent brokerage) they work for.
I could go down a whole list of items that many people think would be done better by a popular franchise but that I can prove is not true. And one last thing is that in many cases just working for a franchise costs the agent extra money. Yes, they are usually charged a fee to utilize the popular franchise name. And that fee is usually passed along to the seller clients. In fact, a popular franchise has a rule that they cannot list for less than a specified commission. The agents are taught how to counteract seller response to this higher commission. Sometimes it works (depending on how well the agent presents it), sometimes it doesn’t.
In Summary
I am so happy with my decision to leave my prior franchise. I have had record sales since I’ve left. In reality, my franchise was holding me back! My new office is much more professional and I still have a very friendly and easy-to-work-with broker. In fact, I feel more comfortable with my new broker than I did with my past broker that I worked with for more than 20 years.
When I joined Classic Realty Group 3 years ago there were a handful of agents. We are over 100 agents now and they’ve come from many of the big name franchises. We are not a training company so these agents are very experienced, just like I am.
