Real Estate Franchises: Most Recognizable Brands for 2009

I JUST MADE THE RIGHT MOVE, KELLER WILLIAMS IS #1.

by Stefan Swanepoel

11,000+ Agents Cast 390,000 Votes to Select the Top 10

It’s been almost 40 years since franchising entered the residential real estate industry; a move that has shaped the industry like few other concepts or strategies before or since. The impact of franchising ranks with MLS and the Internet as the top three game changing strategies in real estate since WW II.

Today there are a growing number of agents questioning the value proposition of real estate franchising. They point to some of the “older models” that seem to offer little more than a brand; a brand of questioned value in today’s online world. A franchise company’s long term success (or failure) is therefore dependent upon both its model standing the test of time and its implementation systems supporting the local franchisee in successfully putting those models into operation.

In the 2010 Swanepoel TRENDS Report, scheduled for publication on February 8th, 2010 — reserve a copy now at www.RETrends.com) — a whole trend is dedicated to analyzing real estate franchising. The trend discusses the changes that have occurred during the last year including bankruptcies, acquisitions, large mergers, the re-introduction of previously dormant franchise brands and the launch of several new ones.

The Report details the Top 20 largest franchises based on agent count as of December 2009, inclusive of recent changes and acquisitions up and including that date.

However, as an additional test RealSure (www.realsure.com), the publishers of the Swanepoel TRENDS Report and the Swanepoel SOCIAL MEDIA Report, decided that it would be interesting to compare agent count rankings with the perception and recognizability of franchise brands by the industry itself.

So on Thursday December 3rd a nationwide online survey was launched to determine the “Most Recognizable Franchise Brand in Real Estate.”

With real estate agents being independent contractors and fiercely loyal to their respective brand the vote quickly garnished huge attention. It went viral through various social media networks, blogs and emails encouraging agents to vote.

In the end an astonishing 11,355 agents voted, casting just over 390,000 votes for 33 different real estate franchise brands making this — according to knowledge — the largest survey of its kind in the industry. The survey required real estate professionals to vote for a franchise on a scale from 0 – 5; starting from “Never heard of the brand” all the way up to “Excellent brand.” The brand’s scores in all categories were taken into consideration to determine the overall rankings. In the end there was a significant difference in the vote count between most of the top 10, thereby solidifying the placement of the brands.

Although another survey can produce different results and rankings, we are confident that this is a very good reflection of the real estate brokerage industry’s current opinion and awareness of the franchise brands that serve them.

The Top 10 real estate franchises, most recognized by the real estate industry as quality national brands are:

1.Keller Williams Realty
2.Coldwell Banker Real Estate
3.RE/MAX International
4.Century 21 Real Estate
5.Prudential Real Estate
6.Sotheby’s International Realty
7.EXIT Realty
8.ERA Real Estate
9.Weichert Real Estate Affiliates
10.Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate


The franchises that made it to the Top 5 were to be expected and are also the five largest real estate franchises in the country. The Top 5 also comfortably attracted more votes than the second five on the list, strongly pointing to the industry’s own internal belief that these are the top five franchise brands that agents would like to work for.

Keller Williams Realty’s surprising #1 ranking was most likely due to the strong, above average online and social media presence of their agents and the fact that during 2009 KW surpassed RE/MAX in agent count according to a widely published REAL Trends survey..

The 103-year old Coldwell Banker franchise has been the beneficiary of many NRT, Inc. acquisitions that have allowed the brand to remain at the forefront of many agents in a positive way. RE/MAX with their powerful consumer portal has also enjoyed the highest profile on national television of all the brands, thereby probably contributing to their high ranking.

Most interesting was the strong showing of Sotheby’s International Realty at #6, ahead of ERA Real Estate (a more established brand in real estate) and EXIT Realty (a more bolder promoter). The ranking was most likely attributed to the luxury homes image that many agents attach to the brand.

Long standing independent and northeast-based regional Weichert REALTORS converted to a franchise seven years ago and has steadily grown. Impressively it was able to break into the top 10 as a recognizable national brand.

Also surprising was the fact that newcomer Better Homes & Gardens squeezed out companies like Realty Executives, John L Scott and Windermere (both still regional players) to claim the last spot in the Top 10. This was most likely attributable to the recent news that 2,000-agent Metro Brokers switched from GMAC to BH&G as well as a few other key acquisitions.

The housing market is smaller than it was three years ago, yet we have more franchisors today than we did back then. Clearly the market is over saturated and yet the franchises reflected on this list are, according to thousands of agents that work for them and for their competitors, the best of the best.

At the end of the day, real estate brokers and agents want and need different kinds of support and thus different franchisors will attract different brokers and agents. For a detailed discussion on franchising, what the 7 key different types of real estate franchises are and which of the strategies currently work the best, read the 2010 Swanepoel TRENDS Report. Secure your copy at a special pre-publication discount of 34% when ordering at http://www.realestatebooks.org/items/Swanepoel_TRENDS_Report_2010.htm

Survey methodology:

The poll was conducted online within the United States between December 3rd and December 11th, 2009 among 11,355 real estate professionals.

All surveys and polls are subject to multiple sources of error that are not possible to quantify. Especially with online polls the errors associated with wording, selection, exposure and attempts to manipulate the vote make it very difficult to guarantee results. Post-survey weighting and adjustments are made to adjust for irregularities found in the voting but we avoid using the term “margin of error” as we feel it is still misleading.

Due to the very large number of real estate professionals that voted it is felt that the results closely reflect the opinion of the majority in the industry.