Among the biggest players in real estate are the leading national franchises, huge organizations with armies of brokers and salespeople. But now it seems that by some measures the franchise movement is stalled, and the question is why. According to the 1999 member profile from the National Association of Realtors , the franchise movement peaked in 1997 when 37 percent of NAR's membership had a franchise affiliation. For 1999, the franchise constituency is down to 34 percent.
Franchises represent a trade.
In real estate, a major franchise attraction is the possibility of referrals from other franchisees across the county. In the best case a franchise condenses the learning curve if you're building a new firm, and it provides additional growth potential and lower costs for established companies. In the mid-1980s, for example, franchise memberships dropped off, but then grew again at the start of this decade. We'll need to see what the numbers show in the next few years to determine if what we are now seeing is the start of a trend or just a passing fancy. Franchisers traditionally compete against independent firms and they also compete among themselves.