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More agents are getting tired of the restrictions they have to face when part of a franchise, which is why many consider independence.
Last year, Craig Marshall, James Yahl and William Chan teamed up to create their own agency on Sydney’s North Shore called Marshall.Chan.Yahl.
At the time, Mr Marshall told Real Estate Business that the appeal of being independent is they get to do what they want, and not be restrained by an organisation or franchise.
However, while the appeal to go independent could be great, it does not come without its challenges.
While a lot of real estate agents know how to sell homes, they must be aware of the other aspects of a business that will come with operating their own agency.
The Agency CEO Matt Lahood believes the overhead costs can be quite the challenge for an independent agency.
“The way to become independent is to run very lean, you don’t need all the extra trimmings,” Mr Lahood told Real Estate Business.
However, while you also no longer have to pay a franchise fee, you are also not held to the franchise’s standard.
“A lot of franchise will tell you what you have to do — it’s a standard look,” he said. “With an independent, you don’t need that, but you also have to be visible.”
Although the appeal to be independent may be strong, Mr Lahood believes if you are going to make that move, you either need to be very large or go back to being part of a franchise.
“If you are going independent, I think you need to have some real firepower behind you, like a big group of people, not going small,” he said.
“If you are a one-man band and you’re part of a franchise, at least people still know that name.”
He believes the mistake with being small is that agency’s struggle to be visible.
“You’ve got to spend a lot of time on your social media and website to make noise, cause that is your shopfront window,” Mr Lahood said.
“They have to have boards up. You’ve got to make your own noise versus the franchise making noise for you.”
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