Tips for Choosing a Real Estate Agent - Independent Versus the Broker Franchise

The general rule is that it's the agent, not the office that's most important. Go with the best agent you can find, independent or franchise. However, if you don't know any agents and can't get a recommendation, the national franchises usually maintain at least minimal quality con­trol, have procedures that protect both them and you, and usually have heavy errors-and-omission insurance in case one of their agents makes a bad mistake.

Today it's very hard for an independent office to survive. National franchises such as Coldwell Banker, Century 21, R/EMax and others offer heavy advertising, name-brand recognition, and legal support and associated services to agents. They often overwhelm small independent offices with their competition.

As a result, most agents today in most areas belong to a franchise of one sort or another. My own experience has been that only those independents that are either extremely strong, with excellent agents, or very weak, with poor agents, have not been gobbled up by one or the other of the franchises. That usually means that if you're dealing with an independent, you've probably got the best, or the worst, of the field.

It's important to understand, however, that although you may go with a national name in real estate, in most states you're still dealing with a local office. For example, a broker friend of mine had successfully operated an independent office near Los Angeles for over 20 years. He had seven agents working full-time for him, every one a winner.

However, he decided that he could make more money with less effort by associating with a national franchise. So one day, he simply converted. His office now bears both the national name and his own name. It's a fran­chise, he's still the broker in charge and the agents are the same. He operates under the umbrella of the national firm, which provides the support noted above, but you still deal with him or one of his associated agents. In a sense, you're getting the best of both worlds.

Except... the national franchise has strict rules regard­ing the amount of commission charged, how deals are handled, where escrows are placed, and so forth. My friend no longer has the flexibility he once had to tailor-make a deal to suit his clients and customers. Today, he follows the rules. This sometimes benefits those clients and customers, and other times it causes them grief and produces a poorer result.

Gary writes for My Hawaii Real Estate where you can find Oahu homes for sale in the all the major islands. Review real estate on Oahu along with our MLS search for Honolulu real estate listings.