United Real Estate

Item 7 lays out the entry at a $35,000 franchise fee for a brokerage office targeting cities over 50,000 population—no full investment range detailed here, but expect setup for listing/selling residential, commercial, and leases (no rural). Ongoing costs stand out: zero royalty or ad fund, replaced by $45 per agent per month, $75 per real estate transaction, $45 per lease, plus $500/year MLS admin and local dues. No Item 19 disclosure means no peek at average revenues or profits across units, a red flag since it leaves franchisees blind to top-line benchmarks—common in brokerages but limits apples-to-apples validation.

System metrics show stability with just 2 terminations in 2023, 18 corporate locations bolstering the brand from Kansas City HQ, but growth stalled: 73 franchised units in 2022 dropped to 72 in 2023 (-1%), even as they project 10 new ones ahead. This transaction-fee structure could shine in high-volume metros if you build a big agent team, avoiding percentage drags, yet the contraction and earnings silence suggest vetting local MLS dynamics and agent recruitment hard. For deal-focused brokers, it's intriguing; others might chase disclosure-heavy peers.