REALTY EXECUTIVES NAMED BY SUCCESS MAGAZINE TO ITS LIST OF TOP FRANCHISE CHAINS; This company — with 9 Ohio offices — changed the way real estate agents get paid by inventing the 100% commission concept in 1965

Business Wire,  Nov 28, 1994  

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COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 28, 1994--Realty Executives -- whose regional franchise division in Columbus operates nine real estate offices in Ohio -- has been ranked by Success magazine as one of the 100 best franchise chains in America.

The ranking was announced by Lew Patrick, president of Realty Executives of Ohio, who opened the first Realty Executives office in the Buckeye state in January of 1993 (at 2885 West Dublin-Granville Road) in Columbus, and has since opened eight more offices in seven Ohio cities in less than two years.

The ranking, known as the Success Franchise Gold 100, was just published in the November 1994 edition of the magazine and is based on what Success calls "hard, quantitative information" gathered jointly by Success and by the Big Six accounting firm of Ernst & Young.

"Realty Executives is part of an elite group that has mastered growth through franchising," said Scott DeGarmo, editor of Success. "Strong management and sound strategy are the keys," DeGarmo added, noting that "no other method grows a company as quickly, strongly or reliably" as does franchising.

According to DeGarmo, Realty Executives was ranked on the basis of "financial growth, corporate stability, and the continuing expansion of its franchise network" in Ohio and 34 other states.

DeGarmo said Success magazine also asked the individual franchise owners to rate the quality of the parent company, to determine the usefulness of the services it provides and to reveal whether -- given the chance -- they would invest in a Realty Executives real estate franchise again.

Realty Executives changed way real estate agents are paid

"This is a big honor for us," said Lew Patrick, president of Realty Executives of Ohio, "because it recognizes the company that changed the way real estate agents are paid, and in doing that, Realty Executives changed the whole real estate industry."

According to Patrick, Realty Executives "rewrote the book on sales force compensation in the real estate industry in 1965" when it became the first real estate company in America to allow its agents to keep their full commission, in exchange for paying a share of the office overhead.

"Until Realty Executives came along, all the other companies were splitting sales commissions with their agents," Patrick explained. "But Dale Rector -- the man who started Realty Executives -- believed that the lure of a full commission would help him attract the best agents in the business. And the growth this company has enjoyed in Ohio and 34 other states seems to have proven his idea right."

Agents earn more at Realty Executives, says National Assn. of Realtors

A recent survey conducted by NAR -- the National Association of Realtors -- confirmed that real estate agents who want to earn the most money should align themselves with a company that lets them keep 100% of their commissions on the sale of homes.

According to the NAR survey, agents who work for so-called 100% commission companies like Realty Executives enjoy a median net income that is $15,600 more per year than the income of agents who work for traditional companies, where sales commissions are typically split between agent and company. It was based on responses from 3,476 established real estate agents nationwide.

"Agents aren't the only winners under the 100% commission concept," Patrick pointed out. "Consumers win too, because we attract the most productive agents, the kinds of people that sellers want to work with, when it's time to sell a home."

Opened for business in Phoenix in 1965

Realty Executives opened for business with one office in Phoenix in October of 1965, operating as a local real estate company. Today, according to Real Trends magazine, its Phoenix operation has grown to become the sixth largest among all the local real estate companies in America. Based on its success in the Phoenix market, the company began franchising in 1987 as Realty Executives International, and now operates 227 offices in the United States, Canada and South Africa, and boasts 4,318 agents.

Bill Powers, vice president of Realty Executives International and the man in charge of franchise development, said Realty Executives sold 45 new franchises last year and will sell twice that many this year. Powers said his company operates franchises in Ohio and 34 other states and plans to have franchises "in all 50 states within five years."

CONTACT: Realty Executives of Ohio

              Lew Patrick, 614/793-2900
              Kerans & Co.
              Roxanne England, 602/345-1212
                               602/530-2910 (fax)

COPYRIGHT 1994 Business Wire
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