What is the definition of 'Residential Real Estate' for Corcoran franchisees?
Corcoran Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
If we grant you a Franchise, you must use the Marks in connection with the listing, offering, selling, exchanging, purchasing, managing, leasing or renting of residential real estate. For purposes of this disclosure document, "Residential Real Estate" will mean real estate consisting of a residential dwelling (including an apartment within a multi-family building), including leaseholds of dwellings (including the
rental and management of properties, cooperatives, condominiums, fractional ownership, manufactured homes, panelized or pre-fabricated housing, undeveloped land, building lots, resort, farm and ranch real estate and any other form of real estate for which a residential real estate brokerage license is required under applicable law, excluding Timeshares and real estate services defined as Excluded Businesses. You may be permitted to engage in Real Estate Related Excluded Businesses with our prior written consent, and such businesses must be conducted under another trade name and in a manner (including, but not limited to, segregated workspaces, as we may require, and using a separate telephone number) that eliminates the prospect that the public might believe the business is related to the Corcoran® System in any way (see Section 4.2 of the Franchise Agreement). We have the right to establish policies and standards in our P&P Manual to ensure these activities are kept separate and apart from the franchised business.
Source: Item 16 — RESTRICTIONS ON WHAT THE FRANCHISEE MAY SELL (FDD pages 62–63)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Corcoran's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, 'Residential Real Estate' is specifically defined for the purposes of the franchise agreement. It includes real estate consisting of a residential dwelling, such as an apartment within a multi-family building. This definition also extends to leaseholds of dwellings, encompassing the rental and management of properties.
Furthermore, the definition of 'Residential Real Estate' includes cooperatives, condominiums, fractional ownership, manufactured homes, panelized or pre-fabricated housing, undeveloped land, building lots, resort, farm and ranch real estate, and any other form of real estate requiring a residential real estate brokerage license under applicable law. However, it explicitly excludes Timeshares and real estate services defined as Excluded Businesses.
Corcoran may grant permission for franchisees to engage in Real Estate Related Excluded Businesses, but this requires prior written consent. These activities must be conducted under a different trade name and in a manner that clearly separates them from the Corcoran System to avoid public confusion. Corcoran retains the right to establish policies and standards to ensure these activities remain distinct from the franchised business.