What is the difference between an 'Additional Office' and an 'Extension Office' for a Counselor Realty franchise?
Counselor_Realty Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
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You may apply to open one or more additional offices within your designated Territory (an "Additional Office") by submitting a request to Counselor describing the location of such proposed Additional Office as well as any additional information Counselor may require or request, along with a one-time fee of $750 for each Additional Office location (the "Additional Office Application Materials"). After Counselor's receipt of such Additional Office Application Materials (including the one-time fee), Counselor will have 30 days to review the Additional Office Application Materials and proposed Additional Office location and notify you whether or not Counselor consents to your opening of such Additional Office location. Any Additional Office we consent to must comply with all requirements of the Franchise Agreement and then-current System standards.
You may apply to open one or more additional offices outside of your designated Territory (an "Extension Office") by submitting a request to Counselor describing the location of such proposed Extension Office as well as any additional information Counselor may require or request, along with a one-time fee of $750 for each Extension Office location (the "Extension Office Application Materials"). After Counselor's receipt of such Extension Office Application Materials (including the one-time fee), Counselor will have 30 days to review the Extension Office Application Materials and proposed Extension Office location and notify you whether or not Counselor consents to your opening of such Extension Office location. Counselor's consent to any Extension Office location will be contingent on you and Counselor reaching a mutual agreement as to the minimum number of sales agents that will operate from the Extension Office. Any Extension Office we consent to must comply with all requirements of the Franchise Agreement and then-current System standards.
Before you sign the Franchise Agreement, you and Counselor will negotiate a schedule for the minimum number of real estate sales agents who must operate from your Office. If you fail to satisfy the agreed-upon schedule, or to maintain the minimum required number of agents in the Office on an ongoing basis, you may lose the exclusive right to operate a "Counselor" office in the Territory, your Territory may be altered (as determined by Counselor in its sole discretion), or Counselor may terminate the Franchise Agreement. See below and Item 17.
You will not receive an exclusive territory. You may face competition from other franchisees or Franchisor-owned outlets, or from other channels of distribution. During the term of the Franchise Agreement, Counselor will not itself establish or operate a "Counselor" office, or license another to establish or operate a "Counselor" office within the Territory. However, both Counselor and other "Counselor" franchisees are free to enter into, and to provide residential and commercial real estate brokerage services within, your Territory, and you are free to provide real estate brokerage services in territories in which other franchisees' "Counselor" offices are located. Continuation of your rights in the Territory is contingent on your achieving and maintaining the minimum sales agent schedule agreed upon by you and Counselor, and on your payment of continuing agent fees based on that schedule. See Item 6. Counselor is engaged in the real estate brokerage business and reserves the right to establish and conduct this business at any location except as described above.
If Counselor has consented to any Additional Office locations, any sales agents operating out of any such Additional Office locations will be counted as part of the number of sales agents operating from your Office for purposes of Section 1.3(a). If Counselor has consented to any Extension Office locations, you must maintain the mutually agreed-upon minimum number of
sales agents operating from such Extension Office (which must be agreed to before Counselor consents to any Extension Office location). One of these sales agents must be a supervising broker. The minimum number of sales agents required to be operating in any such Extension Office is separate from and in addition to the minimum number of sales agents that are required to operate from any of your other Office locations (including any Additional Offices). If you fail to satisfy and maintain the minimum required number of sales agents in the Extension Office on an ongoing basis, Counselor may (in its sole discretion) elect to have you close the Extension Office or terminate the Franchise Agreement. If Counselor has consented to any Extension Office, you will not receive any territorial protections with respect to such Extension Office. Both Counselor and other "Counselor" licensees may provide residential and commercial real estate brokerage services anywhere near such Extension Office. In addition, Counselor may itself establish or operate a "Counselor" office, or license another to establish or operate a "Counselor" office, anywhere near such Extension Office;
Source: Item 12 — TERRITORY (FDD pages 21–23)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Counselor Realty's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, both "Additional Offices" and "Extension Offices" require the franchisor's consent and the payment of a one-time fee of $750. However, they differ in location and how sales agents are counted. An "Additional Office" is located within the franchisee's designated territory, while an "Extension Office" is located outside of it.
For Counselor Realty, sales agents operating from an Additional Office are counted towards the minimum number of sales agents required for the franchisee's main office. In contrast, the minimum number of sales agents required for an Extension Office is separate from and in addition to the minimum required for other office locations, including any Additional Offices. Furthermore, at least one sales agent in an Extension Office must be a supervising broker.
A significant difference lies in territorial protection. Counselor Realty franchisees do not receive territorial protections for Extension Offices. This means that Counselor Realty itself or other franchisees can operate nearby. However, if Counselor Realty intends to license another office with a territory including the Extension Office location, the existing franchisee has a right of first refusal. Failing to maintain the minimum number of agents in an Extension Office may lead to closure of the office or termination of the Franchise Agreement.