Does a Counselor Realty franchisee need permission to open additional office locations?
Counselor_Realty Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
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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.
Source: Item 12 — TERRITORY (FDD pages 21–23)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Counselor Realty's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, a franchisee needs written consent from Counselor Realty to open additional office locations. Specifically, a franchisee can apply to open additional offices either within their designated territory, referred to as an "Additional Office," or outside their territory, known as an "Extension Office."
To open either type of additional office, the franchisee must submit a request to Counselor Realty that includes the location of the proposed office and any other required information. A one-time fee of $750 is required for each Additional Office or Extension Office application. Counselor Realty then has 30 days to review the application and notify the franchisee whether or not they consent to the new location.
For Extension Offices, Counselor Realty's consent is contingent on reaching a mutual agreement regarding the minimum number of sales agents that will operate from the Extension Office, with one agent being a supervising broker. This minimum number is separate from the requirements for other office locations. Failure to maintain the minimum number of sales agents in an Extension Office may result in Counselor Realty requiring the franchisee to close the Extension Office or even terminating the Franchise Agreement. If Counselor Realty consents to an Additional Office, any sales agents operating out of the Additional Office will be counted as part of the number of sales agents operating from the franchisee's main office.