What is the geographic scope of the territory granted to a Counselor Realty franchisee?
Counselor_Realty Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
[Item 12: TERRITORY]
The Franchise Agreement authorizes you to establish and operate one Counselor Business at a single Office location within a designated geographic area (the "Territory"). You must obtain our written consent prior to opening or operating any additional Office locations. If the population in your Territory at the time you sign the Franchise Agreement is less than 10,000, your Initial Fee will be $7,500; if the population is 10,000 or more, your Initial Fee will be $15,000. Population figures are determined using then-current census data. You must select a site for your Office within 180 days after you sign the Franchise Agreement. After you notify Counselor of a proposed site for your Office, Counselor has 30 days to review the site and to notify you whether or not it consents to your operation of the Business at that site. If Counselor rejects the site you propose, you will have an additional 60 days to locate a site that is acceptable to Counselor. If you fail to do so, the Franchise Agreement will automatically terminate and Counselor will refund your Initial Fee, less Counselor's expenses associated with reviewing the proposed site(s). After Counselor consents to an Office site you propose, you must open your Business at that site within
six months. If you fail to do so, the Franchise Agreement will automatically terminate and your Initial Fee will not be refunded. Counselor may, in its sole discretion, grant extensions of the deadlines described above.
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.
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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.
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Upon renewal of your franchise and during the successor term, if any, Counselor may alter your Territory if the population in your Territory has increased to exceed the maximum population then allowed by Counselor for a single franchise territory, or if you failed to maintain the minimum required number of agents during the prior term.
You may relocate, with the prior written consent of Counselor, to a suitable site within the Territory. The replacement Office must open within 120 days after the prior facility closes. The replacement Office must comply with all requirements of the Franchise Agreement and thencurrent System standards.
Source: Item 12 — TERRITORY (FDD pages 21–23)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Counselor Realty's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, a franchisee is authorized to establish and operate one Counselor Realty business at a single office location within a designated geographic area, referred to as the "Territory". The franchisee must obtain written consent from Counselor Realty before opening or operating any additional office locations. The initial franchise fee depends on the population within the territory at the time of signing the Franchise Agreement; it is $7,500 if the population is less than 10,000 and $15,000 if the population is 10,000 or more, based on then-current census data.
A Counselor Realty franchisee does not receive an exclusive territory. The franchisee may face competition from other franchisees, franchisor-owned outlets, or other channels of distribution. However, during the term of the Franchise Agreement, Counselor Realty will not establish or operate a "Counselor" office, or license another to do so, within the franchisee's Territory. Both Counselor Realty and other franchisees are free to provide real estate brokerage services within the franchisee's Territory, and the franchisee is free to provide services in other franchisees' territories.
The continuation of a franchisee's rights in the Territory is contingent on achieving and maintaining a minimum sales agent schedule agreed upon with Counselor Realty, and on the payment of continuing agent fees based on that schedule. Counselor Realty reserves the right to conduct its real estate brokerage business at any location except as described above. The franchisor may alter the territory upon renewal if the population has increased beyond the maximum allowed or if the franchisee failed to maintain the minimum required number of agents during the prior term. A franchisee may relocate within the Territory with Counselor Realty's prior written consent.