Must I request webpages for licensed agents in writing from Counselor Realty?
Counselor_Realty Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
We will create a separate webpage or subdomain for your Office and any Extension Office on Counselor Realty, Inc.'s website. If we have consented to any Additional Office locations, you may request to have us set up a separate webpage or subdomain for any such Additional Office on Counselor Realty, Inc.'s website. We will create a separate webpage or subdomain on Counselor Realty's website for those licensed agents you request in writing. All webpages and subdomains we create for the licensed agents operating through your Office (including any Additional Officer or Extension Office ) will include an IDX home search option for each market that the agent directly serves with listing reciprocity among Counselor Realty and our franchisees (local MLS fees are the agent's responsibility). You will be required to pay us a Website Set Up Fee for any such webpages or subdomains, as more particularly described in Item 6. You will also be required to pay us a Website Fee associated with the webpages and subdomains we create for your Office, any Additional Offices or Extension Offices, and for the licensed agents operating through your offices, in such amounts, and at such times, as more particularly described in Item 6.
Leads created off Counselor Realty's website for listings in the region where your franchised office is located will be provided and directed to your Office; provided, however, that if the lead is for a listing that is listed by one of our franchisee's agents or one of Counselor Realty's agents, such lead will be directed to such agent if that agent has elected to create a Counselor Realty web page/subdomain. If there is more than one franchisee in the region (distinct areas served by the same MLS system, or its equivalent), those leads will be shared and/or split between the affected franchisees, as determined by Counselor in its sole discretion. We may take into account office locations, number of agents, types of leads or any other rational means to distribute leads.
Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND TRAINING (FDD pages 17–21)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Counselor Realty's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, if you want Counselor Realty to create webpages or subdomains for licensed agents operating through your office, including any Additional Office or Extension Office, you must request this in writing. These webpages will include an IDX home search option for each market the agent serves, with listing reciprocity among Counselor Realty and its franchisees. The agent is responsible for local MLS fees.
As a franchisee, you will be required to pay a Website Set Up Fee for these webpages or subdomains, as detailed in Item 6 of the FDD. Additionally, you will be required to pay an ongoing Website Fee associated with the webpages and subdomains created for your office, any Additional Offices or Extension Offices, and the licensed agents operating through your offices. The specific amounts and timing of these fees are also described in Item 6.
It's important to note that leads generated from Counselor Realty's website for listings in your franchised office's region will be directed to your office. However, if the lead is for a listing by one of Counselor Realty's or its franchisee's agents who have a Counselor Realty webpage/subdomain, the lead will be directed to that agent. If multiple franchisees operate in the same region, Counselor Realty will determine how to share or split leads among them.