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Archive for March, 2011

I came across an interesting article today in the Chicago Tribune. The article discussed How To Sell Your House Fast during the current difficult financial times. I want to share some of my findings with you in this article:-

1) Price your home with the buyer in mind. When a potential buyer is looking to purchase their new home in a specific area, they will often come across the same types of property all priced exactly the same! If you look to price your home the same as everyone else, you will struggle to get noticed. Lower your selling figure slightly compared to your “competitors”, no more than 10%. However, this should get you noticed before the others.

2) You will never sell your property if it is in poor condition, no matter how low your asking price is. If there are basic home improvements that are required, get them done. If you are not in a financial position to pay for repairs and new items, then you should look for a short-term loan to cover your expenses. A loan is recommended above putting these items on your credit card. You will find that credit card interest rates are just far too high at this moment in time!

3) Time to de-clutter and clean your house thoroughly. You may be well aware of your cleaning routine, but what about de-cluttering? One tip on how to sell your house fast that i have come across many times before is to remove family photos and personal items from your home. Even things that are stuck to your fridge with magnets! You want any prospective buyer to be interested in the good points of your home and not to become totally absorbed in your family history and activities.

4) The front of the house is just as important as the inside. Imagine if a buyer has seen your listing and thinks this is just the property they are looking for. They arrive at your house to be greeted by an overgrown front lawn, childrens toys strewn across the front yard and the famous rust bucket secretly masquerading as a “classic car” on the drive. This doesn’t add to the appeal of your home and is more likely to frighten your buyer away!

5) Also have a deadline in mind. You should look to schedule an “open house” or have your property listed as soon as you can. This will stop you wasting time and you have a specific goal in mind. You then know you have a certain amount of days to get your home ready. Another tip on how to sell your house fast was to hold a “broker’s open house” on the day your property goes on the multiple listing service. This will ensure that you get a lot off real estate agents in the local area visiting your home. A great marketing tool!

The terms “franchise broker” and “franchise consultant” are seen frequently in the press, often implying they are one and the same. But what is a franchise broker and how are they different from a franchise consultant. Do they both offer objective, impartial advice? This article answers these critical questions.

A franchise broker is a paid franchise salesperson. Many franchise brokers claim they will help find a franchise company that is the perfect match for your background and abilities, and that their service is free. In the beginning it all sounds good. There’s some personality testing and review of personal finances. At the end of the day, it turns out they only represent a handful of small franchise companies you’ve never heard of before. A detailed analysis often reveals these highly touted franchises produce mediocre or even below minimum wage financial performance. Yet franchise brokers don’t mention this, and individuals continue to rely on their recommendations, believing the broker represents them. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Franchise brokers receive a substantial commission up to 50% or more of the franchise fee you’re paying the franchise company. Franchise Broker Realities: (1) Their service is definitely not “free” despite these and other similar misrepresentations. It’s really common sense – how could anyone offer a “free” service and survive in business? The simple truth is if you buy one of the franchises they’re hawking, your money goes to the franchise company, then into the broker’s pocket. If anyone ever calculated how much time they spend to collect their $15,000 or $20,000 commission, it’s probably more than a brain surgeon earns. (2) Franchise brokers definitely do NOT have your best interests in mind. They will do or say whatever they have to in order to close a deal and earn their commission.

A franchise consultant is usually an independent advisor who offers advice to others (usually franchise companies or firms that want to franchise their business) for a fee. This makes their advice more impartial in theory as long as they are not compensated by third parties. Because they are not legally required to disclose actual or potential conflicts of interest, it’s important ask questions. For example, if they are recommending the “best franchises,” are they paid anything by the companies on their list? This could be a commission, kick-back or “consulting fee.” Many franchise brokers call themselves “franchise consultants” to hide their true identity. So, make sure if you’re dealing with a franchise consultant, he or she is not really just a franchise broker in disguise.

For more information, visit the Franchise Foundations website

Like all things in life, there are always list of the top this or that. Franchises are no different and can be put in list like most popular, range of cost and ease of purchase. Business brokers also have their own favorites to show prospective clients.

If a potential franchise buyer is thinking about buying a franchise, then looking at rankings by various categories makes sense, as it will let them learn a great deal by comparing different franchises. The Internet is a great place to learn a lot from these list in a short amount of time.

Types of franchises

There are many different franchises besides the fast food ones that most people are aware of like the hamburger chains, the chicken franchises and the seafood places. There are many different retail type franchises, service franchises, trade type franchises and tax prepares. In fact almost any business type you can think of has a franchise competitor. Some of these franchises have a very high rate of success. Some may depend mainly on the individual that buys it such as a service business. If the owner is good at prospecting and selling their service they will be successful. It they are not good at it they may not make it, as the franchise is not well enough known to bring in enough customers. This accounts for the lower ranking of many of the franchises a person has never heard of and had no idea they even existed.

Ratings by cost of the franchise

A person can buy a franchise for as low as a couple of thousand dollars and the price goes up from there to well over a million dollars for some of the name restaurants. The low cost franchises seem to be home based and a single person operation. What many of them offer is just a business plan on how to do the business. This can be a steep cost for a plan with no other support or help.

At the high end you get training, on going support, a serious edge on being successful as these franchises have a very high percentage of success.

Popularity of these high end cost franchises also accounts for the fact that they sell at the upper end of the range. The success rate is high so they are popular.

Their popularity means the franchise company can get more money for them than the lower cost franchises. It is all about future success to the new owner and getting his investment back via profits.

Ease of purchase ratings

Low cost franchises are higher in the ratings since it takes less money to buy. Higher cost franchises may be more difficult to buy unless the buyer can arrange financing privately or through the franchise people. An investor group or a very well off private party usually buys the really high price franchises. Low cost franchises will sell on terms as they have little further cost in the franchise. The higher priced one will help a great deal in finding the money for a buyer they feel will do well with the franchise. They have over time developed all kinds of finance help from lenders to investor groups. They are really interested in selling to people they think will be good franchise owners. They want to have networks of successful franchises.

Business brokers have a selection of businesses to choose from Businesses brokers usually represent sellers who have an existing business they wish to sell. Their lists are varied among all of the types of businesses at a range of selling prices. When a buyer comes to them they can show buyers businesses that are in trouble and ones that are prime examples of a successful operation. They also have all types of businesses for sale, so the buyer is presented a choice of business types. This could be advantageous as the buyer may see something in the list that they have not thought of or even considered.

The business broker if experienced will have a very good idea of the real worth of the businesses that he represents. It is very likely professional evaluators arrived at the selling price. The prices have some fudge factor built in, but they are closer to the real value than a guess.

The great many choices these brokers are able to show prospective buyers should work to the buyer’s benefit. The choices are many and of all types of businesses that could be considered for purchase. This ability to look at all types of businesses at the same time and compare prices and potential investment return is one of the reasons that all buyers should at least have a discussion with a business broker or two.

These conversations will cost nothing, but they can help the buyer make better choices between a startup franchise and an existing business.

Talk with other franchise owners

If you have narrowed the businesses to certain franchises, it would be wise to speak with owners of other similar franchises. The information they will provide will help you make a better decision When you find out what they like and don’t like about the franchise, this is excellent material to think about. There is nothing like being warned about areas of contention and possible discontent in running a franchise. At least it will give you areas to question with the franchise people. After the sale is not the time to find out about problems you were not aware of and it certainly is not the time to be surprised. You may also find that there is room for some negotiation on the franchise price that was supposedly set in stone. Nothing is always locked in stone. Something that is claimed to be company policy is just that. It is an arbitrative decision and was not handed down from on high. Policies are changed all the time within companies. If you really do not like the policy walk away and find a different deal.

Conclusion

Looking at the ratings of franchises by different criteria will give the buyer many ways to look at different franchise opportunities. Comparisons by different means help the buyer get a perspective on the business they may get no other way. Looking at price ranges and understanding what they really mean is an eye opener to the buyer of a franchise. The fluff in the price can be guessed at by comparing different franchises. Also popularity and success seem to have some degree of predictability.

Taking the time to discuss what the business broker may have in his client list may be more than worthwhile. There may be a business on the list that the buyer never considered that would be better suited to the buyer’s needs and pocketbook. You will not know unless you look.

Use the Internet for comparing the different franchises. This is the fastest and easiest way to do the comparisons. Any information you want on the franchise business can be found on the net. This is a superb source for franchise information, stats and ratings. The net makes finding any information you want available by searching for it through a search engine.