FranchiseVerdict
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate logo
FV-00289·MODERATEExcellent81

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate

Real EstateFranchising since 2008Website
Investment
$34K – $457K
23rd pct Real Estate
Avg revenue
32nd pct Real Estate
Royalty
5.0%
13th pct Real Estate
Units
362
82nd pct Real Estate
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $34K – $457K including a $25K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 63/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 15 loans (below the industry average).
  • 14 litigation matters disclosed in Item 3 — higher than typical. Review the summary for patterns (franchisor-initiated vs. franchisee-initiated).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC
Parent company
Compass, Inc.
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
175 Park Avenue, Madison, New Jersey 07940
Auditor
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$5.6B
vs $6.0B prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $34K–$457K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $15K–$60K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

44%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$124K
EBITDA margin
16.5%
Total invested
$283K
Payback
27 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate franchisees operate local real estate brokerage offices, managing agents who buy/sell residential properties, generating revenue through commission splits on transactions. Franchisees handle compliance, training, technology, and local marketing while paying royalties (5-6% of gross revenue, capped) to the franchisor. Daily operations include recruiting/retaining agents, managing transaction pipelines, and competing for market share in an increasingly commoditized industry.

CEO
Ginger Wilcox
Founded
2007
FDD year
2026
States available
46

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$34K – $457K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$15K – $60K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$25K
Royalty
5.0%
Percentage of Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.5%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
6.5%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
362
Opened
35
Last reporting year
Closed
41
Turnover rate
11.3%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
15.4%
Net growth (yr3)
-1.6%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-10.4%
Compounded over last 3 years
2024
362-6
Franchised units
2025
368
Franchised units
2026
404
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 27 states with active franchisees

The Territory Map

Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 27 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
15
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

63
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE63 / 100

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate presents HIGH RISK due to a shrinking franchise system, pervasive antitrust and compliance litigation that threatens business model viability, zero financial transparency, unprotected territories, and parent company merger uncertainty.

Score breakdown · what drove the 63 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORDeclining unit count (-1.6% YoY) indicates a contracting franchise system with potential saturation or franchisee attrition
  2. 02MEDFive active antitrust class-action lawsuits directly targeting real estate commission structures and franchisor practices create existential legal/regulatory risk
  3. 03MEDNo Item 19 financial performance disclosure (Avg Revenue/Net Income not disclosed) prevents informed ROI analysis and suggests either poor performance or franchisor non-compliance
  4. 04HIGHMultiple TCPA litigation cases indicate systemic compliance issues with marketing practices that could result in franchisor liability passed to franchisees
  5. 05MEDUnprotected territory means unlimited local competition from other BH&G agents and competing franchises, directly limiting revenue potential
  6. 06HIGHParent company merger litigation (Anywhere Real Estate + Compass 2026) creates uncertainty about franchisor stability, support, and strategic direction
  7. 07MINORWide investment range ($33,970–$456,600) suggests highly variable franchisee profitability and unclear cost structures

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Protected territory
No
Initial term
10 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
14
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
New Jersey

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
12 hrs
On-the-job training
0 hrs
POS system
Dash
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

100 numbers

Locked
(916) 836-••••
CA
(317) 232-••••
IN
(831) 663-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate · FDD (2026) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above