FranchiseVerdict
Christie’s International Real Estate logo
FV-00533·CAUTIONExcellent86

Christie’s International Real Estate

Real EstateFranchising since 2022Website
Investment
$64K – $443K
59th pct Real Estate
Avg revenue
32nd pct Real Estate
Royalty
3.0%
6th pct Real Estate
Units
36
27th pct Real Estate
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $64K – $443K including a $35K franchise fee, 3.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 69/100.
  • 10 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
Christie’s International Real Estate, LLC
Parent company
At World Properties, LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
806 N. Peoria St., Chicago, IL 60642
Auditor
Aprio, LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$0
vs $0 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 Christie’s International 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: $64K–$443K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $5K–$90K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

42%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$128K
EBITDA margin
17.0%
Total invested
$301K
Payback
28 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

Franchisees operate luxury real estate brokerage offices under the Christie's brand, leveraging the auction house's brand equity to sell high-end properties. Day-to-day activities include recruiting and managing licensed agents, marketing premium properties, managing client relationships, and generating transaction volume subject to 3-6% royalties on gross revenues. Franchisees must maintain operational and compliance standards while competing in concentrated luxury markets.

CEO
Michael Golden
Founded
1995
FDD year
2025
States available
21

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$64K – $443K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$5K – $90K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
3.0%
Gross Revenues · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
3.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
6.0%
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
36
Opened
4
Last reporting year
Closed
7
Turnover rate
19.4%
Company-owned
3
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
92%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-8.3%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+0.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
33-3
Franchised units
2024
36
Franchised units
2025
33
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 29 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 · 29 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.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

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

Risk & Legal

69
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION69 / 100

A contracting luxury real estate franchise facing significant antitrust and fraud litigation with undisclosed financials, making risk assessment and ROI validation impossible.

Score breakdown · what drove the 69 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORSystem contraction of 8.3% YoY (36 units) indicates shrinking franchise network and potential brand deterioration
  2. 02MINORMultiple class action antitrust lawsuits (Hooper, Burton, Friedman, March, Tuccori, Umpa) suggest systemic compliance issues and reputational risk that could impact agent recruitment and client trust
  3. 03MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents validation of ROI claims and franchisee profitability analysis
  4. 04HIGHHigh litigation exposure across property disputes (Stuart, Kjarsgaard, Aratlakov, Lyons) with allegations of fraud/negligence creates legal liability risk for franchisees
  5. 05MINORWide royalty range (3-6%) lacks transparency on which metrics trigger higher tiers, creating profit margin unpredictability
  6. 06MINORInvestment spread of $64,475-$443,125 (586% variance) suggests inconsistent startup costs and unclear break-even projections by territory

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Counties, zip codes, or other geographical designations
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
10
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
1 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Illinois

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
13 hrs
On-the-job training
0 hrs
POS system
pl@tform
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

50 numbers

Locked
(402) 471-••••
NE
(864) 920-••••
SC
(214) 821-••••
TX

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Christie’s International Real Estate · FDD (2025) PDF

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