FranchiseVerdict
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FV-00593·MODERATEExcellent81

Coldwell Banker

Real EstateFranchising since 1982Website
Investment
$34K – $522K
23rd pct Real Estate
Avg revenue
32nd pct Real Estate
Royalty
5.5%
26th pct Real Estate
Units
1,900
99th pct Real Estate
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $34K – $522K including a $25K franchise fee, 5.5% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 65/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 6 loans (below the industry average).
  • 17 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
Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC
Parent company
Compass, Inc.
Incorporated in
California
HQ
175 Park Avenue, Madison, NJ 07940
Auditor
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$5.7B
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 Coldwell Banker 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–$522K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $15K–$100K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

38%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$128K
EBITDA margin
17.0%
Total invested
$335K
Payback
32 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

Coldwell Banker franchisees operate full-service residential real estate brokerage offices, managing agents who list and sell properties, generating revenue through commission splits on closed transactions. Franchisees handle office operations, agent recruitment/training, lead generation, marketing, and client relationship management in their local markets with no territorial exclusivity.

CEO
Elisabeth Gehringer
Founded
1981
FDD year
2026
States available
50

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$34K – $522K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$15K – $100K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$25K
Royalty
5.5%
Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
0.5%
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
1,900
Opened
53
Last reporting year
Closed
86
Turnover rate
4.5%
Company-owned
484
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
75%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
15.4%
Net growth (yr3)
-0.9%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-4.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2024
1,297-33
Franchised units
2025
1,309
Franchised units
2026
1,351
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 21 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 · 21 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
6
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

65
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE65 / 100

Mature, declining real estate franchise with significant litigation exposure, no profitability transparency, and unprotected territories—moderate-to-high risk for capital deployment.

Score breakdown · what drove the 65 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORDeclining unit count (-0.9% YoY) suggests market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction in a mature 1,900-unit system
  2. 02MEDNo average revenue or net income disclosure (missing Item 19) prevents assessment of actual franchisee profitability and ROI
  3. 03HIGHMultiple active litigation categories including antitrust commission structure claims and TCPA class actions indicate systemic operational/legal risks
  4. 04MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk between franchisees and potential margin compression
  5. 05MEDHigh investment ceiling ($521,775) combined with undisclosed returns creates asymmetric risk/reward profile
  6. 06MINORDeclining royalty structure incentivizes growth but may signal prior franchisee profitability concerns at standard 5.5% rate

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
17
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
17 hrs
On-the-job training
0 hrs
POS system
Productivity Suite
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
(760) 352-••••
CA
(251) 948-••••
AL
(530) 758-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Coldwell Banker · FDD (2026) PDF

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