FranchiseVerdict
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FV-00864·CAUTIONExcellent95

Epcon Communities

Real EstateFranchising since 1996Website
Investment
$1.2M – $5.7M
100th pct Real Estate
Avg revenue
$599K
20th pct Real Estate
Royalty
2.0%
4th pct Real Estate
Units
101
55th pct Real Estate
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $1.2M – $5.7M including a $75K franchise fee, 2.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $599K/year (median $560K).
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 72/100.
  • System growing at 16.9% CAGR over 3 years with 101 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Epcon Communities Franchising, LLC
Parent company
EC Franchising, LLC, Epcon JV LLC and Epcon Holding LLC
Incorporated in
Ohio
HQ
500 Stonehenge Parkway, Dublin, Ohio 43017
Auditor
GBQ Partners LLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$6.8M
vs $7.2M 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 Epcon Communities unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $598,881
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: $1.2M–$5.7M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $15K–$30K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

3%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$108K
EBITDA margin
18.0%
Total invested
$3.5M
Payback
385 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.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Epcon Communities units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$1.3M

on $6.6M purchase

Total debt

$5.3M

SBA $3.3M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Epcon Communities franchisees develop and operate active adult residential communities, managing land acquisition, site planning, construction oversight, sales/marketing, and community management. Day-to-day operations include coordinating with builders, managing sales teams, handling homeowner relations, and ensuring regulatory compliance across construction and Fair Housing regulations.

CEO
Joel D. Rhoades
Founded
1986
FDD year
2025
States available
21

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$1.2M – $5.7M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$15K – $30K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$75K
Royalty
2.0%
Per-unit closing fee based on gross sales price · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
$625 per month per project
Total fee load
2.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$599K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$560K
Item 19 type
Historical Settlement Prices for Franchisee Projects
Sample size
546 units
vs category median 41 · large
Range (low → high)
$297K$1.5M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
4 / 5
vs category median 0 / 5 · above
Revenue rank20th
vs Real Estate peers
Investment cost rank100th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank4th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank55th
vs Real Estate peers
Risk score rank84th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
101
Opened
18
Last reporting year
Closed
1
Turnover rate
1.0%
Company-owned
18
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
82%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+13.7%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+16.9%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
83+10
Franchised units
2024
73
Franchised units
2025
71
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 26 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 · 26 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

72
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION72 / 100

Epcon Communities presents HIGH RISK due to undisclosed going concern status, multiple active construction defect and Fair Housing lawsuits, missing profitability data, and slow unit growth relative to high capital requirements.

Score breakdown · what drove the 72 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — indicates potential financial instability or solvency concerns at corporate level
  2. 02HIGHMultiple active litigation cases including Fair Housing Act violation with Consent Decree — regulatory compliance risk and reputational damage
  3. 03MEDNo average net income disclosed — impossible to validate actual profitability despite $598,881 average revenue claim
  4. 04MINORHigh investment range ($1.15M–$5.7M) with only 101 units and 13.7% YoY growth — suggests slow unit expansion and extended payback periods
  5. 05MINORRoyalty structure ($3,000 minimum monthly) creates fixed cost burden regardless of actual sales performance
  6. 06HIGHConstruction defect litigation across multiple projects (Price, Marrington Villas, Lipari) indicates systemic quality/delivery issues

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Market Area
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
5 years
Renewal term
0 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
No
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
5
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Ohio

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
12 hrs
On-the-job training
0 hrs
POS system
Higharc
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

62 numbers

Locked
(817) 430-••••
TX
(346) 762-••••
TX
(701) 281-••••
ND

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Epcon Communities · FDD (2025) PDF

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