Bottom line
- Total investment $59K – $93K including a $43K franchise fee, 7.5% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $147K/year (median $116K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 44/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 59 loans (below the industry average).
- System contracting at -11.0% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
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 HouseMaster unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
23%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 HouseMaster units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$176K
on $879K purchase
Total debt
$703K
SBA $0.4M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
HouseMaster franchisees conduct comprehensive residential home inspections for real estate transactions, providing detailed reports on structural, mechanical, and systems integrity. Franchisees build client relationships with real estate agents, mortgage lenders, and homebuyers while managing scheduling, inspections, and report generation. The model relies on local market presence, licensing compliance, and reputation-driven referrals.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
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).
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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Home inspection franchise with declining unit growth, opaque profitability metrics, and recent franchisor litigation suggests caution; royalty structure heavily burdens franchisees near average revenue thresholds.
Score breakdown · what drove the 44 / 100 rating
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-2.0% YoY) suggests market saturation or franchisee struggles in a mature 242-unit system
- 02MINORNo Item 19 (average net income) disclosure prevents ROI validation against $58,825-$92,675 investment and 7.5% initial royalty
- 03HIGHActive litigation by franchisor against former franchisees for noncompetition enforcement (2023) indicates potential competitive or operational disputes
- 04MINORTiered royalty structure front-loaded at 7.5% on first $125K creates high burden when average revenue is only $146,553, leaving minimal margin for net profit
- 05HIGHAffiliate litigation (Window Genie, Molly Maid) within parent company portfolio raises systemic compliance or operational management concerns
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
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
88 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
HouseMaster · FDD (2024) PDF