Commission Express

Founded: 1992 Franchising since: 1996
John L Stedman and Joseph M. Giovannelli founded Commission Express, based in Fairfax, Virginia, in 1992.

With most real estate transactions, an agent waits between 30 and 90 days to receive his or her commission. In the meantime, the agent still has to cover the costs of running an office and paying employees. Commission Express franchisees essentially offer agents cash advances by purchasing an agent's outstanding commissions at a discount. When the home purchase is completed and the commission is received, Commission Express withholds between 8 and 14 percent in fees. Franchisees provide their own capital to purchase the commissions.

8306 Professional Hill Dr. Fairfax, Virginia 22031

Phone: (888)560-5501/ (703)560-5500

Franchisor is a privately-held company with 4 employee(s); 3 employee(s) in franchise department.

Franchise Growth

Year	U.S. Franchises	Canadian Franchises	Foreign Franchises	Company Owned
2009	51	0	0	1
2008	56	0	0	1
2007	64	0	0	1
2006	69	0	0	1
2005	62	0	0	1

Where Seeking Franchisees
In the U.S. Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North carolina, North dakota, New hampshire, New jersey, New mexico, Nevada, New york, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode island, South carolina, South dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West virginia, Wyoming

Exclusive territories available.
Territory size: Less than 750/more than 1,000 real estate sales per month

Total investment: $94.3K-213.5K Franchise fee: $20K-80K

Ongoing royalty fee: 9% Term of agreement: 10 years, renewable

Type of Financing Available

	In-House	Third Party
Franchise Fee	No	No
Startup Costs	No	No
Equipment	No	No
Inventory	No	No
Accounts Receivable	No	No
Payroll	No	No

Qualifications
Cash liquidity requirement: $93K-213K
Business Experience:

• General business experience
• Real estate & law background

Operations

• Franchise can be run from home
• 15% of all franchisees own more than one unit
• Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 1
• Absentee ownership of franchise is NOT allowed. (100% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

Training

• Available at headquarters: 1 week
• At franchisee's location: 1 week
• Annual conference : 3 days

Ongoing Support

• Newsletter
• Meetings
• Toll-free phone line
• Internet
• Field operations/evaluations
• Purchasing cooperatives

Marketing Support

• Co-op advertising
• Ad slicks
• National media
• Regional advertising

Other marketing support

• Trade shows

Franchise 500® rank:
#451 (2005);