Learn about Title Company Franchises and differences between a franchise and other title company ownership options.
Many current real estate professionals who are looking to start a title company or own a title company research and consider a title company franchise as an option for them to enter into the business. This article will discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of a title company franchise and other options to consider.
As we discuss in our What is a Title Company Joint Venture article , there are several reasons existing real estate professionals or entrepreneurs are researching title company ownership. Those reasons include realizing title profit, revenue diversification, and business systems control. Many look at a title company franchise to achieve these goals. As most are familiar with the concept of a franchise in general, a title company franchise can be appealing at first glance.
If franchising works so well in so many other types of businesses it must work just as well with a title company franchise? Well, that's far from the case.
A title company franchise may help with some of the basic backend systems but would still you as the owner responsible for the majority of the operations. You would still be responsible for:
Attracting and hiring of employees
Training employees
Ongoing employee support and development
Building a brand name
Building up trust in your local network
Providing marketing materials
Gaining referrals
Expensive software/hardware
Responsible for any title insurance claims against your business
When all said and done you will be managing a complex, highly regulated business day and day out with little room to focus on your existing real estate company. In addition many of the responsibilities of a title company franchise owner are very hard to learn without extensive prior experience and will result in a high probability of failure for the business. See how a title company joint venture solves these problems here.
You only get one chance with your existing referral network. When investing in a title company franchise you are buying their systems and business processes. What is their proven track record of growth in the last 24 months? Most title company franchises are very inflexible and are very slow to adapt to local market conditions. Since the franchisor is only indirectly involved in the business and is not actively supporting the local business, many mistakes could go unnoticed for long periods of time.
The title business is competitive, referral based business and once a referral source is lost it is very hard to win it back. For this reason a title company joint venture is a better option as it aligns both owners very closely to success of the business. Let the title expert partner handle their side, and the real estate professional do what they do best. It is truly a joint business partnership with each bringing their expertise to the venture.
The systems that a title franchise may provide you might be outdated, non-digital or not a good fit for your market or business model. Although considerable time, energy and expertise would be required, many aspiring title professionals would be better in the long run selecting their own systems than paying for expensive title franchise systems.
Choose a Title Company Joint Venture Partner
Without a doubt, the best way to start a title company and realize your goal of owning your own title company is through a title company joint venture. CLOSED™, The Joint Venture Title Company™, leads the industry offering modern title company ownership. A title company joint venture with CLOSED™ offers you key advantages over a typical title company franchise:
A team of experts with Fortune 500 credentials to run the business
A modern, future proof, proven platform with proven scalability
24/7 Real-time title updates
Multi-state expertise
Digital Ready- CLOSED™ has been closing 100% online since 2018
A dedicated team, including a trained employee placed in your office
CLOSED™, The Joint Venture Title Company™ , is leading the industry in offering title company joint ventures as partners with leading real estate brokerages, lenders and current title professionals. Visit our Joint Ventures page to learn more about how we are reinventing title company ownership. There you can book a meeting with our marketing team, or you can call 833-TITLEJV to speak to our marketing team anytime.
CLOSED™ was founded to deliver on a fundamental promise of technology: to transform experiences. We are making strategic investments in CLOSED™ technology to create new closing experiences.
Founded by Devan Spinelli, Esq., a real estate attorney and technology consultant to Fortune 500 C-level executives, CLOSED™ is innovating and empowering clients to close online from anywhere in the world, receive real-time title updates and experience unparalleled responsiveness.