Lawyers Real Estate Is Franchising!

Published 20 March 10 07:51 AM | Peter Mericka 

by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B
Real Estate Lawyer
Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria
Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd

 

Lawyers Real Estate is on track to become the world's first franchised law firm. Follow our progress as we establish our pilot franchisee and roll out our concept.

Yes, after 8 years of research, development and plain hard work, Lawyers Real Estate will become a franchised law firm.  See "The Ultimate Real Estate Sales Office".

In keeping with our philosophy of openness and transparency, we're inviting interested parties to follow the progress of the operation.

 

Where we're at so far

Stage 1 - After months of research by Mr. Phil Blain of Franchise Alliance (our franchise development consultant) with legal advice from Mr. John Sier of Mason Sier Turnbull (our specialist franchise lawyers), the feasibility study has been completed. The result of the feasibility study was the firm conclusion that franchising should proceed.

Stage 2 - We will soon establish a pilot franchisee to further test the market, refine our systems and iron out any wrinkles before calling for expressions of interest from other lawyers. We're also in the process of negotiating arrangements with various service providers, to ensure that we can offer a complete out-of-the-box Lawyers Real Estate franchise which can be quickly and easily "bolted" onto any existing legal practice.

 

How to follow our progress

Rather than explain how our concept works (what's on offer, the legal aspects, compliance matters, how we will work with our franchisees etc.) at some later date, we want to ensure that potential franchisees are kept informed from the outset.

We are also keen to answer questions, and to have open discussions about our concept in an open forum. To this end we have established the Lawyers Real Estate Franchise Group on LinkedIn.

Just click on the following link to become a member of the Lawyers Real Estate Franchise Group, and join the discussion.

Filed under: franchising, Lawyers Real Estate, franchisee, franchisor, franchise

Comments

# Hector said on March 20, 2010 11:50 AM:

You are going to upset a lot of real estate agents with this.

# Peter Mericka said on March 20, 2010 11:58 AM:

Hi Hector,

We have upset more than just the real estate agents.  Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) are concerned that we will expose their failure to properly regulate the industry and protect consumers.

This is because our sale method does away with all of the shonky practices real estate agents have developed (while CAV has beed asleep at the wheel), and has reduced the cost of real estate sales.

So, sure the real estate agents frightened of us, and CAV are worried about its showing them up as a pet of the REIV, but consumers love us!

# uberVU - social comments said on March 20, 2010 12:34 PM:

This post was mentioned on Twitter by LawyersRealEst: Lawyers Real Estate is on track to become the world's first frachised law firm, specialising in real estate sales http://bit.ly/a5U1b5

# Remax said on March 20, 2010 1:56 PM:

I hear that you do not do appraisals and that a vendor has to get a valuation from a valuer at their own cost if the sell with your mob.  Why do you refuse to give free appraisals like agents do.

# Peter Mericka said on March 20, 2010 2:11 PM:

Hi Remax,

Thank you for that question; it's one that we'll have to include in our FAQs.

The reason we require a vendor to obtain a formal written valuation from a valuer of their choice and at their cost is that the valuation is the starting point when contemplating the sale of real estate.

Engaging a professional and independent valuer is crucial when selling real estate, as it ensures that the vendor knows the value of the property, and can make a good decision as to whether or not they should embark on a sale campaign in the current market or wait until the market is better.

Another reason for the independent valuation is to avoid any conflicts of interest.  As a real estate agent (I assume you are a real estate agent by your name) you will know how easy it is to impress a vendor by telling them what they want to hear, rather than what they really need to know.  And you will also know how easy it is to bring a vendor back to the real world by various "conditioning" techniques, some of which are quite sophisticated and taught in real estate agent CPD courses.

Finally, the fact that real estate agents are ALWAYS free of charge is very telling.  An easy way for a vendor to scare the daylights out of a real estate agent is to insist on paying for the appraisal.

What would you say to a vendor who insisted on paying,say, $20 for your appraisal and having you confirm in writing that your PI insurance cover extends to appraisals?  A recent story in the Financial Review suggests thart PI insurance premiums for professional valuers will be increasing - imagine the cost of PI insurance if real estate agents (who receive no training whatsoever in preparing valuations or appraisals) were to be held responsible for their pricing advice.

Free real estate appraisals are worth even less than they cost.

Part of the Lawyers Real Estate philosophy is that an expert should be engaged at every stage of the sale process.  Only a valuer can value real estate.  For more on this topis see "The Pricing Dilemma - An Agent's View" for a real estate agent's confirmation of this.  See also "Pricing Propaganda From REIV".

# Adrian Dayton said on March 29, 2010 10:33 PM:

Thanks for joining us last week Peter.  Good luck in your endeavors, you have an awesome value proposition to anybody looking to buy or sell real estate.  It is a no brainer to use an attorney at a fixed fee rather than an agent with far less ability.  Look forward to seeing how it goes for you.

Cheers,

Adrian