NextHome, the real estate franchise with a flexible spending model, has been named the top real estate franchise by Franchise Business Review for 2020 and snagged third place overall, as announced at the International Franchise Association Convention on February 9.
Franchise Business Review is a market research firm in the franchising industry that studies satisfaction and performance of franchisees.
The accolade is (potentially) a reversal of sorts, with NextHome snagging first place from Keller Williams, which was named the top real estate franchise in 2019. However, a spokesperson from Keller Williams informed Inman that he did not believe the real estate company made the deadline to participate in Franchise Business Review’s survey this past year, but was unable to confirm before publishing.
Franchise Business Review informed Inman it could not disclose participating company names.
“Of all the awards we’ve received, this is truly the one I’m most proud of,” NextHome CEO James Dwiggins told Inman in an email. “To be ranked the no. 3 overall franchise in the country, and no. 1 in the category of real estate based upon honest member feedback, means we’re providing incredible value to our brokers and agents. We launched NextHome in January of 2015, so this is just the beginning for us.”
“Our goal over the next few years is to be ranked the #1 overall franchise in the country,” Dwiggins added.
To determine rankings, Franchise Business Review surveyed 27,500 franchisees across 300 North American brands. Franchisees were asked 33 questions regarding their experience and satisfaction regarding various areas of the franchise like training and support, operations, franchisor/franchisee relations and financial opportunities.
Franchise Business Review
James Dwiggins | NextHome
While Sotheby’s, Weichert and Better Homes and Gardens all increased their standing in 2020 in the real estate category, Weichert made the most significant jump from no. 8 in 2019 to no. 3 this year.
Other notable real estate companies that were not included in Franchise Business Review’s list this year include Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Commercial and Epcon Communities.
A spokesperson from Coldwell Banker confirmed to Inman that Coldwell Banker and Coldwell Banker Commercial did not participate in the program this year, but requests made for information about Epcon Communities’ participation were not immediately returned.
NextHome also landed the no. 3 spot this year for Franchise Business Review’s Overall Top 50 franchise list, making it only one of three real estate companies to make the Overall Top 50 list, along with Sotheby’s International Realty and Weichert Real Estate.
Kona Ice earned the top spot on the Overall Top 50 list for 2020 and MaidPro earned second place.
