The referral issue involves more than individual deals. If members of a franchise send referral offers through a central franchise office, and if a franchise organization obtains a fee when referrals result in transactions, then would brokers be better off exchanging referrals among themselves online and without additional cost?

A related issue works like this: If a franchise organization builds a web site which includes franchisee listings, do franchisees have an equity interest in the site? After all, the site would not be possible without franchisee input, so why should the franchiser capture all the equity and income created by the site?

Franchises have much to offer, and those which put franchisee interests first and hold down costs are most likely to be with us in the future. Alternatively, the Internet itself is now emerging as a franchise competitor, something that should not comfort franchisers.

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Question Of The Week

Q Our agent rarely calls and this bothers us. We would like better communication so we can see how the home is being marketed and the level of buyer interest. How do we get the agent to be more talkative?

A It may be that the salesperson feels that he or she is, in fact, doing a good job of communication. The individual may not understand or see your perspective.

It's in the salesperson's best interest to communicate with you on a regular basis, so the first step is to call the individual, express your concern, and suggest a regular call -- say once a week, on a given day and at a given time.

Most brokers and agents would take such a call as a gentle reminder to communicate better and apologize for your concern. If that isn't the case, then speak with the company office manager or broker and explain what needs to be done.

Weekly Resource