When GMAC Real Estate announced that it has a new insurance package designed for real estate affiliates by its sister company GMAC Insurance, it prompted Realty Times to investigate - what do other franchises offer? Does it really pay to affiliate with a large franchise?

It seems that if an independent contractor wants employee-level benefits such as special deals on insurance, one way to get them is to affiliate with a large franchise such as RE/MAX International or a Cendant brand such as Coldwell Banker, Century 21, ERA or NRT.

Franchises such as these are able to leverage their access to large numbers of independent contractor affiliates (RE/MAX - 48,000, Cendant Real Estate Brands - 200,000) to enable them to offer benefits to their independent contractor affiliates by creating alliances through strategic partners.

Independent contractors will agree that the toughest and most expensive benefit to get is health insurance, but licensees may be surprised to learn that franchise brands can deliver a broad range of benefits that are as diverse as hard-to-get risk insurance to discounts on rental cars and hotel rooms, among other benefits.

"The importance of any benefit would be judged in relation to what any individual agent or franchisee might consider most valuable to her/his career and life," suggests Steve Ozonian, senior vice president of RE/MAX International.

RE/MAX goes the strategic partner route to provide the RE/MAX Health Insurance program for RE/MAX members. The partners are Marsh Affinity Services and HealthInsurance.com, and the health benefits include Major Medical, Preferred Provider Option, and Medical Savings Accounts.

"RE/MAX also offers a national (U.S.) Errors & Omissions insurance program that is exclusive to RE/MAX franchisees," says Ozonian, "and of course, we offer many other affiliation benefits -- some "standard fair" such as the Approved Supplier program, offering volume buying and/or discounts on products, services, technology products and software, business (office and agent) products and software. Also, RE/MAX has a strong educational program (and continuing education classes) through RE/MAX Satellite Network, at conventions and other venues, and we offer RE/MAX Mainstreet (a proprietary "extranet" for RE/MAX members,) another valuable communications, file sharing and educational tool. And, RE/MAX offers relocation, corporate and commercial services and programs as well as RE/MAX Renowned Properties (luxury properties.)"

Ozonian concludes, "It goes without saying that we believe the RE/MAX brand name, image and business model are among our most valuable assets for members. We believe that RE/MAX technology products and services are the best in the industry -- and they are always cutting-edge."

Not to be outdone, Cendant spokespersons say their brands also offer health insurance benefits through The Cendant Real Estate Services Division. Through an agreement with Financial Independence Company Insurance Services (FICIS) of Woodland Hills, California, Cendant is able to provide limited indemnity health insurance plans, discount medical cards and critical care illness coverage for the franchisees and sales associates of the four brands that comprise the Cendant Real Estate Franchise Group.

"The FICIS relationship is part of each of our brands own unique preferred alliance program for affiliates - Century 21® Business Benefits®, Coldwell Banker® Business Advantage®, and ERA® Select Business Services® - which provide a wide array of discounted products and services for our respective brokers and sales associates," explains a spokesperson.

"We have also incorporated discounts at Cendant sister company services into these programs for sales associates including, but not limited to AVIS and Budget car rentals, Jackson Hewitt (tax services), and each of the hotel franchise brands (Days Inn, Knights Inn, Super 8, Howard Johnson, Villager, Travelodge, Wingate Inn, Ramada and Amerihost Inn & Suites," says the spokesperson.

Cendant also has a timeshare group, through Fairfield Resorts, RCI and TrendWest where associates can get some fun in the sun.

Published: January 21, 2004

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.