HomeVestors of America, Inc

HomeVestors of America, Inc: A Franchise Built on Helping Others

 

A culture of collaboration and support tells a story of successful franchising in the real estate market

Successful real estate franchising requires a symphony of multiple elements, all working in harmony. For a franchise to thrive, it must possess the unique ability to blend traditional principles with a flair for adaptability and innovation.

It’s not just about sealing deals and amassing properties; it’s about forging lasting relationships, facilitating solutions, and building a foundation of trust both internally and externally.

To be prosperous, a franchisee must be a conductor of a well-tuned orchestra, seamlessly blending skills, knowledge, and work ethic.  Flexibility is an asset in this ever-shifting market, where adapting to new technologies, staying ahead of trends, and constantly expanding your knowledge base are critical to staying relevant.

Investing in the business is equally as important as investing in properties if one wishes to evolve and thrive in this dynamic environment.

Most importantly, the most successful franchises in this space must embrace service, not just as a means to an end but as an end in itself. This is a world where the desire to help others should take precedence over merely making transactions.

One franchise in particular, HomeVestors of America, Inc., stands out as a paragon of the very principle.

The HomeVestors Key to Unlocking Prosperity

Founded in Dallas in 1996 by Ken D’Angelo, the company’s very inception was rooted in the principle of helping individuals in difficult situations. Its focus is not just on buying houses but on solving the intricate challenges that people encounter within the real estate landscape.

Today, HomeVestors has expanded to encompass over 1,100 franchisees across 47 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. This remarkable growth and success can be attributed to the company’s unique approach and unwavering commitment to its mission.

The company prides itself on offering franchisees the ability to operate from home offices, eliminating the need for brick-and-mortar locations. This unique feature allows franchisees to reduce overhead costs and focus on building relationships within their business and community.

Beyond that is the incredible concept of shared territories, a rarity in the franchising world that fosters collaboration over competition among franchisees.

CEO Larry Goodman explains it perfectly, using the typical scenario seen in other franchises.

 

“If you had a restaurant [franchise] and another down the street, they’re not trying to work collaboratively. Within our model, each market has what’s called an Advertising Council of franchisees that come together and share information, and the more franchises in a market, the more successful [they all] tend to be,” Goodman explains.

 

While it seems counterintuitive, this ingenious design actually results in a surplus of generated results for the larger group as a whole. The members of each Advertising Council combine their advertising dollars to create a spending model that fairly distributes leads based on individual ad spends.

 

The result is a cooperative ecosystem where everyone not only works together to thrive but also puts in more to ensure a higher ROI for themselves.

Supporting Success Through Technology and Training

In addition to its highly cooperative culture, HomeVestors also ensures that its franchisees are adequately supported.

First and foremost, the company leverages a propriety CRM tool called UGVille to empower franchisees and enhance their business management capabilities. Powered by Salesforce, this resource guides franchisees through the entire lead lifecycle, helping them effectively manage their business.

Additionally, HomeVestors has also developed a proprietary app called ValueChek, which helps franchisees analyze property repair costs and determine post-repair values, streamlining the investment process.

The company is also finalizing a vendor portal to help the franchise find qualified vendors that have been pre-vetted through a compliance process to ensure that they have the appropriate insurance or licensing.

Many franchises don’t do this, so it certainly will be a point of distinguishment for HomeVestors that is sure to enhance its already great vendor relationships.

The franchise has already managed to secure strong long-term relationships with big names like Home Depot, Sherwin Williams, , Wayfair, and Silver Hill, which have consistently supported HomeVestor franchisees throughout the years.

However, according to Vice President, Franchise Development, Adam Benshoof, there is always room for improvement. “We want to have a number of different options for our franchisees… in our world, it’s not one size fits all, so we need to have different options for different situations,” Benshoof says.

Stepping away from support via technology, HomeVestors also ensures that there is a very human element of support for franchisees, specifically through training and guidance.

The company provides comprehensive training that flows from self-paced online pre-work to in-person training at the Dallas HQ to a follow-up virtual training class 90 days later.

However, the most vital element involves ongoing mentorship after this process.

“Every franchisee is assigned a Development Agent,” Goodman explains, “Development Agents either are or have been successful franchisees for many years and are there to help ongoing training throughout the life of the franchisee in the program.”

HomeVestors clearly demonstrates that it has a strong commitment to continuous learning for its franchisees because, in addition to all of this, it also provides them with a tremendous amount of online training videos, tutorials, weekly updates, and webinars on topics relevant to their success.

This is accessible at their convenience, of course.

The Qualifying Criteria of an Ideal Franchisee

Before even getting to the point of training, there are certain requirements that a prospective franchisee must meet.

On the financial end, an initial investment ranges anywhere from $89,000 to $461,250 in total. While that is a wide range, it’s entirely due to the equally wide range of markets found in real estate, as well as the advertising costs that come with those markets.

“It’s very market dependent,” Benshoof explains, “and our team works through that with each candidate to help dial in what those numbers look like to create proper expectations for each franchisee based on where they are.”

Inside that investment range is a lot of optionality. The initial franchisee fee is $39,000 for an associate franchise–which is how most start–or $85,000 for a full franchise.

So, prospects have the option to start sooner rather than later, but even if they have the money to jump in, there are also three key standards they must meet regarding their character.

The company welcomes franchisees with entrepreneurial spirits, relationship-oriented personalities, and a genuine desire to help others. Benshoof expresses this sentiment clearly, saying, “We help people first, we buy houses second.”

HomeVestors doesn’t just measure success solely by its number of territories but also by the ability of a single franchise to be impactful.

Goodman doubles down on the point, saying, “We’re a real estate business, we are, but 100% in a situation where someone’s in some type of difficult situation that they need to work through, [we want] our franchisees to potentially be a solution for them.”

This combination of good-natured service and industry complexity is most likely why, as a franchise, HomeVestors also tends to do well with military veterans. “This is very systematic and process-oriented, and that’s their background. So, we’re excited to partner with them,” Benshoof says, explaining that veterans’ discipline and work ethic make them a great fit for the business.

Because HomeVestors values the skills and traits that have already brought the franchise much success, it offers military veterans a 10% discount on the initial franchise fee.

The Results of a Service-Oriented Mission

HomeVestors has certainly shown that it doesn’t need to follow typical franchise patterns to achieve success. It has managed to be of service while hitting massive milestones as a company.

The company has received numerous accolades for its masterful quality of service.

Just this year, the company was ranked number 65 in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500. It also secured rank 54 in the Franchise Times’ Top 400.

Most notably, when companies were separated by industry, HomeVestors was ranked number 1 in real estate by Entrepreneur Magazine’s Best of the Best.

These recognitions underscore HomeVestors’ commitment to excellence, and no doubt explain the outstanding 95% satisfaction rate among those who decided to sell their homes to a HomeVestors franchise. .

Clearly, there’s a lot that’s working well at HomeVestors, and looking ahead, it aims to expand its franchise network to 1,500 locations. To achieve this vision, Goodman and Benshoof plan to focus on enhancing the resources, culture, and systems that have already brought HomeVestor franchisees success.

“If we can continue to enhance our base with  everything that we’ve been doing… then we will have the greatest chance to grow to 1,500,” Goodman explains.

In conclusion, HomeVestors is not just a franchise; it’s a network of like-minded individuals dedicated to helping others and providing solutions to real estate challenges. Its commitment to innovation, collaboration, and unwavering support for franchisees sets it apart in the world of real estate investment and franchising.

The company’s future is promising, driven by its status as the standard bearer in franchise-based real estate investing, specifically for those who are in it to make a difference in the lives of others.

With the first three words of its mission statement being “To help people,” turning this vision into reality is naturally the only outcome possible.

AT A GLANCE

HomeVestors of America, Inc.

What: A real estate franchise dedicated to helping individuals in difficult situations and solving real estate challenges.

Where: United States

Website: www.homevestors.com