Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S3432 since 2018
ENGEL & VOLKERS
Real Estate · independent · est. —
Engel & Völkers is a global real estate brokerage focused on residential, commercial, and luxury property sales and rentals. A franchisee operates a brokerage "shop," recruiting and supporting real estate advisors (agents) who list and sell properties under the brand.
ENGEL & VOLKERS net unit count grew +32.7% from 2021–2025 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Showing strain
Distress
The disclosed record shows weakness — shrinking units, elevated exits, or churn — worth reading closely before going further.
Exit rate · latest year
12.2%
vs 9.9% across 16 real estate systems
Cost to open
$109K–$472K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
Too few resolved
10 loans exist; too few resolved to rate
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2021–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 29 of 237 franchised outlets left the system — a 12.2% annualized exit rate, vs 9.9% across 16 real estate systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 152 | 168 | 216 | 239 | 237 |
| Opened | 17 | 15 | 34 | 17 | 15 |
| Transfers | 0 | 9 | 53 | 3 | 8 |
| Terminations | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 15 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 11 |
| Outlets at end | 168 | 176 | 239 | 237 | 223 |
| Net change | +16 | +8 | +23 | -2 | -14 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 10 SBA-backed loans to ENGEL & VOLKERS franchisees since 2019. Most are still open, so there is not yet a resolved cohort large enough to rate.
—
3 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$290,833
what recent franchisees borrowed
—
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
2 vs 5
distinct banks — pulling back
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO ENGEL & VOLKERS BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $35K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $109K–$472K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$109K–$472K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$35K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
6%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$60K
6% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$600K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for ENGEL & VOLKERS with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
The public record puts this brand toward the middle of the systems we score — but the evidence is thin, so treat it as a range, not a number.
Risk percentile (range)
34–58 / 100
Directional
Modeled SBA charge-off
12.0%
Observed SBA charge-off
no resolved cohort
Top drivers: Item 3 litigation (log) (lowers) · Net unit growth (raises) · Item 20 exit rate (raises) · System size (log units) (lowers). Thin loan history — treat this as a range, not a number. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for ENGEL & VOLKERS. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing ENGEL & VOLKERS's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →ENGEL & VOLKERS franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of ENGEL & VOLKERS franchises closed last year?
In ENGEL & VOLKERS's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 29 of 237 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 12.2% — compared with 9.9% across 16 real estate systems tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a ENGEL & VOLKERS franchise cost?
Per ENGEL & VOLKERS's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $35K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $109K–$472K (Item 7).
What royalty does ENGEL & VOLKERS charge?
ENGEL & VOLKERS charges an ongoing royalty of 6.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does ENGEL & VOLKERS disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — ENGEL & VOLKERS's 2026 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.