Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S8350 since 2025
THE AGENCY
Other · independent · est. —
The Agency is a residential real estate brokerage brand with an upscale, marketing-driven positioning. A franchisee operates a brokerage office, recruiting licensed agents who represent buyers and sellers in the local market.
THE AGENCY net unit count grew +39.5% from 2023–2025 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
Too new to judge
Distress
This system grew to 77 franchised units from a base of 21 — the record looks clean because very few units have been exposed for very long, not because many have survived. Median SBA time-to-default is about 61 months; this system has not lived through that window at scale. Judge the disclosures, not a verdict.
Exit rate · latest year
3.7%
fiscal 2025, per Item 20
Cost to open
$120K–$896K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
Too few resolved
1 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
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 2 of 54 franchised outlets left the system — a 3.7% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 52 | 76 | 91 |
| Opened | 20 | 16 | 25 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terminations | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 76 | 91 | 106 |
| Net change | +24 | +15 | +15 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 1 SBA-backed loans to THE AGENCY franchisees since 2026. Most are still open, so there is not yet a resolved cohort large enough to rate.
—
0 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$268,000
what recent franchisees borrowed
—
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
—
distinct banks lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO THE AGENCY 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 $48K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $120K–$896K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$120K–$896K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$48K
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 THE AGENCY with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 1 wage case against operators of this system, recovering $1K in back wages for 8 workers. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
1
Back wages owed
$1K
Employees affected
8
Since 2020
0
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual THE AGENCY franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not THE AGENCY itself. The franchisor is not the respondent and in most cases is not a party. What the record shows is how this system's operators run their payrolls, which is worth knowing before you become one of them. Counts rise with system size and with age: a 20-year-old, 10,000-unit system will out-count a young one regardless of conduct. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2013.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
news:TradingView · 1mo ago
Former Maine DHHS employee sues the agency in a federal lawsuit
news:newscentermaine.com · 2mo ago
Realty One, The Agency settle in homebuyer commissions case
news:RealEstateNews.com · 4mo ago
9 questions to ask a THE AGENCY franchisee
Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls
The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These are the questions built from what THE AGENCY has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.
- 01
THE AGENCY’s own Item 20 shows 2 of 54 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2025 — about 3.7%. Do you know any of those owners, and do you know why they left?
A franchisor will call these “transitions.” An owner three doors down usually knows whether they sold at a profit or handed the keys back.
FDD Item 20 · FY2025
- 02
Item 7 says the low end to open is $120K, but the average recent SBA loan to a THE AGENCY franchisee was $268K. What did you actually spend to open, all in?
Lenders size loans to real project costs. A large gap between the disclosed floor and what banks actually fund is the most common way buyers get underfunded.
FDD Item 7 vs SBA approvals FY2020+
- 03
You pay 6.0% royalty on gross sales, plus the ad fund, before any of your own costs. On your actual revenue last year, what did you take home as the owner — not revenue, take-home?
Royalty is charged on sales, not profit. This is the number the brochure never shows and the one your life actually runs on.
FDD Item 6
- 04
THE AGENCY’s FDD makes no financial performance representation at all — legally, they've told buyers nothing about earnings. What did your first 24 months actually look like, month by month?
When a franchisor won't publish numbers, existing owners are the only source. Silence in Item 19 is a choice, not a requirement.
FDD Item 19 · 2026
- 05
How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?
Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.
Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner
- 06
Item 3 discloses 9 legal matters. Do you know what those were about, and were any brought by franchisees?
Franchisee-brought suits over territory, fees or support tell you how the franchisor behaves when there's a disagreement.
FDD Item 3 · 2026
- 07
What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?
Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.
FDD Items 6, 8, 11
- 08
If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?
The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.
Ask every owner you speak to
- 09
Who else should I call — including someone who left?
The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.
Ask every owner you speak to
Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?
I'll email you the printable version, and tell you if THE AGENCY’s numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing THE AGENCY's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
THE AGENCY franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of THE AGENCY franchises closed last year?
In THE AGENCY's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 2 of 54 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 3.7%. 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 THE AGENCY franchise cost?
Per THE AGENCY's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $48K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $120K–$896K (Item 7).
What royalty does THE AGENCY charge?
THE AGENCY charges an ongoing royalty of 6.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does THE AGENCY disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — THE AGENCY'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.