Realty group opens office in Scottsdale

An Australian company has brought a new real-estate-franchise model to Arizona with the recent opening of a Professionals Realty Group USA office in Scottsdale.

The office offers real-estate agents, plus their prospective buyers and sellers, a new approach. The office is headed by Glenn Melton, former CEO of Phoenix-based Realty Executives International.

Melton said Professionals Realty Group USA, which operates under the name ProsUSA, differs from the norm in that members pay a flat-rate monthly franchise fee to the parent organization.

Most real-estate-agency franchisors charge a rate based on the franchise holder's monthly sales.

"The fee models generally in use in the U.S. have contributed to a negative impact on real-estate-broker profitability and therefore viability," Melton said.

Australia-based Professionals Real Estate Group was founded in 1976 and has more than 350 offices around the globe, including locations in New Zealand, Indonesia and Thailand.

The company's U.S. affiliate also has a franchise office in Escondido, Calif., and is looking at opportunities in Kansas, Missouri and Utah, Melton said.

ProsUSA's fixed-cost franchise model includes a one-time initiation fee and a flat monthly fee based on geographic territories in which the franchisee has exclusive rights to operate within the ProsUSA network.

Glyn Morgan, CEO of the Australian parent company, said he spent four years doing research before expanding his company into the U.S.

He said the American housing market's extremely low prices are very appealing to today's foreign investors.

"The U.S. may not see optimal real-estate conditions like these again in our lifetime, and international investors understand today represents the greatest opportunity," Morgan said.

by J. Craig Anderson The Arizona Republic Oct. 7, 2011 02:20 PM




Realty group opens office in Scottsdale