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WATCH: Don’t fear the franchises

Charis Moreno (left), Greg Fox (center), and Jaime Hensley at Inman Connect. Credit: Jim Dalrymple II

Five years ago, Jaime Hensley came to a crossroads.

Hensley said Tuesday during a panel at Inman Connect Las Vegas that she was running a Texas brokerage at the time, but when her partner decided to retire she began looking for new brands to work with. Ultimately, she settled on ERA, and that decision has proven to be exceedingly profitable: the size of Hensley’s brokerage has doubled since then, and she now owns a title company to boot.

“It’s the best decision I’ve ever made,” Hensley, who today is the president of American Real Estate ERA Powered, concluded. “I wouldn’t have a title company today had I not affiliated.”

Hensley was part of a panel of real estate leaders who all touted the benefits of joining franchises. Such companies obviously have plenty of name recognition, but Hensley said that in her case she didn’t actually realize all of the benefits that they offer until she joined ERA, which is a part of industry giant Realogy.

“I didn’t really know what I didn’t know,” she said. “A lot of agents that I started having conversations with would have never come to me as an independent.”

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