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Two high school friends cashin on new trend
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People/ Profiles
There was nothing about Mike > Related Industry News
Article Archives Neumann's career that suggested he'd
ever go into real estate. As a teenager, > Today's Other Headlines
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he worked summers at his father's tool-
Search Crain's and-die shop in Glenview. After college,
he worked in marketing for an
investment research firm, sold
Advanced Search advertising for an Internet startup and
News By Industry recruited clients for a public relations
company.
- PleaseSelect- Advertisement
View All Industries George Cios, Mr. Neumann's friend since
high school, wasn't destined to sell
2008 BOOK OF LISTS houses, either. He ran his father's body
shop in Chicago for a couple of years
ISSUE DEC 311 ClOSE NOV 6 ~~~~
before studying entrepreneurship at
Chicago Information DePaul University. He then built a career
as a commercial lender at LaSalle Bank
EventsCalendar
N.A.
M T W T F S S
S 9 10 1:1, 2 13 1.4
1
But when the friends finally got serious
Registerfor Crain's Events about going into business together after
years of talking, they quickly focused on George Cios and Mike Neumann spent more
Add your Event than two years visiting other Help-U-Sell
real estate. As Glenview natives who still
Today'sStocks knew a lot of parents of old friends, they franchisees before buying their own in
December 2004. Photo: Stephen J. Serio
had good connections for selling homes
Traffic Report
in the area.
Weather
Special Features
Mr. Cios got a license and went to work as an agent. Within two years, both still under
30 years old, they opened their own Help-U-Sell Real Estate franchise in Glenview.
SpecialCar Review: AutoWeek
Dining Reviews WILLING TO LEARN
Entertain a Client
While a background in the industry is usually a plus when buying a franchise, hundreds
Join an Organization of franchises are available to people with little or no experience, New concepts are
Commute/Travel particularly open to the uninitiated, and they're cheaper to buy into than well-
recognized brands.
Business Tools
Look up Phone/Zip Help-O-Sef Real Estate isn't technically a new brand or concept - the Colorado
company is 30 years old and has nearly 900 franchise offices now. But many
PublicRecords homeowners in the Chicago area, where the company recently began expanding in
Study Demographics 2002, still don't understand what Help-U-Sell does, Mr. Neumann says.
CareerResources
The company works like any traditional broker, except that it sells homes for a flat-
Researcha Company rate fee on a sliding scale rather than the usual 5% percent commission. The fee
usually works out to 1.5% of the purchase price for a Glenview home, Mr. Neumann
Services
says. If the buyer has an outside broker, the seller pays an additional 2.5%
Classifieds commission.
DownloadTop Lists
Help-U-Sell requires franchisees running offices to
Big Dates have some experience as a real estate broker; but a
WHAT IT TAKES
long history in the business isn't necessary to buy in, Franchise fee: $19,500to
MeetingPlannersGuide
$29,500
says Gary Halverson, regional director in charge of Average royalty: 6%
Golf Guide
franchise sales in Chicago. Total investment: $45,500 to
Advertisewith Us $148,500
"1 have sold franchises to attorneys, those who have
Average total investment:
ContactUs $97,000
MBAs in marketing and people from traditional real
About Us estate jobs," he says. "We have a woman in Joliet who is leaving teaching to open
one."

2. These are not passive investors, he explains, but people willing to learn. "I can teach
them what they need to know," he says.
SOMETHING RIGHT
Mr. Cios and Mr. Neumann learned about Help-U-Sell through a friend in San Diego
who was doing well with a franchise. They spent more than two years checking out the
company by visiting other franchisees and talking with Mr. Halverson. Mr. Neumann
even listed his Evanston condo with a Help-If-Sell broker to see if the company's
services lacked those of a traditional broker. There was no difference.
In December 2004, they paid Help-U-Sell the $17,000 franchise fee. They found office
space, pulled their own permits and recruited friends to help them build out the space,
including constructing a front desk out of a kitchen block and drywall. The rest of the
furniture came from Ikea.
A year ago, their biggest worry
Advertisement was drumming up business.
"No one in Glenview knew
about Help-U-Sell," Mr.
Neurnann says.
They had two or three listings
and had put about $150,000
into the business, sometimes
using credit card cash. But by
August of this year, sales were
up. They had an active
inventory of 23 listings and
both were taking home
paychecks.
Being an owner in a company
still building its brand gives M
Neumann a different
perspective on competition
from other franchisees.
Franchisees of major brands tend to worry that new owners in the area will sap their
sales, but IVlr. Neumann would welcome more Help-U-Sell offices in the area.
The expanding brand, he says, is very good publicity. "The marketplace sees that th re
are 900 offices and thinks, 'They must be doing something right.' "
©2006 by Crain CommunicationsInc.
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