Eyeing the future, former franchise owner joins Elliman

Looking to weather the downturn, a former franchise owner decided to join forces with Prudential Douglas Elliman, expanding one of the real estate giant’s Suffolk County offices by 15 real estate pros.

John Petsco, a former franchise owner of Weichert Realtors, which has 500 company-owned and franchise offices nationwide, has moved his 14-agent office in Port Jefferson, LI, to Elliman’s nearby office in Miller Place, LI.

Petsco, now a broker at Elliman, said he had always intended to expand his business or move on to a larger firm, and six months before his five-year franchise contract was up, he decided to make the move.

“I had a contract that was expiring, and I decided to take a look at a company that is not only going to survive the market but will prosper in the future,” Petsco said.

Petsco said especially in a down market, the individual franchise model of brokerages is going to decline, and larger firms with stronger leadership will be the ones to survive because they already have marketing and organizational structures in place.

“At [large firms], everything is done much more professionally,” Petsco said. “Individual owners of franchises will start to fade away, and well managed, large regional [firms] will be the ones that prosper.”

Petsco and his team have been at Elliman for two months, and the Miller Place office, which has more than 60 agents, lists homes in Nassau and Suffolk counties, and the Hamptons.