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Revenue Recognition (Policies)
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Revenue Recognition [Abstract]  
Revenue Recognition, Policy
Revenue is recognized upon the transfer of control of promised services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for those services in accordance with the revenue accounting standard. The Company's revenue is disaggregated by major revenue categories on our Consolidated Statements of Operations and further disaggregated by business segment as follows:
Years Ended December 31, 2023 vs December 31, 2022
 
Franchise Group		Owned Brokerage
Group
Title Group		Corporate and
Other		Total
Company
2023202220232022202320222023202220232022
Gross commission income (a)$— $— $4,570 $5,538 $— $— $— $— $4,570 $5,538 
Service revenue (b)223 260 21 22 325 511 — — 569 793 
Franchise fees (c)652 775 — — — — (301)(358)351 417 
Other (d)108 110 37 46 15 19 (14)(15)146 160 
Net revenues$983 $1,145 $4,628 $5,606 $340 $530 $(315)$(373)$5,636 $6,908 
Years Ended December 31, 2022 vs December 31, 2021
 
Franchise Group		Owned Brokerage
Group
Title Group		Corporate and
Other		Total
Company
2022202120222021202220212022202120222021
Gross commission income (a)$— $— $5,538 $6,118 $— $— $— $— $5,538 $6,118 
Service revenue (b)260 227 22 29 511 924 — — 793 1,180 
Franchise fees (c)775 914 — — — — (358)(393)417 521 
Other (d)110 108 46 42 19 28 (15)(14)160 164 
Net revenues$1,145 $1,249 $5,606 $6,189 $530 $952 $(373)$(407)$6,908 $7,983 
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(a)Gross commission income at Owned Brokerage Group is recognized at a point in time at the closing of a homesale transaction.
(b)Service revenue primarily consists of title and escrow fees at Title Group and are recognized at a point in time at the closing of a homesale transaction. Service revenue at Franchise Group includes relocation fees, which are recognized as revenue when or as the related performance obligation is satisfied dependent on the type of service performed, and fees related to leads and related services, which are recognized at a point in time at the closing of a homesale transaction or at the completion of the related service.
(c)Franchise fees at Franchise Group primarily include domestic royalties which are recognized at a point in time when the underlying franchisee revenue is earned (upon close of the homesale transaction).
(d)Other revenue is comprised of brand marketing funds received from franchisees at Franchise Group and other miscellaneous revenues across all of the business segments.
The Company's revenue streams are discussed further below by business segment:
Franchise Group
Domestic Franchisees
In the U.S., the Company employs a direct franchising model whereby it franchises its real estate brands to real estate brokerage businesses that are independently owned and operated. Franchise revenue principally consists of royalty and marketing fees from the Company’s franchisees. The royalty received is primarily based on a gross percentage of the franchisee’s gross commission income. Royalty fees are recorded as the underlying franchisee revenue is earned (upon close of the homesale transaction). Annual volume incentives given to certain franchisees on royalty fees are recorded as a reduction to revenue and are accrued for in relative proportion to the recognition of the underlying gross franchise revenue. Other sales incentives are generally recorded as a reduction to revenue ratably over the related performance period or from the date of issuance through the remaining life of the related franchise agreement. Franchise revenue also includes domestic initial franchise fees which are generally non-refundable and recognized by the Company as revenue upon the execution or opening of a new franchisee office to cover the upfront costs associated with opening the franchisee for business under one of Anywhere’s brands.
The Company also earns marketing fees from its franchisees and utilizes such fees to fund marketing campaigns on behalf of its franchisees. As such, brand marketing fund fees are recorded as deferred revenue when received and recognized
into revenue as earned when these funds are spent on marketing activities. The balance for deferred brand marketing fund fees decreased from $26 million at January 1, 2023 to $19 million at December 31, 2023 primarily due to amounts recognized into revenue matching expenses for marketing activities, offset by additional fees received from franchisees during the year ended December 31, 2023.
International Franchisees
The Company utilizes a direct franchising model outside of the U.S. for Sotheby's International Realty® and Corcoran® and, in some cases, Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate. For all other brands, the Company generally employs a master franchise model outside of the U.S., whereby it contracts with a qualified third party to build a franchise network in the country or region in which franchising rights have been granted. Under both the direct and master franchise models outside of the U.S., the Company enters into long-term franchise agreements (generally 25 years in duration) and receives an initial area development fee ("ADF") and ongoing royalties. Ongoing royalties are generally a percentage of the royalties received by the master franchisor from its franchisees with which it contracts and are recorded once the funds are received by the master franchisor. Under the direct franchise model, a royalty fee is paid to the Company on transactions conducted by its franchisees in the applicable country or region. The ADFs that the Company collects are recorded as deferred revenue when received and are classified as current or non-current liabilities in the Consolidated Balance Sheets based on the expected timing of revenue recognition. ADFs are recognized into franchise revenue over the average 25 year life of the related franchise agreement as consideration for the right to access and benefit from Anywhere’s brands. In the event an ADF agreement is terminated prior to the end of its term, the unamortized deferred revenue balance will be recognized into revenue immediately upon termination. The balance for deferred ADFs decreased from $40 million at January 1, 2023 to $39 million at December 31, 2023 due to $4 million of revenues recognized during the year ended December 31, 2023 that were included in the deferred revenue balance at the beginning of the period, partially offset by $3 million of ADFs received during the year ended December 31, 2023.
In addition, the Company recognizes a deferred asset for commissions paid to Anywhere franchise sales employees upon the sale of a new franchise as these are considered costs of obtaining a contract with a customer that are expected to provide benefits to the Company for longer than one year. The Company classifies prepaid commissions as current or non-current assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheets based on the expected timing of expense recognition. The amount of commissions is calculated as a percentage of the anticipated gross commission income of the new franchisee or ADF and is amortized over 30 years for domestic franchise agreements or the agreement term for international franchise agreements (generally 25 years). The amount of prepaid commissions was $29 million and $28 million at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Franchise Other
Through Cartus, the Company offers a broad range of employee relocation services to clients designed to manage all aspects of transferring their employees ("transferees") and provides value through the generation of leads to real estate agent and brokerage participants. These services include, but are not limited to, homesale assistance, relocation policy counseling and group move management services, expense processing and relocation-related accounting, and visa and immigration support. The Company also arranges household goods moving services and provides support for all aspects of moving a transferee's household goods. There are a number of different revenue streams associated with relocation services including fees earned from real estate brokers and household goods moving companies that provide services to the transferee which are recognized at a point in time at the completion of services. The Company earns revenues from outsourcing management fees charged to clients that may cover several of the relocation services listed above, according to the clients' specific needs. Outsourcing management fees are recorded as deferred revenue when billed (usually at the start of the relocation) and are recognized as revenue over the average time period required to complete the transferee's move, or a phase of the move that the fee covers, which is typically 3 to 6 months depending on the move type. The balance for deferred outsourcing management fees decreased from $4 million at January 1, 2023 to $3 million at December 31, 2023 due to $43 million of revenues recognized during the year as performance obligations were satisfied, offset by a $42 million increase primarily related to additions for management fees billed on new relocation files in advance of the Company satisfying its performance obligation.
Through the Leads Group, the Company provides high-quality leads to independent sales agents, through real estate benefit programs that provide home-buying and selling assistance to customers of lenders, organizations such as credit unions and interest groups that have established members who are buying or selling a home as well as to consumers and corporations who have expressed interest in a certain brand, product or service (such as relocation services), including those offered by Anywhere. The Leads Group also directs the Company's broker-to-broker business, which generates leads by
brokers affiliated with one of its network brokerages, including the Anywhere Leads Network. The networks consist of real estate brokers, including company owned brokerage operations, as well as franchisees and independent real estate brokers who have been approved to become members of one or more networks. Member brokers of the networks receive leads from the Company's real estate benefit programs (including via Cartus) and each other in exchange for a fee paid to the Leads Group. Network fees are billed in advance and recognized into revenue on a straight-line basis each month during the membership period. The balance for deferred network fees increased from zero at January 1, 2023 to $2 million at December 31, 2023 due to a $6 million increase related to new network fees, offset by $4 million of revenues recognized during the year that were included in the deferred revenue balance at the beginning of the period.
Owned Brokerage Group
As an owner-operator of real estate brokerages, the Company assists home buyers and sellers in listing, marketing, selling and finding homes. Real estate commissions earned by the Company’s real estate brokerage business are recorded as revenue at a point in time which is upon the closing of a real estate transaction (i.e., purchase or sale of a home). These revenues are referred to as gross commission income. The commissions the Company pays to real estate agents are recognized concurrently with associated revenues and presented as the "Commission and other agent-related costs" line item on the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations.
The Company has relationships with developers in select major cities (in particular, New York City) to provide marketing and brokerage services in new developments. New development closings generally have a development period of between 18 and 24 months from contracted date to closing. In some cases, the Company receives advanced commissions which are recorded as deferred revenue when received and recognized as revenue when units within the new development close. The balance of advanced commissions related to developments increased from $11 million at January 1, 2023 to $12 million at December 31, 2023 due to a $6 million increase related to additional commissions received for new developments, offset by a $5 million decrease as a result of revenues recognized on units closed.
Title Group
The Company provides title, escrow and settlement services to consumers, real estate companies, corporations and financial institutions with many of these services provided in connection with the Company's real estate brokerage and relocation services businesses. These services relate to the closing of home purchases and refinancing of home loans and therefore, title revenues and title and closing service fees are recorded at a point in time which occurs at the time a homesale transaction or refinancing closes.
Deferred Revenue
The following table shows the total change in the Company's contract liabilities related to revenue contracts by reportable segment (as discussed in detail above) for the year ended December 31, 2023:
Year Ended December 31, 2023
 Beginning Balance at January 1, 2023Additions during the periodRecognized as Revenue during the periodEnding Balance at December 31, 2023
Franchise Group (a) $80 $154 $(165)$69 
Owned Brokerage Group14 9 (8)15 
Total$94 $163 $(173)$84 
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(a)Revenues recognized include intercompany marketing fees paid by Owned Brokerage Group.
The majority of the Company's contracts are transactional in nature or have a duration of one-year or less. Accordingly, the Company does not disclose the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for contracts with an original expected length of one year or less.