Here’s Why Indies Are Stoked About The Compass-Anywhere Deal
Quick Read
- Independent brokers generally view the Compass-Anywhere merger as an opportunity to attract agents seeking alternatives to large, impersonal brokerages focused on shareholder value over client service.
- Industry leaders like Scott Harris and Michele Harrington emphasize their firms’ boutique service, agent-focused culture and responsiveness as key competitive advantages against the combined brokerage giant.
- Mauricio Umansky and Branden Williams highlight that the merger opens space for boutique brokerages prioritizing independence, creativity and personalized service over scale and technology-driven approaches.
- Vanessa Bergmark expresses concern about reduced market choice and Compass’s growing identity as a tech-driven corporation, signaling skepticism about the merger’s benefits for agents and consumers.
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When the two largest brokerages in the country by sales volume merge — as Compass and Anywhere announced plans to do on Monday — it might cause some competitors to flinch.
But by and large, the independent brokers that Inman spoke with on Monday as the news was spreading felt hopeful about the recruitment and differentiation possibilities the deal offered them as indies.
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Scott Harris | Magnetic
“We’ve already been in discussions with agents who felt Compass had grown too large,” Scott Harris of Magnetic told Inman in a text. “I think those agents are rightly concerned that shareholder value may become an even bigger focus than customer service. We’re focused on delivering incredible service to our clients and bringing on agents who want to do the same.”
Rather than feel threatened by the sheer size, manpower and financial backing that this newly combined company might pose to them, indies said the deal more likely works to their advantage when it comes to providing an alternative to big box brokerages.
“Whatever they’re going to be called together — let’s call them ‘The Giant’ — there’s agents that love independence, agents that love having the ability to call the CEO and to have an impact in the way their companies run, and their opinions are heard, and especially with a company like us, we’re behind the agent,” Michele Harrington of First Team Realty said. “We focus on our agents and we listen to them and we try to run the company and give them what they need.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for us to say, ‘If you want an alternative, we’re the alternative,’” she added.
Branden Williams | Williams & Williams Estates Group
“I love it,” Branden Williams of Williams & Williams Estates Group told Inman, “because we’re kind of one of the last of the Mohicans. And we have a very big corner of the market, especially when it comes to boutique, really white-glove service.”
Williams added that he thinks Compass CEO Robert Reffkin has done well with the significant acquisitions the brokerage has been adding up, but that type of company was not to his taste.
“I also know that it’s not the training that we offer, the customization, the hands-on experience,” Williams continued. “I think a lot of our brokers, that’s why they joined our firm and they started with higher splits. Because I think you can get lost in the machine. And there’s not a lot of collaborative [communication], which we’ve really created at our firm. Our firm’s kind of tagline is ‘Where creativity and culture collaborate.’ And it’s more of a real estate social club. But, I love to see that he’s acquiring this instead of companies going out of business.”
Mauricio Umansky | The Agency
Mauricio Umansky, CEO and founder of The Agency, offered his congratulations to Compass and Anywhere in a statement emailed to Inman, and suggested that he believes more consolidation will continue in the foreseeable future. But it’s not something in the cards for his firm at this time.
“[Compass and Anywhere] open even more space for boutique firms like The Agency — where independence, creativity and collaboration allow us to deliver an elevated and deeply personal real estate experience,” Umansky said. “In a landscape increasingly defined by size, we’re proud to remain defined by service.”
Ryan Serhant, founder and CEO of SERHANT., took to Instagram on Monday to reach out to Anywhere brand-affiliated agents who might be feeling unhappy about the change and looking for a new brokerage to call home.
“Large scale rollups can prioritize scale cost synergy quarterly narratives for Wall Street. Those can be perfectly valid corporate goals, but for agents and clients, scale does not automatically equal better outcomes,” Serhant said in his video, during which he also encouraged agents feeling uncertain about the deal to reach out to his firm. “Consolidation does not automatically equal innovation.”
Vanessa Bergmark | Red Oak Realty
Someone who did not have quite as rosy a view of the transaction was Vanessa Bergmark, owner and CEO of Red Oak Realty, who even while seeming a bit down about it all, asserted that, “I don’t feel like I have to be in on this game.”
Bergmark seemed a bit worn out by all the Compass talk from the day, and noted that with this transaction, the majority of her market in the Bay Area was being swallowed up by Compass at this point. “I guess they are the market,” she said resignedly.
And with each acquisition, Bergmark added, she thinks Compass feels less and less like a brokerage, and more and more like a tech behemoth.
“Compass feels like a giant Wall Street tech company,” the CEO said. “It never felt like real estate where it showed up, and it just feels less and less like it now.”
“And I think that Compass is defining very clearly now that they’re doing it a different way as well, a very different way,” Bergmark continued. “I just think it takes away a lot of choice — but that seems very popular right now. I mean, that’s what our entire administration’s doing too, so just like, the link there … I guess this is the popular trend, just become one.”
But Bergmark added that she believed that what Compass had to offer agents was not something that most really want — a huge corporation where it would be difficult to provide personalized service to agents. She also seemed unsure that it was something consumers want either. “I don’t know if consumers want all their data [taken] and all that power,” she said. “I mean, that’s why there’s antitrust and antimonopoly [laws].”
“I will always say … I’m not selling to Compass,” Bergmark said with finality. “I’m truly not. It’s a value thing for me. I’m not playing a stock game.”
Michele Harrington | First Team
Harrington said that the current trend toward mergers and acquisitions was just another part of the real estate cycle that will ultimately pass.
“Every time the market gets tough, there’s a lot of consolidation,” she said. “There was a lot of consolidation after 2008, and so we see these ebbs and flows where it kind of gets to very few companies and then the market gets better and then a bunch of boutiques open back up and you have a ton more choices. I think choice is going to be limited to agents and consumers for a period of time, but that will change.”
Toward the end of the conversation with Bergmark, as she increasingly seemed to be done discussing the news of the day, the CEO added that she wished someone would provide a new plot twist in the Compass saga to break up the corporation’s string of acquisitions.
“I wish somebody else would jump into this story — it could get really interesting,” Bergmark said. “I feel like it’s one of those, you’re on season 6 and you’re like, ‘Can we see something else? I’ve seen every episode. Bring in a new character!’
“Like, I’d probably sign off of watching this show if I had the ability to turn off Netflix. Because it’s always the same thing — it’s like, Compass took over this one, Compass took over that one. I just see people not being creative anymore. And I hope that’s what it sparks.”
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