Sam Schaefer has a front row seat as Compass grows.
The broker-owner of Chicago Properties has watched the New York City-based brokerage deepen its stake in his city, making a final push in January 2025 with the acquisition of the city’s largest company, @Properties Christie’s International Real Estate. But the move has had little effect on Schaefer’s business, with the veteran remaining in the top 1 percent.
sam shafer
So when Compass announced it had entered into a three-year partnership to display Coming Soon listings to Redfin’s roughly 50 million monthly active consumers, Schaefer brushed it off as just another “interesting piece of news” rather than a breakthrough.
“I think it was a smart move…and it got a lot of attention,” he said. “But I’m active on the ground, so from my perspective it’s not going to dramatically change the way we do deals at this point.”
The partnership with Rocket, the owner of Redfin, will allow home sellers to list their properties on Redfin without statistics such as days on market or price declines. By 2029, the company plans to send about 1 million leads to agents under Compass International Holdings, which also includes the Anywhere brand.
Schaefer praised Compass CEO Robert Refkin for executing the deal. But he also doesn’t expect the partnership to change the city’s market dynamics. With inventory levels still tight, market dynamics are “highly dependent on cooperation among brokerages,” he said.
“Whether it’s in Chicago or across the country, buyers want access to everything and sellers want maximum exposure, so the system remains pretty honest and open,” Schaefer said, adding that “Compass Although they have market share, the way transactions are handled is through individual brokers who represent sellers. Even if someone is a Compass listing agent, I don’t feel they have any more prestige or credibility than a broker from another reputable company.”
When Mr. Inman reached out to real estate analysts about the Compass and Rocket deal, some predicted major changes in the way real estate functions. For example, one industry veteran suggested that MLS should have a “war room conversation” about how to respond.
But Schaefer’s comments capture a different sentiment within the brokerage community, one dominated more by curiosity and waiting to see what happens next than by a sense of doom.
jessica lamar
Jessica Lamar of Haus Real Estate is another broker taking a wait-and-see approach. She told Inman she wasn’t particularly concerned about the partnership because Compass doesn’t have any upcoming listings in its home base of Sacramento. But Lamar is interested in how the partnership ultimately changes the game among consumers, who overwhelmingly choose Zillow as a starting point for their home purchases.
“It’s still early,” she said. “But it’s going to be very interesting just to see how consumers hear about this and whether consumers start going to Redfin over Zillow because of the listing partnership. I’m curious to see how they market this. And I really lean into the idea that Zillow will no longer show certain properties and you’ll have to check multiple apps more often to see everything.”
If Compass and Redfin can get the traction they hope for among consumers, Lamar said the company could invest even more into the Redfin platform.
“I think we’re always in a state of adaptation,” she said. “And as I see my clients talking more about Redfin, it’s going to be really important for me to start using it too, because all of my work is to streamline things and make it stress-free for my clients. But I think it’s going to take time to see what sticks. I think it’s going to take at least six months for consumers to understand this partnership.”
Inman said he has spoken with several other brokers who have taken a “wait-and-see approach” to the partnership, ultimately reflecting an industry navigating multiple inflection points. These include the regulatory power of real estate agent associations and multiple listing services (MLS), the changing relationship between brokers, agents, and consumers, the impact of artificial intelligence, and the pains of a market that is still finding its new normal.
Martha Melendez
“Real estate is an ever-changing industry that evolves over time, and partnerships like Compass and Redfin are part of that evolution,” Space Coast Fig team leader Martha Melendez told Inman on Monday night. “Those of us who have been in this business for a while have seen similar changes, some bigger than others, and ultimately require new conversations between buyers and sellers.”
“It looks a lot like August 17, 2024.” [buyer-broker agreement] Things change, but this doesn’t mean the sky is falling. “It’s about continuing to inform, adapt and provide excellent service to our clients. The market evolves, but strong relationships and professional guidance remain constant,” she added.
Agencies under Compass International Holdings appear to be even more excited about the partnership, with Compass and Refkin’s social media posts filled with thousands of comments expressing the company’s desire to “challenge the status quo” and provide a “better trajectory to going public.”
Kara Amer
Kara Amer, an Inman contributor and representative at Coldwell Banker, now part of Compass, said the partnership could meet the needs of consumers “overwhelmed by traditional listing channels,” such as senior home sellers.
Amer said there are some customers who will benefit from the upcoming agreement, but there are concerns.
“I don’t want to be in a situation where I have to make it public, but there’s a lot of bureaucracy and problems,” she said. “What safeguards do we have? Portal and MLS have rules. What if their board gets together and decides they don’t like this? What happens if they say, ‘We don’t support this and we can’t have our cake and eat it too.'”
“To do this, I think you need to understand all the ramifications so that you don’t mislead your clients along the way…and I think you need to know that there are going to be roadblocks and some kind of financial penalty,” she added. “And I think a war will break out.”
Amer also said there were concerns that the partnership would anger regulators. Regulators may argue that the mortgage portion of the partnership (Rocket is now Compass’ digital mortgage partner) falls outside the scope of Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) rules.
“Given the situation where we have lawsuits about lenders steering consumers to certain lenders, whether it’s the Zillow Home Loan situation or the current Veterans United situation, what does this mean? Is the perception going to be, ‘Oh, this is like another pay-to-play scheme?'” I don’t know. “
Meanwhile, Amir said he is focusing on consumer education, as brokerages and portals all compete for consumer loyalty through marketing, partnerships, technology updates and other innovations.
“This is going to require a lot of awareness and education, just like the buyer representation deal was done. So when we talk to buyers to this day, we still have extensive conversations about what’s next.” [agreements]“This partnership will probably be a blip in their news feed,” she said. They don’t understand the difference between Clear Commission and coming soon and private listing and all these things. ”
“I think we need to have disclosures that differentiate these things, like off-market and on-market,” she added. “I want to move forward with this, but I want to know the rules of the road.”
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