Longtime North Shore agent Peter Cummins jumped from @properties to Baird & Warner to lead a new team, blasting his old firm’s parent Compass and its push for office exclusives as a major reason for the move.
His leap underscores tension between corporate-owned brokerages and local firms as Compass — @properties’ parent company following its $444 million acquisition this year — seeks to grow its market share and transform the residential real estate industry. Compass announced Sept. 22 it plans to acquire Anywhere Real Estate, its next-biggest competitor. Anywhere includes brands like Coldwell Banker, Century 21 and Sotheby’s International Realty.
Cummins joined Baird & Warner about five weeks ago, he said, before Compass announced its plan to acquire Anywhere. But he said his opposition to Compass’ business model was a major factor in his decision to jump to Baird & Warner, a family-owned brokerage. He said he supports a model where listings are shared freely between agents instead of brokerages holding pocket listings marketed only internally.
“I don’t want to be a part of that,” Cummins said in an interview of Compass’ marketing strategy. “Because I think it’s contrary to everything I’ve ever learned and been exposed to.”
Compass has pushed for a three-phase marketing strategy, in which some listings start out as Compass exclusives marketed only to fellow Compass agents. The company has argued the model gives sellers more freedom and privacy and helps them test pricing before their house hits the open market, where statistics such as number of days listed and price cuts are publicly tracked and, according to some, stigmatize certain offerings.
Cummins has more than $500 million in career sales, and said he averaged $20 million to $30 million in annual transaction volume over the last few years. Cummins joined @properties in 2010, and has developed real estate on the North Shore. Before getting into real estate, he worked as assistant city manager in Lake Forest and the village manager of Lake Bluff and Glencoe.
Cummins will lead a new team, Cummins Advisors, at Baird & Warner. He previously did not have a team at @properties. Cummins said he’s planning to bring together three to five agents for his team, including his son, Liam Cummins.
Cummins spoke positively of his experiences at @properties and the company’s co-CEOs, Thad Wong and Mike Golden. But he said he doesn’t support Compass’ business model and wanted to join a brokerage that shared his philosophy of providing a transparent market for agents and consumers.
Baird & Warner has been an advocate of Clear Cooperation, a National Association of Realtors policy requiring agents to enter a listing in the MLS within 24 hours of publicly marketing it. @properties and Compass have opposed that policy, saying it limits options for agents and sellers.
“It’s very much the future of our industry that I care about,” Cummins said. “And I want to be a part of people who share that vision.”
Baird & Warner president and CEO Steve Baird said in a previous interview with The Real Deal that he views Compass’ consolidation and growing market share as an opportunity to differentiate his brokerage as an independent firm and potentially pick up some agents. Baird & Warner acquired competitor Dream Town Real Estate this year, uniting the city’s two largest independent brokerages.
A spokesperson for @properties declined to comment, and a Compass spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Compass CEO Robert Reffkin said in a call with investors after announcing the merger with Anywhere that the merger will help develop a “unified operating system” for residential real estate using Compass’ vast network of agents. Some brokers, including Cummins, have speculated Compass may move to a model where users need to subscribe to see certain listings that aren’t on the MLS or public listing services.
“Reffkin’s plan is to try to create a Compass profile that works like Amazon,” Cummins said. “And if you really want to see these listings before they come out for the world, you better be a part of Compass. And if you’re a consumer, we’re not necessarily going to give away that information for free.”
The move also signals Baird & Warner’s expansion in the North Shore amid growing competition for the luxury lakefront market. Baird & Warner has an office in Winnetka, but its presence on the North Shore is not as dominant as Compass and @properties, which hold a large share of the listings there.
Compass recently sold five offices in the North Shore to Janice Corley’s RE/MAX Premier, cutting down its brick-and-mortar presence in cities where @properties also has offices. It’s unclear how many of the agents at those offices will move to RE/MAX Premier.
“The North Shore in particular is a land of opportunity to do things right,” Cummins said. “ And there’s a ton of great agents who, I know, share this philosophy about doing what’s best for the consumer.”