A group of Dream Town agents in Chicago has moved over to Compass, notching a win for the national firm as it chases growth in Chicago’s market.
Joey Halperin, David Schatz and Chris Sweitzer joined Compass on Sept. 29 as the principals of their new team, Terra Group. They brought along Megan O’Carroll, Dana Noureldin, Riley Callahan and Daniel Banys, all previously members of the Halperin Schatz team at Dream Town, which is owned by independent brokerage Baird & Warner.
All seven agents have worked at Compass in the past, and Halperin said the return to Compass was a “full circle” moment for the team.
The move is further evidence of competition for agents and market share between Compass and the remaining Chicago brokerages that aren’t affiliated with the real estate behemoth. Compass announced its plan to merge with Anywhere Real Estate last month, which would bring some of the city’s biggest brokerages under its banner. It purchased Chicago’s largest brokerage, @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, last year.
The purchase of @properties left Baird & Warner, which acquired Dream Town earlier this year, as the largest independent brokerage in Chicago. Baird & Warner president and CEO Steve Baird said in an earlier interview with The Real Deal that he sees the consolidation as an opportunity to grow Baird & Warner and pick up more agents as mergers disrupt the brokerage space.
Peter Cummins, a longtime @properties agent on the North Shore recently moved to Baird & Warner, citing opposition to consolidation and private exclusive listings as his reason for the move.
But the move back to Compass by these agents gives weight to Compass’ bet that its deep agent network, technology platforms and exclusive listing strategy will attract more agents.
The members of the new Compass team made a combined $55 million in sales in the last 12 months, Sweitzer said. The team has a focus on selling new development, with about 60 to 70 percent of the agents’ business being in new construction, Schatz said. Sweitzer also focuses on investment properties.
Halperin said access to Compass’ private exclusives is a plus, especially in new developments. Compass has been pushing a three-phase marketing strategy, where some properties begin as private exclusives marketed only to Compass agents. The company says the strategy offers sellers more freedom and privacy and helps them test pricing before their house hits the open market.
Zillow and many of Compass’ competitors, like Baird & Warner, have opposed the trend toward private exclusive listings, arguing they distort the market for consumers and are anti-competitive.
“It’s like the basketball player where you hate to play against him but you love when you’re on the team,” Halperin said. “It’s something that, when we weren’t on the team, we didn’t necessarily love, but now that we’re on the team, it’s giving our clients an advantage.”
Beyond the initial group of seven, the team’s principals said they hope to attract more agents going forward.
“I think we’re going to be able to scale a team quite well and bring a really strong group of like-minded individuals together and make a really, really solid team,” Sweitzer said.
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