Compass has been pulling in star power from Douglas Elliman this year.
Between January and September, Compass signed on 39 former Elliman agents. Spanning markets in New York, California, Florida and Texas, the agents claim self-reported sales volume from last year totaling roughly $1 billion, according to data provided by Compass.
Among the top names setting up shop with Compass is Palm Beach agent Thor Brown, who joined on the heels of the firm opening a larger office on the island earlier this year. Brown finished last year with $78 million in sales.
Compass also poached Bonnie Heatzig, a Boca Raton-based agent who split from Elliman in July after three years with the brokerage. Before joining Elliman, Heatzig, whose self-reported sales volume totaled $174 million last year, spent nearly two decades with local firm Bex Realty until Compass acquired it in 2021.
In New York City, 10 agents have exited Elliman for Compass, including “Real Housewives of New York” star Erin Lichy and Maggie Marshall, who once co-led a top-producing team at Elliman.
The firm also recruited the Zweben Team, which spent 20 years at Elliman and notched $65 million in sales in 2023. In February, Tom Postilio and Mickey Conlon joined Compass with $60 million in listings and a plan to build a 10- to 12-person team with a reach beyond the Big Apple.
Earlier this year, Los Angeles broker Josh Flagg joined Compass after a two-year stint at Elliman, though the broker’s time at the firm ended in controversy. Documents obtained by The Real Deal showed Flagg’s contract with Elliman was terminated in March, a day before Compass announced his arrival.
The “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles” star’s departure coincided with settlement agreements connected to a dispute over the $4.7 million sale of a home in Pasadena, where Flagg represented both the buyer and the seller in the deal, according to emails reviewed by TRD. Flagg agreed to forfeit his sellers’ commission, so the sellers, who raised concerns over his role in the sale, wouldn’t bring claims against him.
Flagg, through his attorney, maintained that he had already agreed to move to Compass before the issue was raised and that it was resolved “amicably.”
The deal volume of the Compass recruits is more than 12 times the amount associated with the flip side. In the same period, just nine agents in the regions traded Compass for Elliman with a combined 2023 sales volume of $80 million, Compass data shows.
Some of the discrepancy could be chalked up to the two firms’ relative size. Though both are among the largest New York-based brokerages, Compass’ nationwide headcount was about 33,000 agents at the end of the second quarter, compared to Elliman’s roughly 6,500 agents at the end of 2023.
A spokesperson for Elliman declined to comment.
Among the nine brokers who traded Compass for Elliman is Jon Capobianco, who joined the firm’s top-producing De Niro Team in February. In Los Angeles, Bryce Pennel, who now heads a team of four at Elliman, also joined in February. Pennel closed $30 million in sales last year, including a $10 million deal for Britney Spears’ Calabasas mansion.
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