The Agency picks up five agents from Compass for Silicon Valley debut

The Agency has picked up five former Compass agents to anchor its first office in Silicon Valley, bolstering the residential brokerage firm’s push into the Bay Area.

The group of agents, made up of Judy Bogard-Tanigami, Cindy Bogard-O’Gorman, Ryan Gowdy, and Jim and Jimmy Nappo, collectively completed about $200 million in sales last year, Laura Corrigan, a spokesperson for the brokerage, told The Real Deal. Jim Nappo and Jimmy Nappo are father and son, while Bogard-Tanigami and Bogard-O’Gordman are mother and daughter. Their arrivals boost the brokerage’s headcount in Los Altos to eight.

Their eventual office, next door to one occupied by residential brokerage Intero, totals about 3,800 square feet and will open later this year, Corrigan said. Bogard-Tanigami, Gowdy and the Nappos specialize in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and surrounding areas, which comprise some of the Bay Area’s most expensive residential communities.

The median price of a single-family home is currently around $4.6 million in Los Altos and more than $6.1 million in neighboring Los Altos Hills, according to Zillow data. A $19 million sale of a hilltop estate in Los Altos Hills that closed last week shows that the appetite for homes priced well above the median in pricey communities is still there, despite less than one-fifth of U.S. consumers saying that now is a good time to buy a house.

The expansion of The Agency’s Los Altos office is the second time in less than a year that a group of agents has joined the firm from Compass. A nine-person team left the New York-based firm to join The Agency’s Los Angeles team in July, at the time the latest salvo between the two rivals. Over the past six months, The Agency has been building out its Northern California team, including snagging former Compass sales manager Quetzal Grimm to head its Silicon Valley branch. Mike Schwartz, another former Compass executive, joined The Agency in May to serve as sales manager and help the firm expand into new markets.

The latest departures come as Compass cuts back on staff amid rising interest rates that are hitting home sales and a rugged stock market that has not spared the publicly traded firm’s shares.

A Compass spokesperson said in a statement to The Real Deal that the firm wishes The Agency Los Altos’ five new agents “all of the best in their next pursuits and look forward to continuing to work with them through our Compass agents throughout the Bay Area.”

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Los Angeles

The Agency taps Compass vet for Silicon Valley entry