Sam Shaffer had a front-row seat as Compass grew its power.
The Chicago Properties broker-owner has watched the NYC-based brokerage deepen its stake in his city, making the final push in January 2025 with the acquisition of the city’s largest firm, @properties Christie’s International Real Estate. However, the moves have had little impact on Shaffer’s business, with the veteran keeping his spot in the top 1 percent.
Sam Shaffer
So, when Compass announced it had struck a three-year partnership to display its coming-soon listings to Redfin’s roughly 50 million monthly active consumers, Shaffer filed it away as another piece of “interesting news” rather than a groundbreaking event.
“I think it was a smart move … and it’s gotten a lot of attention,” he said. “But I am boots on the ground, and from my perspective, it doesn’t dramatically change how deals are getting done right now.”
The deal, with Redfin owner Rocket, will enable homesellers to display their listings on Redfin without stats such as days on market or price drops. And it’ll send agents under the Compass International Holdings umbrella — which also includes Anywhere brands — roughly 1 million leads by 2029.
Shaffer offered kudos to Compass CEO Robert Reffkin for executing the deal. But he also doesn’t expect the partnership to change the city’s market dynamics, which he said “heavily relies on cooperation between brokerages” as inventory levels remain tight.
“Whether it’s Chicago or nationwide, buyers want access to everything, and sellers want maximum exposure. That keeps the system pretty honest and open,” Shaffer said, adding that “Compass has a lot of market share, but the way that transactions are handled, they’re handled through individual brokers that are representing the seller. If someone is a Compass listing agent, I don’t feel that has any more cachet or credibility than a broker from another reputable firm.”
When Inman reached out to real estate analysts about the Compass-Rocket deal, some predicted major changes to the way real estate functions. One industry veteran, for example, suggested MLSs should be having “war room discussions” about how to respond.
But Shaffer’s comments capture a different sentiment within the broker community, one that is dominated more by curiosity and waiting to see what happens next than by a sense of doom.
Jessica LaMar
Jessica LaMar, of House Real Estate, is one of those wait-and-see brokers. She told Inman she isn’t particularly concerned about the partnership, as Compass doesn’t have any coming-soon listings in Sacramento, her home turf. However, LaMar is interested in how the partnership may eventually turn the tide among consumers, who overwhelmingly choose Zillow as their homebuying starting point.
“It’s still early,” she said. “But it’ll be really interesting just to see how consumers hear about this, and if they start going to Redfin more than Zillow because of the listing partnership. I want to know how they’ll market this — and really lean into the idea that you’re not going to see certain properties on Zillow anymore and that you’ll need to check out multiple apps more frequently to see everything.”
If Compass and Redfin gain the traction they’re hoping for with consumers, LaMar said she could see herself investing more in the Redfin platform.
“I think we’re in a constant state of adapting,” she said. “And if I see my clients talk about Redfin more, then it would be pretty essential that I start using it too, because my whole job is to streamline and make things stress-free for them. But I think it’s going to take time to see what sticks. I imagine it could take at least six months for consumers to catch on to the partnership.”
Inman spoke with several other brokers who’d also taken a “wait-and-see approach” to the partnership, saying it ultimately reflects an industry navigating multiple inflection points. Those points include the regulatory power of Realtor associations and multiple listing services (MLSs), the shifting relationship between brokers, agents and consumers, the influence of artificial intelligence, and the pains of a market that’s still finding its new normal.
Martha Melendez
“Real estate is an ever-changing industry that evolves over time, and partnerships like the one between Compass and Redfin are part of that evolution,” Martha Melendez, Space Coast Fig Team leader, told Inman Monday night. “Those of us who have been in the business for a while have seen similar shifts, some larger than others, and they ultimately become another conversation to have with sellers and buyers.”
“Much like the August 17, 2024 [buyer-broker agreement] changes, this is not about the sky falling. It’s about informing clients, adapting, and continuing to provide excellent service,” she added. “Markets evolve, but strong relationships and professional guidance remain constant.”
Compass International Holdings-affiliated agents appear to be more excited about the partnership, with social media posts from Compass and Reffkin filled with thousands of comments about the firm’s willingness to “challenge the status quo” and provide “a better on-ramp for listings.”
Cara Ameer
Cara Ameer — an Inman contributor and agent with Coldwell Banker, which is now part of Compass — said the partnership could fulfill the needs of consumers who are “overwhelmed by the traditional listing path,” such as elderly homesellers.
Ameer said she even has a handful of clients who’d benefit from the coming-soon agreement, but she has reservations.
“I don’t want to get in a situation where we need to go public, and there’s red tape and all sorts of gotchas,” she said. “What safeguards will we have? Portals and MLSs have rules. What if their boards decided to get together and say they don’t like this? What if they say, ‘We’re not going to support this, and you can’t have your cake and eat it too.'”
“In order to do this, I think I need to understand all the ramifications so that I don’t mislead a client on the path… and then find out we’re going to have a roadblock or some financial penalty,” she added. “And then I think, you know, you will have wars erupting.”
Ameer said she also has concerns about whether the partnership will draw the ire of regulators, who might say the mortgage component of the partnership — Rocket is now Compass’ digital mortgage partner — skirts the bounds of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) rules.
“Given the climate we’re in of litigation involving lenders with directing the consumer to a particular lender, whether that’s the Zillow Home Loan situation or now Veterans United, what are the optics of this going to look like? Is perception going to be, ‘Oh, this is like another pay-to-play scheme?’ I’m not sure.”
In the meantime, Ameer said she’s focused on consumer education, as brokerage and portal players all vie for consumer loyalty through marketing, partnerships, tech updates and other innovations.
“This is going to take a lot of awareness and education, just like the buyer representation agreements went through. I mean, to this day, when I talk to buyers, we still have extensive conversations about [agreements],” she said. “This partnership is likely a blip in their news feed. They don’t understand the difference between all these things, like Clear Cooperation and coming-soon and private listings.”
“I think we’re going to have to make disclosures that delineate these things, like not going on the market means versus being on the market,” she added. “I’d love to move forward with this, but I want to know the rules of the road.”
