help me understand why Compass is a hot startup? Or even, how it can stand a chance to survive and raise funds given there are Zillow and Redfin providing exactly the same service and have already dominated the market? pls point me out if i’m wrong, but what is the difference between Compass and Zillow or Redfin except Compass is 100x smaller (based on web traffic)?
Compass has a different model from Zillow and Redfin. They are more like a traditional brokerage. They have regular agents who are paid on the traditional commission model (unlike Redfin). They are taking over the brokerage market by storm due to their huge funding from SoftBank. Agents love signing onto compass whereas agents generally hate Zillow/Redfin.
So do you believe in agents value proposition? Do they bring value near 6% of the transaction or they are only a monopoly built on top of a dated system? Is Compass betting on the future or past?
Personally, not at all. I think they are betting on the past. The only thing agents have going for them is a system that is currently set up in their favor and in dire need of disruption.
What about opendoor?
Opendoor is in iBuyer market like Zillow Offers and Redfin Now. It’s the future of real estate market.
Will Zillow buy Opendoor? Not sure who is the industry leader
Three companies are all different, Zillow is more like a marketing company who now plays real estate, Redfin changed the traditional agent from contract basis to employee basis, Compass is burning cash on top of old fashioned approach. Which one is better? Time will tell.
Think of it as a spectrum: on 1 end it’s 100% tech and on the other it’s RE agents. - Zillow doesn’t employ RE agents but allows for listings + aggregates all listings from different platforms (rentals & sales). It’s essentially a marketing platform. Very small company ($1 B in revenue). - Redfin sits in the middle of tech + agency that helps you buy or sell (no rentals). They are innovative because of their focus on customer experience + salaried agents instead of commission only model. They’ve been around for over 15 yrs. - Compass is trying to be in the middle as well (they employ agents) but build their own tech (CRM for real estate) as the main tool. Their play is to replace the current outdated model of needing to use a pricey listing service that doesn’t give you any tools or support. In summary: - Redfin has a more solid record & is profitable. - Zillow is good if you want to go into the ad selling space. - Compass still has to prove itself. So far it’s hemorrhaging money and growing.
Rumor has it that most of the agents really don’t use the tech anyway. Which is interesting given the tech is supposed to be the differentiator. Given the big time agents they’ve brought on are successful operating the way they operated prior to Compass, it’s not too surprising though. At the end of the day, they’re just a brokerage with an aggressive acquisition and agent recruitment strategy imo.... they literally have a salesforce (really just recruiters because Compass isn’t actually selling anything) with the sole purpose of just convincing other agents to join the brokerage.
Redfin is not profitable (you can definitely verify that). And Zillow is not profitable either. And no one knows anything about financials of Compass or Opendoor.
Bias: definitely Zillow. Compass at some point will run out of money. Redfin model is not scalable, even people at Redfin admits that. Zillow is in the best position with ads as Cash cow and new investment in Zillow offers. Winners take only, no other company is in better position than Zillow
Not sure if Zillow wins but Compass will definitely go down. They are burning money without a proper vision. Their CEO calls real-estate agents the north star of the company!They are living in 20th century and betting on a dying horse. Redfin has a better technology backbone and a bright CEO with a tangible and reasonable vision. Their current model won’t scale but they have the potential to pivot and disrupt more effectively than any other. Zillow is well positioned as well but ads $ will not grow if not go down. The reason is that the agent commission model is old and inefficient and someone will fix it in this century!
What a victory for a 13 year old real estate tech giant to belittle a 7 year old brokerage!
Failure is failure no matter how you label it. Compass is failing
I tried to sell my home by using iBuyer on Zillow, price estimation is a joke, the fee they charge is 11% without human involved. It’s a 700K apartment, I don’t know what Zillow was thinking to sell your apartment like selling second hand iPad.
Hey dude, are you still at Compass? Considering an offer from Compass and would love to hear your perspective on how do you like it and whether you see company growing more over time. Would super appreciate your kindness.
And now, Zillow try to do the Premier agent model with their CRM. And the phone connection from client to real estate agent through Zillow/streeteasy customer service it’s like a nightmare.
Compass is raking in money. The traditional real estate model is well proven. Can Redfin, Zillow, open door, etc. disrupt the market eventually? Maybe. They haven't made much of a dent yet. 95% of buyers and sellers use a traditional agent/brokerage. Even higher in luxury markets.
Revenue doesn’t mean profit. We’ll see how compass does after they can’t give excessive investor money away to poach agents that only came for the free money. We’ll also see if these agents stay once they’re allowed to leave.
Yes, we'll see. Currently retaining 95%+
My bet: Compass = Next WeWork
Such an easy headline to make. But so superficial. Besides soft bank and real estate they are entirely different companies. Have a read of this from a week or 2 back https://www.inman.com/2020/01/31/compass-likely-to-avoid-weworks-fate-venture-capitalists/