When Compass merged with Anywhere in January, CEO Robert Reffkin reiterated his pledges that there would be no mandates that newly acquired brokerages must use Compass tech platforms or Private Exclusives.
But even as these pledges remain in place, Compass leaders have acknowledged they face strong business incentives to get as many agents onto the new tech stack as quickly as possible. And the company is racing with special urgency to provide newly acquired brokerages and brands with early access to its Coming Soon and Private Exclusives networks.
An Intel review of Compass agent survey responses and the company’s statements to investors reveals how agents at former Anywhere-owned brokerages are being fast-tracked into the Compass tech ecosystem — and in some cases, even nudged to use the Private Exclusives platform that many of them once opposed.
And on some timelines that Compass has laid out publicly, the rollout at franchise brokerages might be only a few months behind.
This week, Intel explores how the tension between Reffkin’s no-mandate pledge and bringing “more than 340,000 of our real estate professionals onto one connected platform,” as he told investors last month, is playing out at the ground level — according to agents and brokerage leaders going through the transition.
It’s all in the latest results of the Intel Index survey.
Tech rollout timeline
Compass has plans to launch its tech to former Anywhere-owned brokerages in July, with franchise broker-owners gaining access a few months later in January, Reffkin told investors last month.
Although Reffkin previously sought to assure agents and brokerages that they wouldn’t be forced onto Compass’ platforms, Intel surveys have found that many former Anywhere brokerages have responded warmly to the idea of an eventual migration to Compass tech.
And a relatively small (and shrinking) share of the agents surveyed in February said that their brokerages had committed to sticking with their existing platforms.
- 18 percent of agent respondents in February said their brokerage indicated it was not changing its tech stack over to Compass platforms, or at least was not pressuring agents to switch. That share was down from 23 percent the month before.
- Meanwhile, 48 percent of agents who responded to February’s survey said their brokerage plans to switch over to Compass tech at some point, up from 37 percent shortly after the merger closed in January.
- Another 33 percent of agent respondents said they were still awaiting guidance on their brokerage’s tech plans, down from 39 percent previously.
This apparent willingness by brokerages to adopt the general Compass tech stack holds great business importance for Compass, as the company has repeatedly stated in its financial filings and executive comments to investors and analysts.
One of the key financial advantages of the merger “will be our expanding [lifetime value] per agent as we bring more than 340,000 of our real estate professionals onto one connected platform,” Reffkin said on a February call with investors.
“By connecting our franchise broker-owners and real estate professionals through one seamless platform,” he continued, “we will scale our best-in-class listing tools, coaching innovative marketing programs, and AI capabilities to help grow their business and help them make more money by better serving their clients.”
The need for a transition off legacy Anywhere platforms wasn’t just about the efficiencies and benefits of a unified system.
Compass also acknowledged in statements to investors that a failure to reach sufficiently wide — or fast — adoption of their tech posed risks to the success of the merger.
In its most recent quarterly financial filing, Compass explicitly pointed out to investors there could be “challenges and risks associated with onboarding real estate professionals and franchisees affiliated with Anywhere onto our platform on a timely basis or at all.” The company added that “pending such onboarding, the increased complexity and risk related to the maintenance of Anywhere’s products and services” presented another challenge.
To that second point, Compass CFO Scott Wahler told investors on the earnings call that Anywhere spent about $80 million in 2025 on tech labor that was treated as a capital expenditure — an investment in the legacy Anywhere tech stack that Compass is now working to steeply cut, he said.
“As part of our cost synergy work, a significant portion of the projects that have been subject to capitalization in the past will be cut as we shift the technology focus to the Compass platform,” Wahler said.
None of this is necessarily inconsistent with the no-mandates pledge. It does, however, illustrate the tension at the heart of a merger whose success relies on balancing a quick migration to Compass tech with the need to retain as many agents as possible.
And while full access to Compass tech remains months away for many agents, decision-makers have signaled that access to Coming Soon and Private Exclusives platforms could come much sooner.
A pressing priority
Private Exclusives are another area Compass has pledged it will not mandate for newly acquired brokerages.
Still, Compass officials are planning to make coming-soon and private listings available as early as late March, Reffkin said on the call last month.
Once this access is granted, agents at newly acquired brokerages and brands would also have the ability to get some of their pre-MLS listings onto Redfin as part of the company’s new partnership with the listing platform’s parent company Rocket, Reffkin said.
- 38 percent of acquired brokerage agent respondents in February said their brokerages were open to agents using the Private Exclusives network, up from 27 percent the month before.
- This change was driven partly by the (still small) share of agents who said their acquired brokerage leaders had “strongly encouraged” them to explore Private Exclusives — up to 6 percent in February from 1 percent the month before.
- Only 5 percent in February said their brokerages were discouraging use of Private Exclusives, down from 7 percent in January.
Breaking down the former Anywhere brokerages by type, it’s clear that this is being driven almost entirely by leadership within the acquired Compass-owned brokerages, rather than franchise broker-owners.
- 16 percent of agents at acquired Compass-owned brokerages said their leaders had “strongly encouraged” them to explore Private Exclusives. Only 2 percent of agents with an acquired franchise brand said the same.
While Compass did not lay out a more detailed timeline for Private Exclusives access on the earnings call, the pattern matches that of the tech rollout generally: former Anywhere-owned brokerages, regardless of brand, may be the earliest to try to adopt Private Exclusives, while franchises may offer different guidance or act on a later timeline.
Intel will continue to track these questions in the months ahead.
Methodology notes: This month’s Inman Intel Index survey ran from Feb. 19-26 and received 914 responses. The entire Inman reader community was invited to participate, and a rotating, randomized selection of community members was prompted to participate by email. Users responded to a series of questions related to their self-identified corner of the real estate industry — including real estate agents, brokerage leaders, lenders and proptech entrepreneurs. Results reflect the opinions of the engaged Inman community, which may not always match those of the broader real estate industry. This survey is conducted monthly.
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