A video highly critical of Compass Real Estate posted under what is presumed to be a pseudonym on YouTube on Sept. 24 already has nearly 2,000 views.
The six-minute video, which seems aimed at discouraging agents who might consider joining the expanding, tech-driven firm, challenges everything from its finances to its culture, and even its signature technology.
A spokesman for Compass went through the video line by line on the phone this morning, disputing the many negative claims. He said many of the quotes were false and/or attributed to the few employees who had been fired or asked to leave. He said that criticisms of Compass’ financial model contained basic mathematical errors.
“If our market share wasn’t what it is, I don’t think our competitors would put the time into a deck like this,” the spokesman said. “In Boston, we have the highest ratio of sales price to list price and the fewest days on market.”
Another Compass spokesman submitted the following in response to the video:
“We understand the frustration and concern that many of our competitors must feel after so many exceptional agents have chosen to join Compass and build their businesses here. It is unfortunate that a competitor has chosen to invest a significant amount of time in an attack ad full of misinformation to scare agents rather than focusing on improving the experience for their own team.”
Merit McIntyre, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage New England said in response to the video, “With my 20 years in the real estate business, I would strongly counsel agents that before leaping to any brokerage they should do their own research and ask all the important questions before making a decision that could negatively impact their business.”
Compass Real Estate has offices locally in Boston, Cambridge and New York City.