Ryan Serhant says Compass is wagering on the “real estate model of yesterday.”
The celebrity broker took aim at the residential giant at The Real Deal’s New York City Showcase + Forum on Wednesday. Joined on stage by other cast members of his Netflix reality TV show, “Owning Manhattan,” Serhant criticized the firm’s strategies, including an acquisition tear and a battle over private listings with platforms and the National Association of Realtors.
Serhant, the founder of his eponymous brokerage, argued Compass’ path forward may not be as revolutionary as the brokerage makes it out to be.
“Compass’ goal is to break everything and own the pieces,” Serhant said. “They’re not building Amazon, they’re building Barnes and Noble. And that story has already been told.”
Serhant’s reference to the book chain was an apparent dig at Compass’ latest move to publish its private exclusive listings in a book, which it said is available to everyone in the brokerage community — with a visit to the firm’s local offices. The physical book will be updated weekly, but it’s also introducing a digital version, which will be updated in real-time.
Though Serhant acknowledged the need to push back against “third-party vendors that hold our listings and lead flow and business hostage,” he took issue with Compass’ approach.
“If you want access to our listings, you have to come together on a physical book in a physical brick-and-mortar office,” Serhant said. “High tech, high touch books, right? It’s Barnes and Noble.”
Compass announced the initiative after Zillow and Streeteasy instituted policies attempting to crack down on private exclusives, though Compass CEO Robert Reffkin has said that both the book and its three-phased marketing strategy, which starts with listing homes as private exclusives, comply with platform and NAR rules.
“I don’t know a homeowner who would say they want NAR, the MLS or a portal to tell them how they must market their homes,” Reffkin said on the company’s earnings call on Thursday.
He added that platforms were “raising friction” to scare agents out of marketing properties outside of the MLS, which he claimed was only driving more people to choose the private exclusive path.
“Agents aren’t stupid,” Reffkin said on the call. “If you need to fine them and ban them to keep them on your platform, then clearly, there’s something wrong with your platform.”
Not so fast…
A new indictment filed by New York federal prosecutors on Thursday expanded the charges against the Alexander brothers.
Disgraced brokers Tal and Oren, and their private security executive brother Alon, are now facing four additional counts of sex trafficking and two counts of inducement to travel to engage in unlawful sexual activity. One of the sex trafficking charges against Tal and Alon involves an underage girl.
The new indictment came six months after federal authorities arrested the Alexanders in Miami and charged one or more of them with one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and two counts of sex trafficking. Prosecutors indicated earlier this year that they planned to add to the charges following interviews with roughly 60 women who alleged they’d been attacked by one or more of the Alexanders.
Attorneys for the brothers pushed back against the new indictment, arguing that the additional charges lacked merit. An attorney for Oren called the indictment “another swing-and-a-miss.”
All three brothers have denied the allegations.
Oren and Alon are also facing state sexual battery charges, alongside Ohad Fisherman, a family friend and former agent who worked with Oren and Tal at their brokerage, Official.
Last week, a Miami-Dade judge set the trial date for Fisherman, who’s accused of holding a woman down while Oren and Alon raped her in a 2016 attack. Fisherman, who denied the allegations through his attorney, will be tried separately from the twin brothers in a trial scheduled to begin in early June.
NYC Deal of the Week
Unit 44B at Vornado Realty Trust’s 220 Central Park South landed the priciest deal to close earlier this week. The condo traded in an off-market sale for $36.5 million, or just under a whopping $12,000 per square foot. The deal was up from the $27 million it fetched when the sponsor sold it in 2019. The buyer, shielded by an LLC, listed an address in Frisco, Texas.