Not long after announcing the deal to acquire Anywhere’s brands, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin made a series of pledges to the agents and brokerage leaders who were set to join his company.
Compass tech would be made available to acquired brokerages, but its use would not be mandated. There would be no policy requiring agents to use Private Exclusives. And Compass would not claim ownership of client data, nor would it contact clients of the acquired brokerages.
These pledges and others appear to have reassured agents in some areas, even as anxieties and skepticism still hang over the early days of the transition, according to an Intel analysis of survey responses by 155 agents and 39 brokerage leaders within the newly combined entity.
These responses came from the Intel Index survey of more than 600 real estate professionals conducted in January.
This week, Intel takes a close look at the agents and brokerage leaders in the former Anywhere network of brands as they navigate the transition.
Read the findings in the full report.
What agents are thinking
A number of agents who had recently transitioned to Compass’ infrastructure said that they felt relieved by some of the pledges made.
But many agents expressed uncertainty about what the switch to Compass will mean for their splits in the long run.
- 46 percent of agent respondents to Intel’s January survey who are part of an Anywhere brokerage acquired by Compass say they have been told their current financial arrangement will be honored unchanged.
But even more agents — 54 percent of respondents at these brokerages — say they haven’t heard from their leadership on this question.
And Intel’s survey results suggest that if any newly acquired brokerages are expecting changes to splits as a result of the merger, few are telling agents of these plans just yet.
- Notably, not a single one of the 98 real estate agents from brokerages acquired by Compass who took Intel’s survey in January said that their brokerage told them to expect net compensation to increase or decrease.
In one of his pledges to Anywhere’s brands, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin said that the acquired brokerages would not be required to switch over to Compass’ tech platforms.
But Intel found that many are planning to do so on their own.
- Nearly 4 in 10 agents at Compass-acquired brokerages who responded to Intel in January said that their brokerage was either in the process of switching over to Compass tech, or told agents it plans to move at some future date.
- Half as many — 23 percent — of this group said their brokerage was planning to stick with its existing tech stack, or at least not pressure agents to switch.
But many agents were still waiting to hear what their company was planning with regard to tech.
- 39 percent of agent respondents from the acquired brokerages in late January said they were still awaiting guidance on whether their brokerage planned to switch over.
But brokerages appeared even more likely to tip-toe around the issue of the Compass Private Exclusives network, a polarizing platform among former Anywhere executives and many surveyed Anywhere agents as well.
In these early days, support for using the platform at acquired brokerages has been rather tepid.
- Two-thirds of agent respondents at the acquired brokerages said their leaders had yet to offer guidance on Private Exclusives — indicating that leadership has been less willing to weigh in on this matter than on the tech-platform transition.
- 26 percent of recent Anywhere agents surveyed by Intel in January said that their brokerage is open to agents using Private Exclusives, but that they don’t feel pressured to do so.
- Only 1 of the 98 agent respondents from these brokerages reported their brokerage’s leadership has “strongly encouraged” them to explore the use of Private Exclusives.
Strong opposition, on the other hand, has outnumbered strong support.
- 7 percent of agent respondents at the former Anywhere brands said their brokerage is discouraging agents from using Private Exclusives.
Another Reffkin pledge — that agent data will remain theirs and not used by Compass to contact their clients — seems to have reassured most agents for now. But substantial concerns persist for a minority of surveyed agents.
- 35 percent of agents at the acquired brokerages told Intel they were not concerned about their client data following the merger, and another 39 percent said they felt reassured after hearing of Compass’ pledges.
- Still, the remaining 27 percent of Anywhere agents who responded in late January expressed skepticism about whether Compass might “misuse my client data” or restrict their ability to take it with them if they were to switch brokerages.
This general picture was largely echoed by leadership at the brokerages that recently joined the fold.
But those brokerage leaders were less uncertain in their assessment of where things were headed. And their perspectives shed light on what the transition might look like in the months to come.
View from the top
For agents wondering whether the shift to Compass might suppress their splits, Intel’s survey of brokerage leaders offers further reason for hope.
- None of the 33 brokerage leaders affiliated with former Anywhere brands reported that Compass executives had indicated they should expect the agents’ net compensation — consisting of splits and fees — to drop as a result of the merger.
- 48 percent of these leaders said they were told their existing financial agreements would be honored unchanged, and another 45 percent said the topic had not yet come up in their discussions with Compass.
- Notably, two of the 33 leaders said they’ve been told to expect the agent’s net compensation to increase.
Brokerages also largely echoed what agents said about a potential switch to Compass tech platforms.
But the survey results of brokerage leaders confirm that if agents haven’t heard what their brokerage is planning to do in this area, it’s likely because the brokerages themselves have yet to make the call.
- 45 percent of brokerage leaders from former Anywhere brands who responded to Intel’s January survey said their brokerage has not yet made a decision on which tech platform to use.
These leaders were even more likely than agents, however, to expect that the play would be to move to Compass’ tech.
- Only 9 percent of Anywhere brokerage leader respondents said they planned to stick with the tech platforms they had before, or at least not pressure agents to switch.
- Another 42 percent of leadership respondents from the acquired brokerages said they were either in the process of switching now to Compass tech, or planned such a move at a future date.
Brokerage leaders in the affected brands also brought some clarity on how they planned to handle Compass’ Private Exclusives network with their agents going forward.
While most former Anywhere agents said their brokerage had yet to offer clear guidance, leadership seemed set to take a generally accepting — although far from enthusiastic — approach to their agents’ use of the private listing platform.
- Half of brokerage leaders at former Anywhere brands said they were open to their agents using Private Exclusives, but that they wouldn’t pressure them to do so.
- Only 9 percent of these leaders said they have “strongly encouraged” their agents to use Private Exclusives.
That said, there were some signs of dissent within the brokerage ranks when it came to the platform.
- 16 percent of brokerage leaders who recently joined Compass said they were discouraging agents from using Private Exclusives.
In the survey, Intel asked these agents and leaders — as well as others throughout the industry — what steps they hoped to see Compass take with its newfound market share and influence.
Intel will examine these responses in a future report.
Methodology notes: This month’s Inman Intel Index survey ran from Jan. 22-Feb. 4, 2026, and received 643 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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