Mark your calendars for the ultimate real estate experiences with Inman’s upcoming events! Dive into the future at Connect Miami, immerse in luxury at Luxury Connect, and converge with industry leaders at Inman Connect Las Vegas. Discover more and join the industry’s best at inman.com/events.
A new salvo in the ever-intensifying battle for top talent came this week when a pair of San Francisco agents and their team boomeranged back to Compass.
Mollie Poe
Mollie Poe and Declan Hickey were originally founding members of Compass San Francisco but later left the brokerage to form the Indigo Real Estate team with Side in 2020. In a statement, the duo pointed to Compass’ technology and sense of community as the things that drove them back to the brokerage.
“Working with [Compass CEO Robert Reffkin] to build a company out of a WeWork space back in 2015 makes returning to the camaraderie of the Compass family incredibly heartfelt!” Poe said.
“In a world defined by virtual meetings, and as we continue to adapt to the changing dynamics of real estate, we are returning to Compass, where our community and technology seamlessly intersect under the same roof,” Hickey added in the statement.
Declan Hickey
Poe and Hickey are bringing their four additional team members with them to Compass. The duo is also sunsetting the Indigo brand.
The team’s move back to Compass comes at a time of intense competition for top agents. The rate-driven market slowdown of the last two years has helped drive that competition, prompting companies to focus not just on headcount but also on agents who have a track record of closing deals in leaner times. As a result, the struggle for talent has emerged as one of real estate’s defining stories in the post-pandemic era.
Compass in particular has made a point of touting its big recruiting wins and has additionally celebrated the return many of agents who — like Poe and Hickey — previously worked at the company but left at some point for a competitor. However, eXp Realty, Coldwell Banker, Side, Corcoran and others have also touted major recruiting victories in recent months — highlighting the fact that the competition for talent is an industry-wide trend.
In Compass’ case, Poe and Hickey epitomize the types of agents Compass has tried to win over. The duo did $110 million in sales volume in 2023, according to Compass’ statement, and has consistently ranked among the top teams in both the region and the state. The statement adds that the team has “amassed a wealth of knowledge and expertise with regards to economic trends at play throughout the city’s wide range of micro-neighborhoods.”