A luxury Los Angeles real estate firm has expanded to Los Altos, with a local office opening last week.
Five agents with Los Altos-based Compass left the tech-focused real estate firm to work for a new branch of The Agency, with an office on San Antonio Road and Main Street space on the way.
The agents moved to The Agency as a package, which made it a natural choice for agent Jim Nappo, who is joined by his son and partner Jimmy.
Nappo enjoyed a 30-year career at smaller, family-owned firms before joining Compass when it purchased his home agency Alain Pinel in 2019. He said he felt more at home at The Agency.
“The culture of Compass is that of a large national, going international, corporation,” Nappo told the Town Crier, adding that since the company’s launch on the New York Stock Exchange in 2019, the focus seemed to be on stock prices.
Nappo said The Agency is fast-growing like Compass but has maintained a small, local culture in its individual offices.
Mother-daughter team Judy Bogard-Tanigami and Cindy Bogard-O’Gorman as well as Ryan Gowdy are making the jump with the Nappos.
For now, the agents are operating out of 161 S. San Antonio Road, Suite 10, but The Agency plans to take over a larger space in the building as well as open a satellite office on Main Street early in the fall.
Why the need for all the (office) real estate? The Agency anticipates a major influx of new agents, according to president Rainy Hake Austin.
“We had such a large impetus of agents reaching out to join us,” she said.
Firm to firm
To understand the moves, Austin said, one must understand the history of the Bay Area’s real estate market.
“Compass came into the San Francisco Bay Area organically,” she said, then bought out many other firms, quickly acquiring 40% of the market share.
The five former Compass Agents from Los Altos joining The Agency didn’t choose to work for Compass – they worked for Alain Pinel, which Compass purchased.
Austin said when Compass made its acquisitions, many agents would say, “I’m going to stay (with Compass), but only because there is nowhere better,” especially if agents wanted to remain in the luxury space.
Last summer saw a similar personnel shift to Los Altos’ when eight agents jumped from Compass to The Agency in Los Angeles. In addition to the five Los Altos agents making the move, Quetzal Grimm left Compass to serve as managing director of The Agency’s Los Altos branch.
Compass, known for its tech funding and aggressive bid to gain market share, and The Agency have a history of conflict – Austin herself moved from a Compass branch in Los Angeles to her current position with The Agency. The two firms came to legal loggerheads when The Agency sued Compass in federal court alleging that Compass’ attempts to prevent Austin from recruiting Compass employees for The Agency were illegal. The case was settled outside of court last year.
Austin noted how agents can secure large earnings packages by moving from agency to agency, but that isn’t what’s happening in this case. She said The Agency is offering agents a different value proposition, focusing on company culture and customer service.
The Agency offers “a boutique service experience,” she added, with many staff per agent and technology oriented toward enhancing the human experience rather than humans serving technology. For example, an in-house marketing staff available to agents free of charge allows them to focus on clients.
Austin also said The Agency hopes to cultivate a “one for all, all for one” attitude unique in competitive sales environments, with a goal to be closer in approach to Alain Pinel than Compass and to “customize” offerings to the local market.
For more information on The Agency, visit theagencyre.com.
