It was real estate agent Ruth Reffkin’s birthday on Wednesday. The active Manhattan agent turned 71. And rather than thinking about retirement to spend time with her grandchildren — whom she adores — she started a brand new job at her son’s company, Compass, a tech-driven real estate brokerage.
Article image credited to Ruth and Robert Reffkin
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Compass announced that it will be adding an international sports and entertainment division called Compass Global Sports & Entertainment Division. According to the press release, it will “will focus on the specialized needs of professional athletes and entertainers in an increasingly connected global market through a custom high-tech and high-touch approach.”
In the once-sleepy, now-thriving real estate market of Cambridge, Massachusetts — a hub for the pharmaceutical industry, MIT and Harvard offshoots and their highly skilled workers –many of the top agents have been with the same firm for years. This was the case with John Petrowsky and Christian Jones. The two agents were at Hammond Real Estate, a large local brokerage, for 27 years and 10 years, respectively.
Put Peggy Murdock Ferris, Molly Peter and Meredith Margolis in a tastefully decorated broadcasting studio together, let them loose on an industry topic of their choosing, and the result is like the real estate version of “The View.” Known as the FPL&M team, the agents are vocal, opinionated and excited to have a seat at the Washington, D.C. table of Compass — the fast-growing tech-led real estate company they moved to from Long & Foster late last year.
Compass, the high-tech brokerage that’s raised $125 million, has rolled into Los Angeles by snapping up 19 “top agents,” marking the firm’s latest push to carve out a national footprint. Since launching in 2013, Compass has expanded out of New York City’s Manhattan into Brooklyn, New York, Washington, D.C., Miami, the Hamptons and Boston. Compass has said that it’s also “actively exploring” opportunities to set up shop in new markets, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.