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Compass nabs upstate New York team from Keller Williams

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Just days after it scooped up a 300-person brokerage in Arizona, Compass continued its recruiting streak this week when it nabbed a high-powered team based in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Upstate Curious announced its move from Keller Williams to Compass in an Instagram post Monday, saying “we’re now officially the Upstate Curious Team at Compass, which is a BIG move for us.” The post from team founder Megan Brenn-White cited Compass technology as the number one reason for the move.

Megan Brenn-White

“Get ready to see the power of a $1+ billion investment in a platform that’s kind of mind-boggling for us as agents,” Brenn-White added. “As a client, you won’t even see all the ways it’s helping us help you, but your experience will be different.”

News that Compass had recruited Upstate Curious was first reported by The Real Deal.

Upstate Curious operates across 11 counties and is the No. 1 team in the Hudson Valley-Catskills region, according to its website. The team includes 20 members, 15 of whom are agents, and claims more than $256 million in sales volume since its founding in 2019.

In addition to selling homes, the team is well known for its social media presence and is “the brokerage you follow on Instagram even though you will never be able to afford a house,” Curbed noted Tuesday.

A statement Compass provided to Inman further notes that much of Upstate Curious’ sales volume has been “sourced from its popular Instagram feed.”

The Upstate Curious news comes just days after Compass revealed that it acquired Launch Real Estate, a brokerage based in the Phoenix suburbs. Launch has more than 300 agents.

Both announcements also come at a time when major real estate companies are competing fiercely for top talent and when industry observers are paying close attention to agent counts.

Brenn-White described her team as a “tech-savvy group,” but noted that she “struggled to find the right tech to support my growing team,” in the statement on moving to Compass.

“I spent years admiring the all-in-one platform Compass was building and feeling like I didn’t have access to the best tools in the industry,” she added. “After learning that we could help lead Compass’ expansion into our area, we decided to move brokerages within two weeks!”

Email Jim Dalrymple II