While the real estate industry has faced constant change over the past two decades, 2025 marks a turning point — one that strikes at the heart of what our business stands for.
The announcement that Compass will acquire Anywhere Real Estate is one of the biggest consolidations our industry has ever seen. While it may take years for regulators to weigh in and for the deal’s effects to play out, the implications are clear: fewer independent brands, less diversity of thought and fewer choices for consumers and agents alike.
What worries me most isn’t what this means for the companies involved — it’s what it means for the people we serve.
When big gets too big
If you want to know what consolidation can do to consumers, look no further than your neighborhood drugstore.
In the Pacific Northwest, local favorites like Bartell Drugs have vanished through a wave of consolidation, first into Rite Aid and then into CVS. The result? Hundreds of store closures, longer drives to fill prescriptions and fewer choices for consumers. When everything is owned by a few big players, convenience, community connection and service all suffer.
The same risk applies to real estate. When multiple brands roll up into one Wall Street-run conglomerate, the business becomes less about people and more about profit. Agents become numbers on a spreadsheet, and consumers become data points instead of neighbors with unique needs.
The value of independence
Independent companies like ours play a different game. We’re not beholden to shareholders or quarterly earnings calls — we’re accountable to our agents, clients and communities. That freedom allows us to stay true to our values and put people before profits.
Independents are also nimbler. We adapt quickly to market shifts, listen directly to what agents and consumers need, and act without layers of bureaucracy. And while we may compete, we also make each other better. When one independent brand succeeds, we all do — because we learn from, respect and inspire one another to raise the bar for our industry.
Choice matters
Consumers deserve more than one flavor of real estate experience. When ownership becomes concentrated among a few massive corporations, innovation slows, service quality declines, and the industry risks losing the personal connection that defines it.
Just as the loss of local pharmacies left communities without trusted places to turn, the loss of independent real estate brands would leave homebuyers and sellers with fewer options and less personal service.
A call to stay independent
At its best, real estate is local, personal and human. That’s what independent, family-run companies do best. We know our communities because we live in them. We understand our agents because we work alongside them. And we measure success not in stock prices, but in the trust we earn from the people we serve.
As consolidation continues, it’s more important than ever to preserve the independence that keeps our industry vibrant, diverse and focused on what matters most — the consumer.
OB Jacobi is the co-president of Windermere Real Estate.
