Boutique New York City brokerage LG Fairmont has joined Compass, according to a company announcement from late June. According to LGF, the deal was struck in mid-May and agents began making the move over to Compass later that month.
The brokerage’s entire 60-person team will be making the move to the renamed LGF at Compass. In exchange for access to Compass’ technology, support staff and ancillary services, LGF will hand over a cut of its commissions to Compass.
“For over 12 years, LG Fairmont has provided hands-on coaching to accelerate the careers of hundreds of agents throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn,” Aaron Graf, the co-lead of LG Fairmont said in an emailed statement. “By combining our signature hands-on training with the most powerful brand and toolset in the country, we will be a pivotal support system for successful agents in the city and throughout the country.”
Founded in 2010 by Aaron Graf and Derek Lee, LG Fairmont buys leads from sites like Zillow and Trulia and gives them to its team of agents. According to The Real Deal, at one point in time the brokerage spent $125,00 per month on leads from Zillow alone.
“LGF is recognized for helping agents kick off their careers through lead generation and, even more so throughout the past few years, one on one training and hands-on coaching,” Zoe Kellerhals-Madussi, another of the firm’s co-leads, wrote in an email. “This is a niche market in NYC as many brokerages prefer to hire experienced agents. Throughout the past few years, we have been tweaking our model with the goal of reflecting everything someone would look for in a boutique brokerage.”
News of the merger comes just a few weeks after Compass announced that it was laying off 450 employees, or roughly 10% of its workforce. In the firm’s SEC filing announcing the layoffs, it stated it would be pausing its merger and acquisition activity. Compass lost $494 million in 2021, and $188 million in the first quarter alone of 2022.
