The fastest-growing real estate brokerage in King County has recently opened its first office in Bellingham.
Compass Real Estate, which is based in New York, is open and prepared to work with clients in Whatcom and Skagit County on a wide variety of real estate needs.
Located in the historic Waldron building at 1318 12th Street, in Fairhaven, the new office opened on December 14, 2019.
“There is a lot of history in this area and that’s one of the reasons we love it,” said one the founding brokers, Derek Buse. “It’s not cookie-cutter or manufactured.”
After visiting Bellingham last January, the director of regional growth for Compass in Seattle saw Bellingham as a viable market, Buse said. There is so much character and beauty that the city has to offer, he added.
With a sales volume of more than $100M year to date, the high producing team of brokers is experienced and tech-savvy. The office currently has 11 brokers with the opportunity for future growth.
Agents at Compass can assist with a wide variety of real estate needs such as residential, commercial, multi-family investment properties and land consulting.
According to September 2019 statistics from NWMLS and Trendgraphix, Compass was the only brokerage to steadily increase market share over the past six quarters.
It was pegged as the fastest-growing brokerage in the region with an average of 27% positive growth quarter over quarter.
In the King County area, Compass was the leading luxury broker for homes sold for $3M plus, year to date.
Buse said Compass sets itself apart from its competition with a distinct combination sleek marketing strategies, technology, and high producing brokers.
Compass has invested in improving the mobile experience for clients. If you have the Compass app and drive by one of the new Compass listing signs you will receive a push notification that gives you listing information and property details.
The modern, circular signage lights up as you drive by and strays from the traditional 4X4 real estate sign design. The signs also incorporate QR codes to allow potential clients to look up listing details even if they don’t have the Compass app.
“The company is serious about pioneering technology so that agents that work for Compass have the most sophisticated and advanced tools at their fingertips,” Buse said. “That trickles down to the clients we represent so it ends up just helping everybody out.”
Clients such as Mark Buehrer, founder and director of 2020 Engineering said he appreciated the high-quality marketing products that Compass has to offer. Buehrer was represented by Compass agents when they sold their downtown commercial building.
“They found what I think was the perfect match,” Buehrer said. “It was great because we wanted to keep the sale of our building discreet because our company was located there and we didn’t want people to think there was some issue with the company.”
The Compass platform is being streamlined to better serve clients and to offer an alternative to Redfin or Zillow when someone is searching for a home, Buse said.
The systems in which agents access information from MLS are also being streamlined to offer clients a more sophisticated layout of figures.
The open floor plan office space was designed to be a community hub for all things related to the home. The office includes a library of home design and architecture books and publications.
The office will feature rotating artists on display and is currently displaying paintings by Sharon Kingston. The office will also host events such as a meeting for the Historic Fairhaven Society and a keynote speaker to present information on additional dwelling units in Bellingham, Buse said.
“Compass is making improvements to the real estate industry on every level — from marketing and branding to the technology that agents use to run our businesses, to innovative financing programs for buyers and sellers. I look forward to expanding the company within the Bellingham community,” broker Krista Kenner, said in an email.
