Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Jul 05, 2025

'Selling Sunset' broker Jason Oppenheim says 'Compass basically destroyed the brokerage model for the entire industry'

'Selling Sunset' broker Jason Oppenheim says 'Compass basically destroyed the brokerage model for the entire industry'

Oppenheim called the amount Compass brokers get to keep from commissions "unsustainable," but Compass said it has no plans to change its "split policy."

The superstar real-estate broker Jason Oppenheim railed against an embattled rival firm, Compass, saying the company "destroyed the brokerage model for the entire industry" and faces a "grim reality."    

"There's no fixing Compass," Oppenheim, best known from the Netflix reality show "Selling Sunset," told the real-estate news outlet Inman.

Oppenheim closed over $429 million in sales last year as the head of his own brokerage, The Oppenheim Group, a Los Angeles-based firm that his great-great-grandfather founded in 1889. 

Oppenheim's critique centers on "splits," the slice that a brokerage takes from an agent's commission each time they buy or sell a house on a client's behalf. Brokerages use that money for everything from shared office space to marketing resources. 

Splits can range from 50-50 all the way up to 90-10, with agents keeping 90% of a commission — which is usually 3% of a home's sale price — and giving their firm 10%. 

Oppenheim said the splits at Compass are unsustainably generous, in the ballpark of 90-10, generating too little revenue for the brokerage to function profitably.

Former Compass agents confirmed in a lawsuit they were offered 90-10 splits, and The Wall Street Journal reported that some offer letters allowed brokers to keep 100% of their commissions on the first eight deals.

"If you have a broken business model, it doesn't matter how many agents you have. It's irrelevant. If you are making televisions for $100 a piece, and you're selling them for $99 a piece, it doesn't matter that you're making more televisions, it doesn't fix your business model," Oppenheimer told Inman. 

Compass, meanwhile, told Insider it doesn't anticipate changing its split policies. 

"We are planning our cost structure to be profitable in 2023, even with a 25 percent decline in the market, with no change in our split policy. The market responded very favorably and multiple Wall Street analysts project Compass will be profitable without any change to split policies," a Compass spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Insider.  

In a call with Insider, Oppenheim broke down what he considers a more "sustainable and successful" split. 

"The most successful agents at 80-20, and the newer agents at 60-40. Then most of the agents will be at 70-30," he told Insider. He declined to share the range of splits for his agents at The Oppenheim Group. 

Oppenheim also believes that Compass has dragged down the rest of the industry. 

"There are other brokerages out there offering 90-10 and 85-15 splits because they had to in order to compete with Compass," Oppenheim told Insider. 


Compass is on a mission to cut costs by $320 million after a shaky year 


Compass was founded in 2012 by Robert Reffkin, who had never worked in real estate before, and two other entrepreneurs, Ori Allon and Avi Dorfman. The firm rose to become the top brokerage in the US in sales volume, selling $251 billion in real estate in 2021. But after interest rates went up earlier this year, the real-estate market slowed down dramatically, leaving many agents — and by extention, their brokerages — earning fewer commissions.

Compass, which went public in April 2021, has never turned a profit. It reported a $154 million loss in the third quarter. Its stock price has steadily plunged from $18 the day of the IPO to $2.69 on November 29. Since June, Compass has laid off more than 1,000 people, and executives announced $320 million in cost-cutting. 

A few superagents have fled the brokerage, though Compass touted a 15% increase in its number of agents in the third quarter, saying it employs more than 13,000 agents in total. 

Oppeheim told Insider he currently employs "about 40" agents.

Oppenheim said in his Inman interview that at one point he hoped Compass would "buy me up," but the brokerage said it never responded to his inquiry. 

"Compass doesn't focus on other companies or reality TV, we focus on making our agents more successful," a Compass spokesperson said in an email. "Compass did not respond to Jason's inquiries because he would not have been a culture fit and therefore we did not want to waste his time."

Oppenheim told Insider he's not rooting for the downfall of Compass. "I hope they succeed, but time will tell," he said in a phone interview.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
Trump Administration Considers Withdrawal of Funding for Hospitals Providing Gender Treatment to Minors
Texas Enacts Law Allowing Gold and Silver Transactions
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
×