Compass announced Thursday it is acquiring KVS Title, a move that signals the well-funded real estate brokerage is continuing to move deeper into ancillary services in an effort to support more of the real estate transaction. Compass declined to reveal the terms of the acquisition.
Robert Reffkin | Photo credit: Compass
KVS Title, a title insurance and settlement services company, was founded in 2010 in the Washington D.C. metro area and currently serves Washington State, California, Florida, Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
David Kanstoroom, the CEO of KVS Title, called Compass the most “agent-focused company in the industry and a partner that shares our passion for building a trustworthy brand, attracting top professionals and investing in the best technology in the business,” in a statement.
“Compass agents are some of the most collaborative and experienced agents in the country, this partnership provides us with a tremendous opportunity to further build our network and drive results for our business,” Kanstoroom added.
The company provides title and closing services for both residential purchases and refinance transactions. Its title attorneys have helped more than 70,000 settlements combined, according to Compass.
Compass first made its entry into the closing services business in October 2020 when it acquired Modus, a title and escrow software startup. It was a big step towards the company’s long-stated goal of building an end-to-end technology platform for the real estate industry.
By acquiring KVS Title, the national real estate brokerage greatly expands the footprint of its own closing services portfolio into the states that KVS Title serves.
“The underlying driver of Compass’ success has always been our obsession with how to help agents grow their business and better serve their clients,” Compass CEO Robert Reffkin said in a statement that also praised the company’s culture and leadership. “With this acquisition, we’re advancing both of these goals.”
The KVS Title acquisition is the latest in a long line of acquisitions that, combined with a massive in-house product and engineering team, has built out but the technology and ancillary service offerings for the real estate brokerage.
Other than last year’s acquisition of Modus, the company previously acquired Contactually to build the customer relationship management tool at the heart of the company’s technology platform. The company also acquired Detectica, an artificial intelligence startup in November 2019.
That the company continues to not shy away from building through acquisition at a time when it’s getting ready to lay its financials bare through the initial public offering process is also significant. It could signal that Compass will continue to fearlessly pursue growth even as the spotlight on its finances gets bigger.
