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Compass nabs ‘star’ New York City agent and team from SERHANT.

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In the latest chapter of an ongoing story about agents boomeranging back to their previous brokerages, Compass announced Thursday that it had recruited “star” New York City broker Maggie Wu and her team away from SERHANT.

Maggie Wu

Wu leads The W Team, which closed $102 million in sales last year. A statement describes Wu’s team as offering a “white glove service-oriented and profoundly analytical approach” to housing and says she is a “real estate star agent.”

The team also landed the 21st spot in RealTrends’ most recent ranking of small teams in New York City by sales volume. Additionally, all of the agents on Wu’s team are women, including Olivia Marquez, Isabelle Van Oppen and Michelle Pinner, the statement further notes.

The team is trilingual and its members have backgrounds in finance, development, legal studies and executive leadership.

Wu expressed excitement about joining Compass Thursday.

“We have an unwavering commitment to our clients to provide the utmost client service experience,” she said in the statement. “Compass is where we feel we need to be to fulfill that promise.”

Wu worked at Compass for about two-and-a-half years between 2019 and 2021. She then decamped to SERHANT., the brokerage founded by star agent Ryan Serhant, where she spent a little over a year.

In returning to Compass, Wu represents the latest example of a “boomerang agent,” or someone who left a brokerage and then came back a short time later. The phenomenon has gained greater recognition lately as top brokerages compete ever more fiercely for top talent, and Compass in particular has touted its success in winning back high producers.

Compass has said its technology offerings and platform are among the most common reasons agents provide for returning. The company has also notched several other recruiting victories in recent months.

Earlier this month, for instance, the company lured a $40 million Dallas team away from Coldwell Banker. And last month, Compass recruited a top-performing veteran agent in Washington state, also from Coldwell Banker.

All of these moves suggest that Compass’ long-standing emphasis on recruiting — something that has ultimately stoked rivalries with many other companies — remains undiminished. These various recruiting announcements also come less than three weeks before Compass reports its second-quarter 2023 earnings. The brokerage’s earnings reports provide updates on agent count, offering the public a view into Compass’ growth velocity.

Gordon Golub

For now though, Compass leadership praised Wu and welcomed her back into the fold.

“We are thrilled to welcome Maggie back to Compass,” Gordon Golub, Compass’ Tri-State regional vice president, said in the statement. “Her unwavering commitment to excellence aligns perfectly with our core values, making Compass the natural choice for her team.”

Email Jim Dalrymple II