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Brokerage

Inside Elliman's boutique-alternative recruiting push

The publicly traded brokerage is betting that consolidation fatigue is its best recruiter.

Marian VossSenior Reporter, BrokerageMay 27, 2026 5 min
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Douglas Elliman is not trying to be bigger than Compass. It is trying to be the obvious home for everyone who doesn't want to be.

The strategy is showing up in the moves: Samantha Behringer returned to Elliman in the Northeast, and Hamptons producers Agnes Wanielista and Chelsea Redick crossed from Compass this month. Each is a data point in a deliberate campaign to convert post-merger unease into signed agents.

"We're not for everyone, and that's the pitch," an Elliman manager said. The firm is leaning on its public-company stability, its luxury brand, and a high-touch model it argues a 340,000-agent organization structurally cannot match.

The risk is symmetry: Compass is also winning names from Elliman. The recruiting war is two-directional, and the scoreboard changes weekly — which is exactly why broker-owners are watching agent movement like a market feed.