Climb was a fresh, new brand but had a big uphill “climb” to achieve national prominence in an industry already saturated with an abundance of real estate brands. The shuttering reflects Realogy’s need to focus its operations as it responds to competition and changing business models. Real estate, in general, is rapidly growing up from a mom-and-pop industry into a sophisticated business where viability, profitability, and return on investment increasingly drive decisions, as they should.

Orchard CEO Court Cunningham provides insight on the way some disruptors are viewing the real opportunity in the residential real estate brokerage industry: the $130 billion ancillary business of title, mortgage, and brokerage. Orchard’s model tweak represents the evolution of the model T3 Sixty chronicled in the 2020 Swanepoel Trends Report.

Realtor.com remains a large national portal, but it continues to operate in large shadows of Zillow and Redfin. O’Hara brought a new flair and products when he took the helm in 2015 but they failed to significantly improve realtor.com’s market position. Doctorow has his job cut out for him.

As profiled in the 2020 Swanepoel Trends Report, Compass is moving fast and enjoyed a remarkable 2018 and 2019. But WeWork threatens an alternate universe for 2020 than the one Compass is aiming for. However, Reffkin is driven and enthusiastic, and his letter provides additional detail on how Compass and brokerages will increasingly have to compete in 2020 and beyond.