Jessica Mendoza

People probably won't know this because why would they?

But you and I are neighbors here in Washington, D.C.

And if you're a buyer walking around our neighborhood, how often would you say, you know, you'd pass a Compass real estate sign?

Compass was co-founded in 2012 by its CEO, Robert Refkin.

Since its founding, Compass has grown to have 40,000 agents.

And the company is only getting bigger.

In September, Compass agreed to buy Anywhere Real Estate for $1.6 billion.

Anywhere owns brands you might have heard of, like Century 21 and Sotheby's.

If the deal is approved by regulators, Compass would grow to more than 200,000 agents in the U.S.

And the combined company could control about 18% of U.S.

home sales volume, according to some analyst estimates.

And once it becomes a giant, Compass could have the power to change the way real estate works nationwide.

Why do they want to do that?

What do they see as the problem with the way that things are done today?

Normally, homeowners looking to sell their home would have an agent list their property online on local databases called multiple listing services, or MLSs.

Sites like Zillow automatically collect those listings from those databases, making them available to the public.

Refkin wants to upend that whole model.

Instead of posting listings on these listing sites right away, Compass is advocating for a slow and steady approach, one that Refkin says prioritizes flexibility for sellers.

The Compass approach has three phases.

Here's how it works.