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Lately, real estate has looked like a clash of Titans. There’s Compass versus Zillow, Rocket buying up Redfin and the National Association of Realtors playing defense on multiple fronts.
Anywhere, one of the biggest titans of them all, has waded less proactively into industry drama than some firms. But that doesn’t mean the company is resting on its laurels. Case in point: Anywhere this week revealed to Inman that it has quietly been working on a title venture, dubbed Upward Title, for almost two years.
Upward grew its revenue by 10 times year over year in 2024, according to numbers Anywhere provided to Inman, and it is currently available in 30 markets across the country. More broadly, Upward is part of a larger trend in which big companies are getting bigger and finding new ways to capture more of the homebuying and selling transaction.
This week, Inman sat down with Sue Yannaccone, president and CEO of Anywhere Brands and Anywhere Advisors. The conversation began with a rundown on Upward and what it means for the company, then meandered to some of today’s most-debated news stories.
And the takeaway from this conversation was that Yannaccone sees trends, including consolidation and transaction integration, dominating the real estate industry. Recent, high-profile deals — notably Rocket’s recent buying spree — exemplify this trend, but Yannaccone argued that in such an environment, the type of scale Anywhere possesses represents an advantage.
What follows is a version of Inman’s conversation with Yannaccone that has been edited for length and clarity.
Inman: You guys reached out about a venture called Upward Title, which is part of an effort to build an integrated buying experience. Tell me what Upward is and why it matters.Â
Sue Yannaccone: As an enterprise, obviously, we have benefited from the scale of having a fully integrated business, right? And we saw the opportunity to really leverage that national scale and expertise in our title business to benefit our franchisees. Obviously, title is a scale game. It’s a unit driver.
So we thought, how cool would it be to bring to market a solution as part of Anywhere, leveraging the benefits of our experience and scale, in owning this national title business.
What we did is we launched a multi-franchise title joint venture business. We first piloted it in 2023, and we’ve had some success. And now we’re looking to expand it significantly. It’s branded Upward Title.
Who can use this right now, and what is the long-term goal?
Currently we have franchisees from all of our brands participating. We have been really excited with the growth that we’ve seen thus far. We are in 30 major markets. And really there’s no ceiling on the opportunity there. It’s just volume of business. I want it to be encompassing as many of our affiliates as we can.
We’re in everywhere from California to more rural markets in Minnesota. We’re in Pennsylvania, NorCal. The need is universal, and so our opportunity is universal.
What’s been really unique for us is, as we’re talking to independent companies who are considering affiliating with one of our brands, this has been something they can then launch within their marketplace. It’s a full service opportunity that they bring to bear when partnering with Anywhere.
What’s also interesting is that upwards of 50 percent of the revenue in Upward comes from outside business as well.
Thinking about opportunities to further integrate, what are you hearing from franchisees and brokers? What are they saying they want?
Upward was absolutely an answer to a question that they had.
I think now they’re constantly looking for the ability to grow their business. Whether it be doing mergers and acquisitions, where we’re very involved in conversations with our affiliates to help them grow that way. There’s also delivering on the tried and true value proposition things as well. Really strong learning and development, agent coaching. And of course, helping them market to the consumer in a way that is relevant and modern.
You mentioned mergers and acquisitions. Where do you see that going? Will we see more local companies combining to create local juggernauts? Will we see more of the Compasses of the world buying up Latter & Blum? All of the above? What’s on your bingo card for M&A?
We expect to see industry consolidation continue. We at Anywhere are always involved in the M&A conversations and evaluating what those opportunities are to enhance our portfolio and our business as well. We’re looking to focus on helping our affiliates grow, diversifying their business through things like Upward, while also leveraging the scale that we realize that we have.
This conversation is taking place against the backdrop of Rocket buying Mr. Cooper and Redfin. What do you make of those deals?
I think it’s really a sign of what’s happening. I think there’s that inevitable consolidation. I think those opportunities are interesting and focused really on that home transaction process. That is a piece of the ecosystem. I think it is about this integrated home transaction. I’ll be interested to see what they do with that business and where they take it.
But again, that’s why I think it’s so important that we lean into what we already have, which is that mass scale. through the transaction, through title, through mortgage and the entirety of the process.
With that deal, I’m curious about how it complicates what Rocket even is. In the past I might’ve said Rocket and Anywhere are two great companies without a ton of overlap. They’re not necessarily rivals. But now Rocket has a brokerage through Redfin. And a portal. And a mortgage servicer. So, does Anywhere see Rocket, or other companies that are traditionally outside your space, increasingly becoming rivals or competitors?
I spend much more time focused on what our business strategy is and our growth lens. And I think with our scale and our opportunity, I don’t look at them in the same wheelhouse as ours. I think we continue to watch what they’re doing and who they’re serving and where they’re serving them in the transaction.
We’re talking about building out this integrated system for the transaction. Have you guys, for example, considered acquiring a portal? Or building a portal or something like that?
We’re always looking at opportunities and considering what strategic fits may be in play for us. And so, one thing we’ve said is we’ll explore a lot of different opportunities and are constantly= having those conversations and thinking about those opportunities.
I think we are always going to — and [Anywhere CEO Ryan Schneider] is on record saying this, and I am as well — that we evaluate deals as they make sense for our business. They have to be strategic. They have to make strong financial sense. We take a lot of calls, and we take every one of them. We have those conversations.
We are talking about portals, and last week the big news was Zillow’s decision to exclude privately marketed listings. What do you make of that move?
I think we’re going to have to watch and see what happens, how that comes to market. We believe transparency for the consumer is the best way to go. And we won’t leave our affiliates or our agents in any position to be disadvantaged. But we do believe in a world where we were pushing for reform, not repeal of [the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation Policy].
I think it’ll be interesting to see where this all comes out. But we’re focused on delivering to our customers what they need, no matter where the marketplace goes.
Where does it go? NAR made their change, but then we still have Compass and Zillow pushing different sides. Any thoughts on where the new status quo lands?
I wrote an op-ed on this. I think that ultimately, we continue to fail to discuss what the consumer wants and needs in this process. Ultimately, I believe that the consumer should have the option as to how they market their home. And that is who will likely end up driving where this all lands from a mass execution standpoint.
We believe in full transparency for the consumer and the most eyeballs on a home is the best way to sell it. But we also understand there’s a desire for some privacy and security in some instances. And so I think we’re going to continue to watch this, but we can’t lose sight of the consumer’s desire because it is in fact their asset (25:21) that they need to sell in the way that works for them.
In our last couple of minutes, talk to me about advice for brokers and agents who want to thrive in the world we’ve been discussing.Â
As we look at certain things and think about what I’ll consider the evolution of the real estate model and what’s next, I encourage everyone — whether they’re an agent, affiliate, broker-owner, anybody in the space — to just focus on what is the right thing by the consumer in the process. Understand the evolving landscape and be super transparent with your customer.
Lean into differentiating how you do business. Because I do believe that in a consolidating environment, that both the agents and the brokers that are future forward, that are evolving with the marketplace, are going to be the ones that outperform.
Email Jim Dalrymple II
