FairSquare Group Realty, formerly known as Purplebricks, announced on Thursday that it will no longer be accepting new business.
The company, which has its roots as a for-sale-by-owner company, has evolved into a full-service brokerage that charges a fixed fee to clients. It has undergone several evolutions and rebrands over the years.
Multiple rebrands
In 2009, DuProprio in Quebec acquired other for-sale-by-owner businesses throughout Canada, and these companies were later renamed ComFree outside of Quebec.
Then in June 2018, UK-based Purplebricks acquired both DuProprio and ComFree and officially launched operations in Canada in January 2019. ComFree was eventually rebranded as Purplebricks.
However, in July 2020, Desjardins Group acquired Purplebricks’ Canadian holding company, including its two brands—Purplebricks Canada and DuProprio—and later rebranded it as FairSquare in January 2022.
From FSBO to full-service brokerage
In an interview with Real Estate Magazine in January 2022, Pascal Laflamme, president of FairSquare, attributed the company’s changing business model to customers’ needs.
“Now it’s a full-service brokerage with the difference that we are working as a team instead of as individual, self-employed realtors,” Laflamme told REM.
“We’re charging a fixed fee on our side. So our part of the selling commission is fixed no matter what the home value is, and of course, our sellers are offering buyer/agent commission that varies from market to market.
At the time of the interview, Laflamme said FairSquare was operating in Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, Windsor and the Niagara Peninsula, with plans to expand to Sudbury, Ont. The company’s headquarters is in Stoney Creek, Ont.
The future of FairSquare
A spokesperson for DuProprio confirmed Friday that operations will continue as usual for the Quebec company.
FairSquare still has dozens of active listings in Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta on Realtor.ca, with one of the most recent posted six days ago.
It’s unclear how business operations will be impacted moving forward. Despite repeated attempts to contact the company for comment, FairSquare did not respond in time for REM’s publication deadline.
Jordana is the editor of Real Estate Magazine. You can reach her by email.
Fascinating — Interview the former B of R (Randal? Russell?) for more insights!
At one time PurpleBricks/Comfree had the greatest # of listings in Ontario — This is quite a story!!
It’s Randall
It’s Randall
The brokerage was already providing the services that Pascal LaflammeDescribes as their “new” services. He also refers to “self-employed” which is wrong. Realtors working for PurpleBricks/Fairsquare were employees.
This article on the former DuProprio then Purplebricks and ComFree across Canada and its FSBO (For Sale By Owner) brand and re-branding is quite interesting. It has changed not only its name numerous times but also its service fee structure and full-service approach like many traditional real estate brokerages. Such FSBO service groups are being scrutinized by the public and professional associations alike It seems that FSBO groups may be MISSING somethings in these modern times that still demand professional and personal service – for its clients and agents. Maybe REALTORS® do offer reliable and trusted services lacking in the FSBO models. Hmmm…….. “What do you think?”
There’s nothing wrong with offering better priced models for consumers. There was clearly a demand for it with how many listings they’ve had over the years. Where it suffers is when the focus is taken off the consumer and placed into the hands of investor dividends. I expect there’s tremendous opportunity in something in-between. Something that gives consumers options and leaves them feeling in control of their experience…. that provides exceptional Realtor-led experiences, but with service options with a strong minimum standard (perhaps FSBO is too minimum?) to suit a budget, perhaps? This may require brokerages to lead the change on this front, which may hurt the bottom line of brokerage owners. So… who out there is willing to lead the charge on quality, affordability, and cooperative consumer optioning?
My husband and I purchased a home through fair square in Manitoba in early January of 2023. We were given a promise of a cash back upon possession of our new home. Once we took possession and started asking questions in regards to our incentive we’ve been ignored. We’ve reached out to our relator and to Desjardins with no help. We are still owed the incentive and now will have to take on legal fees to receive money we were promised. Such a waste of time and such a horrible experience.
These com. free/fixed fee companies survived off of high volume. That’s gone now.
When the dust settles, the consumer still requires professional service and advice, when it comes to high value transactions.
And, conversely, it is impossible to meet the consumer’s expectations as to professionalism and knowledge at a fraction of the cost.
Interesting. Of all of its iterations, Fairsquare made it seamless for co-op brokerage access to the listings. But as representatives to their sellers they were less inclined to be co-operative, almost in a hurry to get the job done with as little interaction as possible, leaving money on the table.
The ultimate defeat of anyone’s service is when their fees translate into a too low hourly rate and it became considerably more expensive when RECO put its foot down to make it hard for one person to be the sole listing representative province wide. The failure rate is harder to track with individuals but at a brokerage level we keep seeing them, Realtysellers, Redpin, Property Guys and this.
So much for all the hype about disruption.