Modus

Modus operates as a title and escrow company, aiming to modernize the real estate closing process through a secure, transparent, and user-friendly digital platform. The company was founded in 2018 by Alex Doubet, Jai Sim, and Abbas Guvenilir in Seattle, Washington. The founding team brought together a diverse set of experiences; Doubet had a background in real estate, having founded his own brokerage, while Sim and Guvenilir possessed deep engineering expertise from their time at Microsoft.

The company's core offering is a digital platform that streamlines the complex and traditionally paper-heavy real estate closing experience for all parties involved—buyers, sellers, agents, and lenders. Modus provides a centralized hub for secure document sharing, electronic signing, and real-time status updates on the closing process. This approach digitizes title insurance, escrow, and closing services, intending to reduce the friction and inefficiencies common in traditional real estate transactions. Its business model centers on charging fees for these title and escrow services, similar to conventional closing companies, but differentiates itself through its technology-first approach and emphasis on customer experience.

A significant milestone in the company's journey was its acquisition by the digital mortgage lender, Compass, in October 2020. This acquisition was a strategic move for Compass to integrate closing services into its own end-to-end real estate platform, thereby creating a more seamless transaction process for its agents and their clients. Following the acquisition, Modus continued to operate under its brand but as a subsidiary of Compass, leveraging the parent company's scale and resources to expand its reach.

Keywords: real estate closing, title insurance, escrow services, proptech, digital mortgage, real estate technology, property transaction, closing platform, secure document management, Compass