Hello eveyone!! Please read this if you are a buyer or seller. 


As many of you are aware, you are aware of the lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors. (NAR). There has also been a lot of misinformation and myths appearing in the press. So, let’s take a look at what is really happening now that it has been almost a month since the new policies have taken place.

For starters, let me give a quick synopsis of what the whole lawsuit was about and what caused it. As a lot of you know, it was common practice for the seller of their property to pay commission to both the seller’s agent (their agent) and the buyer’s agent during the transaction. We have a program specifically designed for real estate professionals called the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) where we post the house we are selling and all necessary and important information pertaining to the home and at the very bottom was the percentage that the seller would be offering to the buyer’s agent. A group of homeowners got together and felt that this was unfair, and that the real estate industry as a whole was “price fixing” their commission.

Lawsuit and Results

As a result, they opened a lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors demanding for that to change and they won, and now we have changes to the whole industry that must be implemented by August 17th, 2024. Now, we are no longer allowed to put anything regarding commission into the MLS system and commissions have now become a standard component of negotiation just like something found on a pest report or asking for repairs to be done to the property before closing. I will now cover what this means for you going forward as the consumer and me as your agent.

Sellers

Going forward it is no longer legally acceptable to advertise a buyer’s agent commission on the MLS. However, I want to make this clear that it will still be very likely that you will be asked to compensate the buyer’s agent. Only now, the difference is it will become an active negotiation instead of a predetermined amount. As a seller reading this, I am sure that hearing you don’t necessarily have to compensate the buyer’s agent is great news. However, before you get your hopes up too much, I will say that I believe being open and willing to compensate a buyer’s agent even by a little bit will be a very useful marketing tactic. I have a scenario I want to talk about to get your wheels turning. Let’s say you have a situation with a first-time homebuyer or maybe a seasoned buyer, that is just throwing every penny they have in order to qualify to purchase your home and there is no compensation being offered from your side. Are you ok with losing out on that buyer and letting them walk because they do not have the capabilities to pay their agent out of pocket?

Buyers

From now on as a buyer to view a property you HAVE to sign a buyer broker agreement that outlines your relationship with your agent and their specific fees. Now, there are multiple types of agreements you can sign and they can all be abolished at any time so if you do sign one do not panic and think that you are permanently bound to that agent. Different types of agreements include for one specific property, multiple properties, or a long-term exclusive agreement for any and all properties. My advice is to just make sure to read the agreement thoroughly before signing it and what you are committing to.

If you have any questions at all or want some more clarification please do not hesitate to reach out to me.