Realtors Settlement Impact: What It Means for Buyers & Sellers
A major legal agreement is set to change how homes are bought and sold, starting this summer. This Realtors settlement impact could help home buyers decide how much to pay their agents, and it might also save money for home sellers.
The Big Settlement
On March 15, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced it would pay $418 million to settle several lawsuits. These lawsuits claimed that NAR made rules that kept real estate commissions high. While NAR didn’t admit to any wrongdoing, they agreed to change some rules.
What Will Change?
Right now, when someone sells a house, they usually pay the commission for both their own agent and the buyer’s agent. The new rules mean that sellers won’t have to set or pay the commission for the buyer’s agent anymore. Instead, buyers will decide how much to pay their own agents.
This means buyers could pay their agents in different ways, like a flat fee, an hourly rate, or a fee per showing. This change aims to bring new, creative ways to pay for real estate services.
Why It Matters
For home sellers, this change could mean paying less in commissions, so they keep more money from the sale of their home. For buyers, it means more control over how much they pay their agents.
However, some worry this might make buying a home harder for people who don’t have a lot of cash. Buyers might have to pay their agents separately, which could be an extra expense.
Negotiations Could Get Tougher
If buyers have to pay their agents separately, they might ask sellers to cover these costs during the final sale negotiations. This means agent fees could be included in the mortgage loan, making things a bit more complicated.
What Should You Do?
Before the new rules start in August, buyers should talk to their agents about how they’ll be paid. Sellers should make sure their listing agents know about these changes to follow the new rules.
This settlement affects many real estate agents, whether or not they are part of NAR, and could bring big changes to the way we buy and sell homes.
Stay tuned as we watch how these changes unfold and what they mean for home buyers and sellers in the future!
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