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How to choose a Dining table: Ultimate Dining Table Buying Guide

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The best material for your dining table depends on how you will be using it and how much maintenance you want to do. Below are some pros and cons of popular materials.

Popular Wood Types

Walnut. A classic hardwood renowned for its rich color, density, and durability, making it ideal for daily use. However, it can be expensive.

Oak. One of the most popular types of wood for tables due to its durability, family-friendliness, minimal maintenance, and lower cost than some other wood types.

Acacia. Known for its beautiful grain, acacia is highly durable and suitable for heavy use. Maintenance involves simple cleaning and occasional oiling. 

Mahogany. Rich, elegant, and timeless mahogany dining tables are frequently found in traditional dining rooms. Mahogany has fewer knots than other types of wood, creating a smoother appearance. However, it is more expensive.

Mango. Mango wood requires only simple cleaning because of its sustainability and unique grain patterns. However, it is less durable than other woods and not ideal for daily use.

Rubberwood. Rubberwood is durable enough for daily table use when treated as a medium-density light-colored hardwood that is considered cost-effective and environmentally friendly when properly harvested. However, treatment often involves chemicals, and rubberwood may trigger latex allergies in some people.

Other Popular Dining Table Materials

Marble. Elegant marble is one of the most popular dining table materials. As a stone, it is highly durable overall. However, marble is heavy and expensive and can stain easily, chip, or crack.

Metal. Metal is one of the most practical dining table materials, given its durability and low maintenance, and it can fit any design style. For example, dark and distressed metal finishes suit the industrial style, polished finishes suit the contemporary style, and dark and smooth metals suit the traditional style. 

Glass. Tempered glass tables resist breakage, keep sightlines open, and fit a range of styles. However, glass tends to show fingerprints readily.

Stone. Every type of stone is unique, and it can last a lifetime. However, it is more expensive and heavier, than many other materials, and can be fragile, so ensure the appropriate room and care when selecting this type of material. Use only suitable for natural stone cleaners.

Best Materials forEasy maintenance: Metal and most hardwoods.A luxury look: Marble, granite, and other stones; mahogany, ebony, cherry, and walnut woods.Longevity: Metal, hardwood, stone, cement.



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Changes in real estate agent pay impact home buying and selling

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New changes in real estate transactions are altering how agents are paid, impacting both buyers and sellers.When your real estate agent lists your home, the commission is no longer included in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), the database agents share. Commissions still exist and are negotiable. Sellers can still offer to pay buyer fees, just as they might cover the cost of a home warranty or other expenses.”It’s definitely made agent pay a bigger part of the conversation,” said Krishon Harris, a real estate agent for Reece & Nichols.Agents say high interest rates are keeping homes on the market longer, for 30 to 40 days in some cases.”It is in the offer acceptance process when buyers will find out how much they owe their agent,” Harris said.Sellers can still offer to pay buyer fees, just as they might cover the cost of a home warranty or other expenses.”As a buyer, your biggest change is that you have to have a written agreement with an agent before you go see a house,” Harris said.He says when and how fees are discussed is the biggest change.”When you are a buyer and you make an offer on a house, you’ll include in the offer what you’re asking the seller to pay your agent,” Harris said. “The seller can agree to that. They can counter, reject it, or whatever.”

New changes in real estate transactions are altering how agents are paid, impacting both buyers and sellers.

When your real estate agent lists your home, the commission is no longer included in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), the database agents share. Commissions still exist and are negotiable. Sellers can still offer to pay buyer fees, just as they might cover the cost of a home warranty or other expenses.

“It’s definitely made agent pay a bigger part of the conversation,” said Krishon Harris, a real estate agent for Reece & Nichols.

Agents say high interest rates are keeping homes on the market longer, for 30 to 40 days in some cases.

“It is in the offer acceptance process when buyers will find out how much they owe their agent,” Harris said.

Sellers can still offer to pay buyer fees, just as they might cover the cost of a home warranty or other expenses.

“As a buyer, your biggest change is that you have to have a written agreement with an agent before you go see a house,” Harris said.

He says when and how fees are discussed is the biggest change.

“When you are a buyer and you make an offer on a house, you’ll include in the offer what you’re asking the seller to pay your agent,” Harris said. “The seller can agree to that. They can counter, reject it, or whatever.”



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Rules for buying and selling a home are changing. Here’s what to know.

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When it comes to buying and selling homes, new rules are about to be put in play, five months after the National Association of Realtors agreed to a blockbuster settlement over how its 1.5 million agents across the U.S. are paid commissions.

The settlement — which resolved litigation stemming from a grand jury finding that the real estate group artificially inflated brokerage commissions — brings sweeping changes to the industry, starting tomorrow.

The adjustments come as prospects brighten for the beleaguered housing market. Mortgage rates earlier this month tumbled to their lowest level since April 2023, offering hope to house hunters priced out of the market given high borrowing costs and home prices that reached a record in June. 

Still, the current rate on the 30-year fixed loan stands at about 6.5%, or more than double the sub-3% rates available in 2020 and 2021. The Federal Reserve in September is widely expected to reduce its benchmark interest rate, a step that should reduce mortgage rates currently high enough to bring turnover in the housing market near 40-year lows. 

In the meantime, real estate agents across the nation will have to adopt to new changes that could potentially reduce the commission that home sellers are asked to pay. 

Many experts are now looking for home prices to fall as the sticker price will no longer include the steep commissions that have for decades been in play.

Here’s a rundown of what this means for those looking to buy and sell homes going forward.

Buyers beware

Real estate agents are now required to have buyers sign a form before showing them a home. The agreements are intended to detail exactly how much a buyer will be expected to pay an agent. 

However, “at that stage, the buyer hasn’t had an adequate opportunity to evaluate that agent,” Steve Brobeck, a senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America, told CBS MoneyWatch. “When you’re touring houses with an agent, the agent is auditioning to be your agent, that’s when you get to know the agent.”

Most buyers would not be comfortable signing a contract with a financial obligation that early in the process, added Brobeck, who noted that the new requirement came at the industry’s behest and was not part of the NAR’s settlement.

Buyers should not sign a contract with a financial obligation until they are ready to make an offer, advises Brobeck. “There are other options for seeing a house,” he noted, including calling the listing agent or attending an open house. 

Another option that is increasingly in use are touring agreements that cover limited amounts of time and come without financial ties, he said, noting that Zillow had developed one. Many model contracts developed by the industry are difficult to read, understand and are otherwise problematic for consumers, Brobeck warns. 

That said, one buyer-broker agreement developed by real estate brokerage eXp Realty is “simple, consumer-centric and meets most of our criteria,” he said. “They’ve made it available for the industry to use.”

Homebuyers should also think about offering a flat fee or paying their agent an hourly rate, the advocacy group advised.

“The dollar value of today’s percentage commissions is often underestimated by buyers. Moreover, buyer agents should not have a financial incentive to be paid more the higher the sale price,” Brobeck said in a report.

Sellers rejoice?

For folks selling their homes, the changing landscape should bring some quick respite, as their agents no longer have to make an offer of commission to buyers’ agents. 

Nearly 9 in 10 home sales are handled by real estate agents affiliated with the NAR, the nation’s biggest trade association. It required that home sellers figure in a commission rate, usually 6%, before listing homes on its property database, known as the Multiple Listing Service, or MLS.

The commission borne by home sellers was then divided between agents for the seller and buyer. While on paper subject to negotiation, the fee was the focal point of the lawsuit lost by the NAR and brought by a group of home sellers, who claimed the trade group and others colluded in driving up the commissions.

In June, the median sale price of a home was $442,451, according to Redfin. Under the previous practices sellers would be paying $26,547 in commissions. That customary rate is no longer the default.

Sellers can now expect to be asked for just one side of the commission pot, or what would now average 2.5% to 3%. 

“For the first time now, buyers will have the opportunity to negotiate the buyer commission,” said the CFA’s Brobeck. “We suggest setting a target of 2% or less,” the advocate said. Matched with the buyer agent’s commission that would mean paying overall commission closer to 4% rather than the current standard of 5% to 6%, he added.

In a separate but related development, almost any American who sold a home in the last fives years is covered by the class-action settlement with NAR and other brokerages. How much anyone is entitled to depends in part on how many sellers submit claims, and other factors including where one lives and when your home was listed. 

To see if you’re eligible, check here. 

More from CBS News

Kate Gibson

Kate Gibson is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch in New York, where she covers business and consumer finance.



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Realtors’ new rules take effect Saturday. How buying, selling a home might be affected

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Chicago members of the National Association of Realtors say they’re prepared for the changes that some housing experts describe as the industry’s largest shift in how homes are bought and sold.

NAR, a professional organization of real estate agents whose members are known as Realtors, will be implementing two major changes starting Saturday as part of a $418 million antitrust settlement.

The changes upend more than a decade of industry procedures and could affect how buyer agents have traditionally been paid. It could also open up more opportunities for homebuyers and sellers.

“What we’re really going through is a seismic shift,” said Matt Silver, a partner and senior broker in Corcoran Urban Real Estate.

The NAR doesn’t expect home prices or sales to fall but says the changes could make it harder for first-time homebuyers in a frenzied real estate market.

What’s the biggest change?

Offers of broker compensation no longer will be displayed on the Multiple Listing Service, a database used by licensed brokers and agents to share information about properties for sale as well as commissions.

Historically, broker commissions have been paid by sellers. Seller’s agents usually agree to split their commission with the buyer’s agent. That means homebuyers often don’t incur an extra cost when working with a real estate agent — a big relief for first-time buyers — as their agent’s commission is covered by the seller.

Commissions typically range from 5% to 6%.

Compensation offers will still be an option consumers can pursue off MLS through negotiation and consultation with real estate professionals, according to NAR, which says broker commissions have always been negotiable.

How agents are compensated is “the biggest change our industry has had to deal with in easily 100 years,” according to Laura Ellis, Baird & Warner’s chief strategy officer, executive vice president and president of residential sales, who has been with the firm since 1998.

Ellis said the change will create more conversations between real estate agents and clients, requiring agents to use different skills than they might be used to.

Laura Ellis of Baird & Warner at the company’s Gold Coast office.

Barry Brecheisen/For the Sun-Times

“We did a big push on educating our agents about the fact that most buyers thought that the process or the service to them was free because … the seller technically paid the commission,” Ellis said. “Transparency in that alone is a big difference.”

Many real estate agents have been letting clients know in advance about the changes. And trade groups have been sharing updates for months with their members ahead of Saturday’s deadline.

Why is this happening now?

The changes stem from a series of class-action lawsuits filed by homeowners, who accused the NAR of fixing broker commissions at high rates and discouraging sellers from seeking better terms. The association has 1.5 million members and broad control over access to the MLS system.

The NAR agreed to settle the lawsuit in March., ending litigation that could have resulted in a $1.8 billion verdict against the association and tripled under antitrust law.

In April, a federal judge in Missouri granted preliminary approval to the settlement. A final approval hearing is scheduled in November.

The NAR has denied any wrongdoing.

Are other changes coming?

The settlement also requires all real estate agents working with a buyer to enter a written agreement outlining compensation before touring homes.

Some Chicago real estate agents say the written agreement requires less of an adjustment for them because they already use buyer-broker agreements.

Erika Villegas, a real estate agent for more than 20 years, said she’s always used buyer-broker agreements even though her firm, Oak Park’s RE/MAX In the Village, never required them. Villegas said requiring the document industrywide will be beneficial.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for us to make sure that we are providing the best tools, best services and we [are] making it very clear and transparent of the work that we do for buyers,” Villegas said.

Illinois real estate laws will change in 2025, including the requirement for written brokerage agreements.

What this means for you and the industry

While broker compensation no longer will be displayed on the MLS, Ellis doesn’t expect a change in how brokers are compensated. She predicts buyers will ask sellers for a “closing cost credit,” which buyers then use to pay their agent. Homebuyers also can ask the seller to pay their broker — reverting to the traditional model.

Both those scenarios emphasize that the buyer commission comes from the home transaction, Ellis said.

“It doesn’t mean that [buyers] are going to have to come out of pocket with money that they never did before,” she said.

Buyers and sellers also could elect to separately pay their own broker, raising concern among some real estate agents about how the rules could affect first-time buyers.

How will first-time buyers be affected?

First-time buyers, including those from underrepresented groups, can have trouble with financing their first home and having to pay a broker’s commission could act as an extra hurdle, according to Brian Kwilosz of EXIT Realty. Kwilosz said EXIT is watching the impact the changes will have on first-time buyers.

Lutalo McGee, owner of the real estate firm Ani World, plans to stress that cooperative compensation remains an option for new buyers even if it’s negotiated differently. Ani Real Estate, under the umbrella of McGee’s Ani World, has the bulk of its sales on the South Side.

“A lot of clients, at least that I service and my brokers [service], are those that have struggled with down payments and closing costs in the past,” McGee said. “We’re going to be actively monitoring to see what the impact of these changes are going to be.”

Several real estate agents said they don’t think the changes will affect home prices. The housing market is driven by supply and demand, Silver said, and with a dearth of housing across the region, he doesn’t think home prices will go down “anytime soon.”

It’s possible buyer commission rates could drop as agents and their clients have more conversations about compensation. But Ellis predicts agents will complete more transactions after Saturday’s changes take effect.

“I think that good real estate agents will actually increase their income,” Ellis said. “We’ve got to do what’s right for the consumer and what they want and bring real, tangible value to them.”





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How new real estate rules are set to reshape home buying and selling across the U.S.

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How new real estate rules are set to reshape home buying and selling across the U.S. – CBS News

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Starting Aug. 17, new regulations will change how real estate commissions are handled, potentially lowering costs for homebuyers and sellers. Under the new rules, buyers and sellers will have the opportunity to negotiate commissions directly with their agents, a shift that could impact everyone involved in the real estate market.

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New rules for buying, selling homes take effect Saturday after lawsuits

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First, before a seller may show a residential property or a buyer may tour a property, real estate professionals and their clients will be required to enter into a written representation agreement outlining the terms of realtors’ compensation, said Ali Whitley, president of Ohio Realtors.

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Written representation agreements must include an expiration date, information on fair housing and blockbusting laws, whether the relationship is exclusive or nonexclusive, and terms of compensation, according to House Bill 466, which was recently approved in addition to the settlement agreement.

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Stephen Brobeck, a senior fellow with Consumer Federation of America, told this news outlet that the lawsuit and resulting ruling is based on the fact that for the last century, the real estate industry has effectively set commission rates.

“DOJ (the Department of Justice) has been working for 80 years to try to force the industry to create a more price-competitive market … but the real watershed was the jury decision in the combined Sitzer and Moehrl cases,” he said. “A jury found the the industry defendants guilty of price fixing and awarded the Missouri plaintiffs over $5 billion including triple damages.”

For decades, real estate agents have typically been paid a certain percentage of the sales price once the home is sold. A typical agent’s commission has been 6% of the sale price, split between the agents or companies representing the buyer and seller.

Brobeck said in the new system, it is important for people who intend to buy or sell a home to carefully select an agent ahead of time who is both honest and competent. Before deciding on an agent, the buyers and sellers should get a proposed contract document from the agent and have an opportunity to read and understand it. He said the agent should be willing to discuss the contract before the buyer or seller selects them.

“If an agent will not present a readable contract that is consumer-centric, a consumer should look for another agent,” Brobeck said. “And it’s that refusal by consumers to work with agents presenting unreadable contracts that will persuade the industry to improve them.”

Second change: Compensation

Real estate professionals will be prohibited from offering cooperative compensation on listings on multiple listing service (MLS) databases, Whitley said. That includes all listing types that appear on the MLS, including residential, commercial and rentals.

“What that means is that if the buyer’s broker is authorized by the buyer to accept commission compensation from a different party than the buyer, then they’ll need to just get that communication directly from the listing agent or the seller,” Whitley said. “What a buyer should expect moving forward is that we have a written representation agreement that will delineate what the services of their broker or agent is to them, and the fee for those services. So prior to showing any homes or to touring any homes, they will have a written representation agreement with their agent.”

Buyers and sellers can still negotiate compensation arrangements directly with real estate professionals outside of the MLS. Additionally, sellers may continue to offer buyer concessions, such as closing cost contributions on the MLS.

Whitley said the changes are meant to be transparent and provide clarity to both the sellers and buyers in the transaction.

“Instead of there being a perceived situation of a listing broker determining what will happen moving forward with a buyer’s broker, it will be very clear that it is the seller and the agent are having a conversation and determining that the seller is or is not willing to offer cooperative compensation,” she said. “And if they are willing to offer cooperative compensation, what is that amount that they are wiling to offer.”

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On the buyer’s side “it’s clarifying that the buyer’s agent provides services to the buyer … and they advocate on behalf of the buyer,” Whitley said. “And so the written representation agreement will delineate what those services are, and then also what the fee is that that broker is charging for those services. And then the buyer and the buyer’s broker will be able to negotiate from there what that commission is that will be paid and how it will be paid.”

Whitley said the compensation obligation can be satisfied through the purchase agreement, if the seller is willing to offer it.

“It also can be negotiated between buyer and seller during the time of a purchase agreement, or the buyer could say ‘I prefer to pay my own agent because they are working on my behalf … or any combination of those things can happen,” she said.

Kelly McCormick, president of Dayton Realtors, said commissions were “always negotiable.”

“Now, creating that clarity between buyers and sellers is something that the real estate industry and agents will be doing every single day,” McCormick said. “There’s always going to be a cost to sell and a cost to buy. Those costs are always provided, as far as a lender of good faith estimate, and now both buyer and seller will have potentially more clarity in how that cost impacts their purchase and their sale.”

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Austin Castro, a team leader at Coldwell Banker Heritage, said part of the impact from the changes could come as a result of people signing agreements with buyers agents up front, as opposed to down the road.

“What I think that means is when someone wants to sell their house, there was always a big interview process?” he said. “They’d call three or four different agents. They’d sit down and interview them. They’d talk about it, you know, and then they sign an agreement to sell their house with whoever they thought was best fit for the job. I think we’re going to start to see that now with with buyer’s representation.”

Castro said buyers, when choosing an agent, used to go with the first person they met, someone they met at an open house or a friend of a friend.

“Now I think it’s going to be a little bit more of a interview process for buyers representation because people are signing those agreements up front, disclosing ‘Hey, this is what my agent makes on this transaction,’ so I think that’s probably where we’re going to see a biggest change is going to be maybe buyers putting a little more thought on who they’re going to have represent them,” Castro said.

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New real estate commission rules to roll out Aug.17: Here’s how selling and buying a home

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New rules to how homes are bought and sold could mean an average savings of more than $50,000 to Peninsula home sellers. Photo courtesy Getty Images.

Big changes are coming to how homes are bought and sold beginning Aug. 17 when new rules roll out that will revamp how Realtors get paid commission. 

The changes, which are part of a $418 million court settlement that the trade group the National Association of Realtors announced in March, put an end to the decades-old practice requiring home sellers to pay 5% to 6% of a home’s purchase price to cover the commission for both the listing agent and the buyer’s agent.

For sellers on the Midpeninsula, where the median price for a single-family home is above $2 million – this means an average savings of more than $50,000 in commission fees.

The sudden death of the 6% commission

The Sitzer/Burnett buyer-broker commission lawsuit – a class-action lawsuit filed in Kansas City, Mo., last October on behalf of 260,000 home sellers in the Midwest over the National Association of Realtors’ commission rules – paved the way for the new regulations that will affect sellers, buyers and agents nationwide. 

A federal jury found the National Association of Realtors and some residential brokerages liable for nearly $1.8 billion in damages after determining they conspired to inflate commissions by forcing sellers to make non-negotiable offers of compensation to the buyer’s agent for listings on the Multiple Listing Service. 

What buyers should know

If you are a buyer and your agent is using an Multiple Listing Service, you will need to sign a written agreement with your agent before touring a home so you understand exactly what services will be provided and for how much. Written agreements are required for both in-person and live virtual home tours and must include: 

The amount of compensation the real estate agent will receive and how this amount will be determined. Is it a flat fee, a percent of the home cost or an hourly rate?  Compensation cannot be open-ended or determined by “whatever commission amount” the seller is offering to give to the buyer’s agent. 

A statement indicating that the agent is prohibited from receiving compensation for brokerage services from any source that exceeds the amount or rate agreed to in the agreement with the buyer

A statement indicating that broker fees and commissions are fully negotiable and not set by law. 

Information from the National Association of Realtors.

To resolve the litigation claims against the trade association and more than one million Realtor members, the National Association of Realtors agreed to make changes to its commission process as part of the $418 million settlement agreement.

The association, however, has stressed that commissions have always been negotiable and continues to deny any wrongdoing by its members in regard to commissions. 

“NAR does not dictate commissions. This was true before the settlement agreement and remains true once the practice changes go into effect,” according to a statement by the association.  

What the changes mean to buyers and sellers

Under the new system, the most significant change is how buyers’ agents are paid. While the seller can choose to pay a buyer’s agent, the rules make it crystal clear that sellers are no longer required to offer any compensation to a buyer’s agent. 

Buyers now will be required to negotiate directly with their own agents and must enter into signed agreements that outline how they will compensate their agent (flat fee, hourly rate or other arrangements), the amount they will pay and what services they want their agent to provide. Written agreements will be required before a buyer and their agent can do any in-person or live virtual home tours. Buyers do not need a written agreement if they are just speaking to an agent at an open house or asking them about their services.

There are also changes to how and where real estate professionals may communicate with each other about offers of compensation. These offers are no longer allowed on Multiple Listing Service platforms, which are private databases created, maintained and paid for by real estate professionals and provide property listings to Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com and others.  

Individual agents and real estate companies, however, will still be able to reference compensation on their own websites. 

“These changes will bring more transparency and more clarity for home sellers and buyers,” said Jennifer Branchini, regional vice president of the National Association of Realtors for California, Hawaii and Guam. Branchini, who served as last year’s president of the California Association of Realtors, manages the Compass real estate office in Pleasanton.

Talk of the industry

The lawsuit and the National Association of Realtors’ subsequent agreement are the talk of the industry — but little of it on the record. Numerous local Realtors, the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors, the Sunnyvale office of MLS, and the Real Estate Research Institute of Hartford, Conn., all either declined comment or did not return messages for this story.

Michael Repka, CEO and general counsel of DeLeon Realty of Palo Alto, had plenty to say, however. He said the 5% to 6% commission structure — including sellers paying 2.5% to agents representing buyers — has been the norm throughout the industry since he joined it in the 1990s.

He said a recent analysis of home sales in Palo Alto valued at between $2 million and $10 million, revealed that nearly 95% of them included the 2.5% fee paid by sellers to agents representing buyers.

Repka said he believes the rule changes will be good for the real estate market. With sellers now looking at paying a commission of only 2.5% to 3.5% on any given transaction, Repka said this could persuade more long-time Midpeninsula homeowners to sell their homes. That, in turn, could put more badly needed housing inventory onto what has been an historically tight market in recent years.

“This new situation results in something that is more fair to the seller,” he said.

The new rules still allow sellers to offer some compensation to the agents of buyers, but the amount paid, if any, is now up to the seller, Repka added. 

“Typically, sellers had no option to pay less than the total commission. Even if the buyer’s agent’s involvement was minimal, or if the buyer discovered the property on their own (without the assistance of an agent), the listing agent retained both sides of the commission,” Repka said. 

This practice, he explained, has been used to encourage agents to point buyers toward properties that offer them higher commission rates. Sellers who didn’t offer 2.5% commission to a buyer’s agent, allegedly risked having their listing “blacklisted” by some real estate agents, according to Repka. 

“In essence, buyers will now have access to information about all homes available for sale, irrespective of whether the seller offers minimal or even no compensation to the buyer’s agent,” Repka said. 

According to the settlement facts outlined on the National Association of Realtors’ website, the association already had MLS policies in place regarding the non-filtering (or removal) of listings based on compensation. The new rules amend that policy “for clarification purposes and to ensure consistency with the proposed settlement agreement.”

Whether the 6% commission has been a longstanding and common practice, depends on whom one speaks to in the industry. 

One veteran Midpeninsula agent, who preferred not to be named, said 6% commissions have never been demanded across the board by agents locally, adding commissions are typically negotiated between home sellers and Realtors — and discounted commission rates are fairly common “to keep transactions alive.”

She said it’s not unusual for agents to “absorb costs” at times for sellers and buyers.

While the new rules provide more transparency and give sellers more options, some say the homebuying process may become more challenging for first-time buyers. 

“At a time when home prices and mortgage interest rates are higher, these new rules place an additional financial burden on homebuyers, particularly first-time homebuyers who are already struggling to come up with a down payment to purchase a home.” Eileen Giorgi, president of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors, said in a news release from the association. 

New California requirements in the works

On the buyers’ side, Branchini, regional vice president of the National Association of Realtors, said the issue also has attracted the attention of lawmakers in Sacramento. The California Legislature currently is considering a bill that would require written agreements between agents and homebuyers. It would enshrine the requirement in state law, complementing the new industry directives.

Mantill Williams, Washington, D.C.-based vice president of communications for the National Association of Realtors, said 18 states currently have such laws, with several more, including California, now proposing similar legal requirements.

Assembly Bill 2992, authored by Assembly member Stephanie Nguyen, D-Elk Grove, would mandate buyer/broker written agreements — already required for sellers and brokers. The bill is still working its way through legislative committees.

Despite the National Association of Realtors’  widespread coverage, the association’s agreement does not yet cover all brokers in the industry. Officials of HomeServices of America Inc. of Edina, Minn., are still litigating the lawsuit, known as the Sitzer-Burnett vs. National Association of Realtors case. HomeServices of America is the parent company of Intero Real Estate Services, which has local offices in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Los Altos and Redwood City.

David Goll is a freelance writer who regularly contributes to the Real Estate section.

– Linda Taaffe contributed to this article.



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Florida’s real estate market has a split personality: What to know if you’re buying or

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Florida’s real estate market has a split personality: What to know if you’re buying or selling in the Sunshine State

Florida’s housing market is a tale of two states. On the coast, condo prices are falling with residents being driven out by high insurance costs and assessment fees, while inland, the cost of single-family homes is holding steady. Local experts say this divergence is driven by soaring insurance premiums and rising assessment fees under new state regulations, which have significantly affected condo owners. [Source: Realtor.com]

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While national aggregate home price indices are hovering around all-time highs, some regional housing markets in states like Florida, Texas, and Louisiana are experiencing home price corrections. This includes the Punta Gorda metro area in Southwest Florida. [Source: Fast Company]

Condo HOA fees jumped 60% in South Florida in past 5 years. Why higher costs are ahead

South Florida condo owners, burdened by spiraling insurance, repair bills and a new state law, saw their association fees shoot up nearly 60% over the past five years — driving some to consider difficult financial decisions to make their next HOA payment. [Source: Miami Herald]

Orlando home-purchase cancellations highest in country

Across the U.S., buyers are increasingly backing out of home purchases as prices rise and mortgage rates remain elevated. Orlando is seeing this trend play out in a more pronounced way than any other major market, with about 900 home-purchase agreements canceled in June, according to a report from Redfin. [Source: Orlando Business Journal]

STAT OF THE WEEK
13.4%
Farm real estate values in Florida jumped by 13.4% from 2023 to 2024. [Source: CVille Right Now]

ALSO TRENDING:

› South Florida real estate firm significantly grows Orlando presence [Orlando Business Journal]
KW Property Management & Consulting has added three new properties to its management portfolio in Central Florida totaling more than 1,600 units. The Miami-based firm has been contracted to oversee two condominium towers in downtown Orlando.

› It’s Ritz-Carlton vs. National as South Beach heavyweights battle over condo for billionaires [Miami Herald]
On Collins Avenue in South Beach, along a strip of jazzy historic mid-century high-rise hotels that have defined the city skyline for decades, two giants are going at it. And the outcome of their long-running battle could forever alter the look and feel of a landmark Miami Beach district that harks back to the city’s Golden Age. Whether that’s for the good for the future of highly popular but perennially troubled South Beach, or a harbinger of its continued erosion, is the gist of the dispute.

› Osceola joins movement to reject tax incentives for affordable housing [Orlando Sentinel]
Joining a growing list of municipalities across the state, Osceola County has decided to opt out of a program that uses tax incentives to boost affordable housing. The board of county commissioners voted swiftly and unanimously last week that Osceola will no longer provide property tax exemptions under Florida’s Live Local Act.

› Tampa reopens Rental and Move-in Assistance Program applications [WTSP]
The city of Tampa’s Rental and Move-in Assistance Program, or RMAP, is accepting new applications beginning Thursday, Aug. 8. The decision to re-open applications comes after significant rent increases in the Tampa housing market over the past few years.

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This article was originally published by a www.floridatrend.com . Read the Original article here. .

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Buying or selling a home set to change on August 17

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KSHB 41 reporter Grant Stephens covers issues connected to access to housing and rent costs. Share your story idea with Grant.

—

There are big changes coming to the way you buy or sell a home.

These changes stem from a series of lawsuits intended to make the home buying process more transparent.

The changes take effect August 17th.

An agent working with a buyer will have to work out an agreement before the prospective buyer and real estate agent look at a property together.

KSHB 41 News staff

Home in Kansas City area

“When a real estate agent says, ‘Hey, starting August 17th, you have to sign this agreement,’ they’re telling you the truth,” said Holden Lewis with NerdWallet.

You may be familiar with the standard five to six percent commission rate you’d have to pay in the past.

It’s split between buyer’s and seller’s agents and is often baked into the total cost of the home.

The changes mean there’s now an extra layer of negotiation that could change that standardized fee.

“It’s gonna specify how much you’re gonna pay that agent,” Lewis said.

Realtors like Kathleen Spiking with the Rob Ellerman Team say it might change how contracts are written and how they’re paid.

KSHB 41 News staff

Kathleen Spiking

“They’re training us on what’s going on, what’s does this look like, how does it appear in a contract,” Spiking said.

But since she’s always been upfront with costs, it won’t change the day-to-day.

“Personally, for me, it doesn’t affect the way that I run my business,” she said. “I still have communication up front with all of my clients, whether they’re buyers or sellers, and I think maybe for people it would be further and more thorough communication at the beginning and during the process of buying a home,” she said.

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This article was originally published by a www.kshb.com . Read the Original article here. .

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The home buying and selling process is changing. Here’s what you need to know in Illinois.

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Save up money. Find a real estate agent. Attend open houses. Put in an offer … or two or three or four. 

Once the deal is closed, real estate agents for both the buyer and seller get paid commissions, typically by the seller.

This is a condensed version of how the home buying and selling process has functioned for years. And this process is about to change. The way real estate agents get paid will shift on Aug. 17, following massive settlement agreements that resulted from numerous class-action, antitrust lawsuits brought by home sellers over the commissions they paid to real estate brokers. The suits were filed against the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors and real estate brokerages nationwide.

In March, NAR agreed to pay $418 million as part of a settlement to resolve litigation against the organization and its members. It also agreed to amend its model rules. The settlement will be paid out over approximately four years, and around 50 million people will be eligible to receive money from NAR’s settlement. Some real estate brokerages opted to settle their own suits before and after NAR’s agreement, and some are still ongoing.

The full NAR settlement is not expected to receive final court approval until November, with the U.S. Department of Justice indicating that the terms of the settlement may not go far enough.

NAR’s settlement came after a Missouri federal jury issued a landmark $1.8 billion verdict in October of last year, finding NAR and several large real estate brokerages conspired to artificially inflate commissions on home sales. A similar case was expected to go to trial this year in Illinois federal court. The settlement resolved NAR’s role in both of those suits plus two other class actions. NAR continues to deny any wrongdoing, according to the association.

The litigation came to a head amid internal turmoil at NAR, which has undergone a series of leadership changes. Over the past year, NAR has seen two presidents and a CEO resign following allegations of sexual harassment against its former President Kenny Parcell.

Here’s what you need to know about the landmark settlements and how the changes being implemented will affect buyers, sellers and real estate agents in Illinois. 

What were home sellers arguing in their lawsuits against NAR and real estate companies?

The lawsuits claimed the compensation practice for brokers was anti-competitive because it incentivized buyers’ agents to steer their clients toward sellers who were offering higher commission rates in their listings on the Multiple Listing Service. The MLS is the main tool used by real estate agents across the country to market home listings.

Historically, the seller set the commission rate when listing the home for sale and then paid the fee to their agent, who split it 50-50 with the buyer’s agent.

How is the National Association of Realtors changing its rules?

NAR is changing its rules in two main ways. It is requiring potential homebuyers to enter into written agreements — often referred to as buyer agency agreements — with their agent that state how the buyer’s agent will be paid. NAR is also removing offers of compensation to agents in the MLS.

If a broker is not a member of NAR or does not use an MLS platform that adheres to NAR’s rules, they will not be subject to these rules changes.

Can cooperating commissions be listed outside the MLS?

Some real estate brokerages are still permitting their agents to list cooperating commissions on their real estate listings outside the MLS, while others are not. A cooperating commission is the amount paid to a buyer’s agent once a transaction is closed.

Redfin will allow sellers who want to advertise an offer of compensation to do so, but will not require it, according to a statement from a company spokesperson.

Compass agents will follow a similar practice, with a company spokesperson saying it will be an “agent-by-agent decision with their clients.”

A RE/MAX spokesperson said in a statement that while the firm will not display offers of compensation on the company website, each RE/MAX office is independently owned and operated, and “it is up to offices to determine what works best for their office.”

Laura Ellis, chief strategy officer and president of residential sales at Baird & Warner, said her company will not allow its agents to list buyer or seller agent compensation on any platform.

“We will not do that because it’s going to put us right back to how we got into the situation we are in now,” Ellis said.

Mike Golden, co-CEO of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, said that as of now, similar to Baird & Warner, the company does not have plans to list cooperating commissions outside the MLS.

“We feel like that is in direct conflict with what the Department of Justice’s goals are with the settlement,” Golden said.

On a call with reporters on Aug. 7, NAR said it would not tolerate “people making attempts to circumvent those policy changes,” but declined to comment on particular brokerages’ practices when asked after the call.

Realtors group to pay $418 million to settle litigation over broker commission fees

What does this mean for potential homebuyers?

Homebuyers will now be required to enter into written contracts with their agents before the first tour of a home if working with an agent who is a member of NAR or an agent who is using an MLS that follows NAR’s model rules. The contracts will dictate how much the buyer will pay — in either a dollar amount or percentage — their real estate agent in the event that the seller does not cover any or all of the buyer’s agent commission.

These contracts do not have to be signed if a buyer chooses not to work with an agent, if a buyer visits a for-sale home on their own or if a buyer is working with an agent who does not use a NAR-affiliated MLS. Some states already required these written buyer agreements. Illinois was not one of them, but many brokerages began encouraging their agents to use the agreements after the Missouri verdict came down.

In Illinois, there are five primary MLS platforms, and they are all implementing the changes, according to a spokesperson from Illinois Realtors, a local NAR chapter. MLS platforms also have the option to disaffiliate from NAR if they do not agree with certain model rules, according to NAR.

Even when the litigation was still winding its way through court, local real estate firms said it was no longer assumed sellers would foot the bill for both the listing agent and the buyer’s agent.

Ellis of Baird & Warner said it is still “highly likely” that buyers will ask sellers during contract negotiations to offer a concession or closing cost credit so they can pay their agent. Commission costs have typically been baked into the price of the home, something the DOJ wanted to clarify for buyers with these rules changes, Ellis said.

A landmark jury verdict threatens to upend home buying and selling. In Illinois, changes are already underway.

Do these rules apply to VA-backed mortgages?

Veterans with VA-backed mortgages are allowed to pay buyer broker fees as of Aug. 10. Prior to the settlement agreements, per the policy for VA-backed mortgages, veterans buying homes were not allowed to pay a buyer’s agent commission. The VA amended its policy in light of NAR’s rules changes because veterans could have been at a disadvantage in the homebuying market if they could not offer to pay an agent’s commission, according to the VA.

What does this mean for potential home sellers?

Sellers will maintain their ability to offer a buyer’s agent compensation or to choose not to. A seller’s agent will, however, no longer be able to list cooperating commission percentages on the MLS. If a seller does choose to cover a buyer’s agent commission, the compensation must not exceed the amount the buyer agreed to pay their broker in their buyer agency agreement.

Conversations surrounding agent commissions can still occur during the contract negotiation process for buyers and sellers.

Golden of @properties said his company has seen that sellers are still largely paying buyer’s broker compensation.

Erika Villegas, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors, said she has not seen large numbers of sellers stop paying commissions to buyers’ brokers.

“What I am seeing is that we are having a more transparent conversation with our sellers about all the choices that they have,” Villegas said. “Sellers have always had choices, but I think that we are making it even clearer now.”

Will the costs of hiring a real estate agent go down?

Data already show that commission percentages have been decreasing for years. And attorneys say they expect the rules changes will lead to lower commission fees because agents will be forced to compete on service.

Since the NAR settlement, average buyer’s agent commission percentages have declined locally and nationally, according to recent data from Redfin. In Chicago, the average commission was 2.35% for the four weeks ending July 14, 2024, compared to 2.44% for the four weeks ending Jan. 28, 2024. Nationally, buyer’s agent commissions have declined from 2.62% to 2.55%. Redfin said these trends follow yearslong gradual declines, but buyer’s agent commissions in dollar amounts are up this year due to rising home prices. 

In the past, real estate agents were typically compensated 5% to 6% of the purchase price of a house by the seller, an amount that usually got split in half between the buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent. Local real estate agents maintain the commission percentage has always been negotiable. NAR vehemently denies that there were ever “standard” commissions and also says its members’ clients have always been able to negotiate commissions.

Golden of @properties said he has not seen commission percentages go down.

As workers return to the office, residents are moving back to Chicago and other cities, driving up home prices

What do these changes mean for the real estate industry as a whole?

It is still too early to know exactly how the policy changes will affect potential homebuyers and sellers.

“I just think it’s going to be a bumpy ride for a while,” Ellis of Baird & Warner said.

But some signs of a changing market are underway. Ellis’ firm is seeing agents leaving their roles and expects to see more do the same, she said.

At the end of June 2023, Baird & Warner had 2,226 agents; for the same time this year, the firm had 2,161 agents, an approximately 3% loss of the company’s agent headcount, with no notable decrease after the settlement announcement in March, Ellis said.

Ellis said it’s hard to tell if agents are leaving because of the Aug. 17 changes. She thinks it is more likely due to the challenging market conditions. Either way, she believes it is a “good thing,” Ellis said.

“The Realtors who are going to survive this and thrive are your really high-integrity, highly professional, really smart agents, and I think that is better for everybody,” Ellis said. “The bar of entry was just too low in our industry.”

In its second quarter earnings, RE/MAX reported a 3,581 decline in its year-over-year U.S. agent headcount, a 6.3% decrease, as of June 30.  

Villegas of the Chicago Association of Realtors said the trade group has not seen a dropoff in membership since the settlement announcement but a “re-engagement of members” to make sure they are prepared for the changes.

Redfin has seen its agent headcount tick up by 61 nationally, a roughly 3.7% increase, between the first and second quarters of this year. Compass saw an even bigger increase in its headcount due to recent acquisitions, according to its second quarter earnings report.

Golden of @properties said his company has not seen any unusual attrition following the settlement agreements, and the company has already been navigating some of the market changes in Indiana, as buyer agency agreements became mandatory in that state July 1. So far, it has been a “pretty seamless process,” Golden said.

“Every brokerage company is faced with the same questions and faced with the same changes, and every company will adapt in their own way,” Golden said. 

ekane@chicagotribune.com

Originally Published: August 13, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.



This article was originally published by a www.chicagotribune.com . Read the Original article here. .

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