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Real Estate Commission Changes: What You Need to Know

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There are important changes happening in the real estate industry this month. The National Association of Realtors and multiple listing service (MLS) have implemented new rules about how real estate agents communicate about real estate fees. The changes provide greater transparency and competition around fees—goals that Redfin has always supported. 

We know this can be confusing, but Redfin agents are prepared to answer any questions you have and expertly guide you through your buying and selling journey. 

So, what is changing exactly?

It has been customary in most transactions for the home seller to pay a commission to both their agent (the listing agent) and the agent who represents the buyer (the buyer’s agent). While it has always been the seller’s choice to decide whether and how much compensation to offer the buyer’s agent, the process around it has changed in two main ways:

Disclosure of buyer’s agent fees: A buyer will now need to agree to their agent’s fees before touring homes. This sets the maximum amount that your buyer agent will be paid when you purchase a home. 
Advertising of buyer’s agent fee: Offers of buyer agent compensation are being removed from many MLSs, the databases agents use to share and market listings. A seller can still pay the buyer’s agent, but they cannot advertise any offers of compensation in the MLS unless expressly allowed by local rules.  As a result, buyer’s agent fees will increasingly be negotiated as part of the offer.

What does this mean for sellers?

Sellers will still have conversations with their listing agents about any compensation they would like to offer to the buyer’s agent. We expect that in many cases, buyers will continue to ask sellers to help cover the buyer’s agent fee as part of their offer. Sellers will evaluate offers and negotiate, like they would with any other terms. 

What does this mean for buyers?

As a buyer, you will have an upfront conversation to learn what your agent will charge. Your agent will ask you to sign an agreement about their fee before touring homes.  You can still ask the seller to cover your agent’s fee as part of your offer. Depending on how you structure your offer, the seller could agree to compensate your agent directly or could offer closing concessions that you could allocate to pay your agent at closing. 

As a buyer, why do I need to sign an agreement so early in the process? I just want to tour a home and I’m not ready to commit to paying an agent.

The new industry-wide rules require a written agreement that explains the agent’s fees before touring. Unless otherwise specified by state law, a buyer doesn’t need to sign an exclusive, binding agency agreement to tour a home. Different brokerages have different approaches and policies. Redfin’s approach is transparent and gives buyers flexibility. 

Is Redfin requiring a buyer agency agreement to tour?

Unless your state has other requirements, Redfin is adding a simple fee agreement for the buyer to sign when you request a tour with a Redfin agent that discloses the fee we would expect to collect at closing. Many sellers will cover this fee for you at closing. 

This fee agreement does not lock you in to working with a Redfin agent. Once you’ve had a chance to meet your agent in person, your agent will ask you to commit to working with Redfin. Buyers who commit to working with Redfin before the second tour will get a discount of 0.25% off our fee. 

What are Redfin’s fees for buyer services?

Redfin’s buyer fees vary by market. We’ve set our pricing to give our buyers a competitive edge, offering a discount of 0.25% off our fee if you commit to Redfin before the second tour. By reducing our fee by 0.25%, we can make your offer more attractive to a seller. Just like the offer price and contingencies, a seller will compare how much in buyer agent fees each offer is requesting and factor that into their decision. 

What if the seller doesn’t agree to pay my agent? Am I responsible for paying my agent out of pocket?

Many buyers are using all of their financial resources for their downpayment and don’t have extra cash to pay agent fees. So far, most sellers understand this and are often willing to cover the buyer’s agent fee from the proceeds of their sale. If the seller doesn’t agree to pay your agent or only agrees to pay a portion of the buyer’s agent fee, you can amend your offer, agree to pay your agent directly at closing, or walk away. In any case, before signing a contract to purchase a home, you’ll be aware of the associated costs so that you can make an informed decision. 

It’s important to have a good relationship with your mortgage lender, who can help you structure your offer in a way that fits your financial situation. Redfin’s mortgage partner, Bay Equity, has loan officers at the ready to guide you through this process.*

When I sell my home, do I have to pay a buyer agent commission? Should I offer one?

A seller has always had the ability to decide how much, if any, compensation to pay the buyer’s agent. As a seller, you have options: 

You can leave it open-ended and ask buyers to make their best offers, which may include buyer agent compensation, and then negotiate from there.
Or, you can proactively offer a commission or a concession that the buyer could use to pay their agent as part of your home’s marketing strategy. This can still be communicated to buyers and agents when a buyer’s agent contacts the listing agent to schedule a showing. Whether or not to offer a commission, and how much, can be dependent on various factors your Redfin agent can help you with.

How do I know what is a fair price for a buyer’s agent?

Buying a home is a huge commitment; you should focus on finding the best agent at the best rate. Redfin agents have significant experience and we publish their sales and customer reviews online so you can see for yourself. The average Redfin agent sold more than three times the number of homes as the typical agent at other major brokerages. And we’ve set our prices to be as competitive as possible. Connect with an agent to learn more.

*Bay Equity Home Loans is affiliated with Redfin. You don’t have to work with a Redfin Agent to use Bay Equity’s services. For additional information, please read our Affiliated Business Disclosure.



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

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Real Estate Commission Changes Are Here For Buyers, Sellers | Bankrate

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The National Association of Realtors (NAR) agreed to new rules around real estate commissions as part of a lawsuit settlement in March. As of August 17, they’re actually rolling out — and consumers face a deluge of confusion and conflicting predictions.

One narrative predicts a coming utopia for homebuyers: A price war will erupt, and commissions will plunge amid a new wave of competition among buyers’ agents. A competing narrative goes in the opposite direction: Under the new commission structure, buyers will realize they’re on the hook for thousands and decide not to use agents at all. NAR, meanwhile, has portrayed the changes as minor tweaks rather than a major shift.

The opposing narratives underscore just how complex Realtor compensation has always been — and how much more complex it just got. Here’s a look at the new commission structure and what it could mean for both homebuyers and sellers.

How real estate commissions used to work

Traditionally, when a home seller hired a real estate agent to represent their listing, the seller agreed to pay a commission. The national average has been about 5 percent of the home’s sale price, typically split down the middle with 2.5 percent going to the listing agent and the other 2.5 percent to the buyer’s agent. (On a $400,000 home, 5 percent comes to $20,000, or $10,000 for each agent.)

Who pays?

Even this has been a bit murky. Agent fees came out of the seller’s proceeds at closing, but it’s reasonable to assume that the seller adjusted their price accordingly — the fees were baked into the home’s sale price. And so the buyer ultimately paid, just not directly to the agents: That extra 5 percent was rolled into the home’s sale price.

What’s changing?

The biggest change is that listing agents (the agents who represent home sellers) may no longer make offers of compensation to buy-side agents on any NAR-affiliated multiple listing service (MLS). In addition, a buyer’s agent must now have a written contract with a home shopper, clearly specifying their fee, before they may show that client a house. Until now, NAR encouraged but didn’t require written agreements between buy-side agents and buyers.

A federal judge gave preliminary approval to the settlement in April 2024, and the final holdout among the brokerages named in the suit — HomeServices of America, part of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway — also settled in April. While final court approval is not expected until November, the rules took effect August 17.

Compared to the old model, the new version offers a greater level of transparency for consumers — homebuyers now will be fully aware of how much they’re paying for an agent’s services. “It’s always good when people understand what they are and are not paying for,” says David Druey, Florida regional president at Centennial Bank.

An important aspect of the new model for agents: While the new rules prevent listing agents from posting buy-side commissions on the MLS, as they used to, sellers and listing agents still can agree on the amount off the MLS. That means it’s OK to offer compensation amounts verbally, in emails or texts, and even on their brokerage’s own website, as long as it’s not done on the MLS.

“Although sellers can elect not to pay any buyer agent compensation, that doesn’t mean they will avoid the economics,” says Budge Huskey, president and chief executive of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty in Naples, Florida. “Buyers may easily write into any offer a contingency requiring that the seller cover the cost, or may request other concessions, such as closing cost assistance in the dollar amount they are paying their representative.”

Does this mean real estate commissions are now negotiable?

Technically, real estate commissions always have been negotiable — a theme NAR long has stressed. Practically, though, the picture gets complicated. In many cases, Realtors are more skilled at negotiating than their clients, so the consumer comes into the negotiation at a disadvantage. What’s more, the buyer’s agent commission was previously determined by the seller, not by the buyer. The new rules shift that responsibility to buyers, who now will discuss compensation directly with the agents representing them.

Is this good or bad for consumers?

Until we see how things shake out over time, the answer really depends on who you ask. Some foresee a near-nirvana for consumers: Vishal Garg, CEO of mortgage company Better, predicts the settlement will unleash a “buy-side price war” — buyer agents will begin competing fiercely for clients.

Others fear a darker turn. Ken H. Johnson, a real estate economist at Florida Atlantic University and a former real estate broker, says the new rules just add another layer of complexity to an already-confusing process.

“No longer advertising buyer agent commissions will only create a more confused and drawn-out transaction process as buyers, sellers and agents will have to negotiate the fee, who will pay for it and how much will be paid by each party,” Johnson says. “Due to this added level of complexity, buyers will almost certainly have to negotiate with more sellers before they find the deal they are satisfied with. Thus, the house-hunting period will extend for the average buyer.”

Concerns for first-time buyers

Many in the real estate industry worry that first-time homebuyers — those who need expert guidance the most, and who are already severely hampered by high prices and high mortgage rates — will be priced out of professional representation. If commissions no longer come out of the seller’s proceeds, the thinking goes, buyers won’t have an additional $7,500 or $10,000 to pay an agent.

“Most of those buyers are scraping the barrel to the bottom to come up with a down payment,” says Dave Liniger, chairman and co-founder of RE/MAX. (The firm was one of the large brokerages named as defendants in the suit along with NAR; RE/MAX settled last year for $55 million.)

For now, buyers can’t roll commission costs into their mortgages under the new rules. But industry players widely expect the Federal Housing Finance Agency, overseer of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to change those rules.

“I think there’s going to be pressure on them to allow that,” Liniger says. “The industry needs first-time buyers.”

Indeed, NAR already has been attempting to nudge the mortgage industry in that direction: “We are talking with Freddie and Fannie to see what can be done,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.



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

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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.



This article was originally published by a www.paloaltoonline.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.

—





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

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New real estate commission rules coming: Here’s what CA buyers, sellers need to know

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WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KGO) — The experience of buying or selling a home is going to be different than transactions in the past. A recent National Association of Realtors class action settlement agreement has laid out new rules that will now bring the buyer and seller into negotiations over commissions on the sale of a house – negotiating who pays commission and how much is paid.

“Today is the day that on the MLS any indication of compensation commission is eliminated, you can’t even look at historical data,” Tricia Thomas, the CEO of the Bay East Association of Realtors said.

Realtors say that will make it more complicated for agents who now will have to involve potential buyers and sellers in signing new more complicated paperwork.

“So the buyer and seller are looped into the transaction more so we’re able to be more transparent with them about compensation,” Barbara Clemons, president of the Bay East Association of Realtors said, “There will be more forms for the buyer and seller to fill out.”

That will be apparent when visiting an open house – buyers will be asked to sign forms and if they don’t have an agent representing them; they might not be able to get additional information about a property without an agent.

MORE: San Jose becomes 1st in CA to allow property owners to sell ADUs

Buyers will have to negotiate how much they are willing to pay the agent representing them. But sellers could incentivize a sale by offering to pay all or a portion of the buyer’s agent’s commission.

David Stark with the Bay East Association of Realtors said, “It’s the biggest decision of your life and it’s probably going to be intimidating regardless of these changes but the fact that there’s going to be so much more information available, hopefully that’ll take care of some of the anxiety people will be having about real estate transactions.”

How these changes will affect commissions or the market is still a big unknown.

“There is no crystal ball. I don’t believe this is a factor on its own that’s going to significantly influence housing prices,” Thomas said.

But it will be a learning curve for everyone looking to buy or sell a home now.

Copyright © 2024 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.



This article was originally published by a abc7news.com . Read the Original article here. .

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Our Chicago: New Rules For Real Estate Commission

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CHICAGO (WLS) — Things are about to change when it comes to buying and selling a home.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Starting Saturday, August 17, 2024, new rules will take effect regarding real estate commissions.

The change comes as part of a settlement of class action lawsuits filed by homeowners against the National Association of Realtors.

Those lawsuits claimed homeowners were forced to pay inflated commissions to sell their homes.

The National Association of Realtors has denied any wrongdoing.

“As a result of the NAR settlement, buyers are going to be asked to sign a representation agreement with the brokerage where their agent works,” real estate Lawyer Heather Neveu with Chilton Yambert Porter LLP said. “It’s going to be an agreement where the buyer is agreeing to compensate the realtor for the work they’re performing.

New rules will take effect regarding real estate commissions, after a settlement was reached against the National Association of Realtors.

Co-Founder of Weinberg Choi Residential Tommy Choi said this type of agreement is not new.

“It’s something that’s always been around, a buyer-broker agreement,” Choi said. “It’s something most real estate agents have practice. Now, it’s just something that’s going to become even more clear. And part of the process when it comes to homebuying.”

New rules will take effect regarding real estate commissions, after a settlement was reached against the National Association of Realtors.

“I think it’s going to be a short-term thing because I don’t think it was wisely used,” Neveu said. “I think there might just be a learning curve involved as buyers are going to be now across the board shown this agreement. The responsibility for paying their realtor is now going to shift to the buyer where before an agent representing a buyer was able to honestly tell their client you don’t have to pay me.”

She added that buyers are now going to have to learn about their options concerning how realtors are paid.

Another change is the offers of compensation, which can no longer take place on the MLS.

Choi explained there’s been a lot of misinformation about these changes.

“The biggest thing is that consumers think commissions go away. Sellers don’t have to pay the buyers. They never really had to. It’s in their best interest because if they don’t it limits the buyer pool. And the biggest challenge this could pose in that situation, is affordability for a buyer,” Choi said.

Copyright © 2024 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.



This article was originally published by a abc7chicago.com . Read the Original article here. .

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With Real Estate Commission Rules Changing, Should I Wait to Buy a House?

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“I want to buy a house soon, but I read that real estate commissions are going down. Should I wait until the new rules are in place?”

You’re right to step back and re-strategize your home purchase after the National Association of Realtors’ recent legal settlement. If it’s approved by the court, the real-estate industry is on the precipice of change that could impact the home buying process and what you pay for it. Whether it’s best to act now or to wait, though, will depend on your budget, how much work you want to put into the process and your need for certainty.

Here’s the gist of what’s happening: Lawsuits were filed against NAR, a trade group representing 1.5 million real-estate agents, questioning its cooperative-compensation rule. Under this rule, sellers cover the commissions for both their agent and the buyer’s, with the cut offered to buyer’s agents advertised in an agent-facing database known as a multiple listing service, or MLS. Critics say the practice reduces competition and inflates commissions and home prices.

In March, plaintiffs accepted a settlement proposed by NAR, which would remove offers of compensation from the MLS and require agents to sign contracts with buyers. The rules are expected to ultimately lower costs, however, buyers may need to pay agents out of pocket. If approved by the court, the changes are set to go into effect in August.

With this all in mind, there is no hard-and-fast answer as to whether you should buy now or wait until those changes roll around. There are, however, cases for both paths.

The case for buying now

If you want a full-service agent and assurance that the seller will foot the bill—then buying before July is probably best.

“The NAR settlement is creating lots of uncertainty, and if there’s anything people don’t like when making major life decisions and purchases, it’s that,” says Dana Bull, a real-estate agent and consultant in Massachusetts. “If you buy right now, you’ll have a greater sense of what to expect.”

By buying now, you’ll likely fall under the existing agent commission model where the seller pays. The total is usually 5% to 6% of the home price—with 2.5% to 3% going to each agent. In exchange for that cut, your agent will usually suggest listings, tour properties with you and negotiate on your behalf. Depending on what state you live in, they may also draw up contracts and attend your closing.

“The home buying journey will not be altered—at least for the next few months,” says Alyssa Brody, co-founder of Development Marketing Team, a real-estate brokerage with branches in New York City and Miami.

The case for waiting

If you’re comfortable negotiating and willing to handle some of the home-search process on your own, waiting to buy could pay off. “If you’re more focused on maximizing your investment and minimizing costs, waiting until the new rules come into play could be beneficial,” Brody says.

Starting in mid-August, buyers will sign a separate contract with their agent, opening the door for negotiation. Some agents may charge an hourly rate or offer a la carte services. This would allow buyers to choose which services they want to do themselves (browsing listings and touring homes, perhaps) and which they want to pay for (maybe negotiating and drawing up the contract).

Additional savings could come from lower home prices. With sellers no longer footing the bill for buyer agents, some experts believe they will sell their homes for less.

This all depends on market conditions, though, and agents broadly agree that prices are unlikely to drop much in the short-term. By summer, the Federal Reserve is expected to start cutting interest rates, which means lower mortgage rates and higher demand. “With our limited inventory, competition will be fierce,” says Bret Weinstein, founder of Guide Real Estate in Englewood, Colo.

If you choose to wait, be ready for a bumpy ride. “It will cause a shake-up, and no one knows exactly how the open market will react,” Bull says. “There will be lots of confusion, and as a buyer, you could be stuck in the crosshairs while the entire industry adjusts to the change.”

To sell or not to sell

The considerations are similar if you’re on the fence about selling. If you are comfortable with the existing model, sell now. For the lowest costs, you might want to wait until August.

Take note, though: Not everyone is convinced things will change once the new rules are in place. “I believe sellers will continue to pay buyer agents in big markets like Los Angeles, because it’s in their best interests,” says Michael Nourmand, president of real-estate firm Nourmand & Associates in Beverly Hills, Calif. “It’s best for buyer affordability, they don’t want to limit their buyer pool, and negotiating a commission is another variable that could derail the transaction.”

Talk to a few real-estate agents about the pros and cons of skipping the buyer-agent commission in your area. They can advise you on what it might mean for your sale, given current market conditions.



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

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Should I Wait Till August to Sell My Home to Save on Commission? – NerdWallet

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If you sell your home after the middle of August, cheers: You could end up pocketing the money that previously would have gone to the buyer’s agent.

But before you celebrate, consider the downside of waiting until late summer to list your home for sale: House prices tend to fall after August. The price drop might surpass the money you save on commission.

New policies governing real estate commissions are set to go into effect Aug. 17 as a result of the settlement of an antitrust lawsuit. The amended policies give home sellers more room to negotiate what to do about the buyer’s commission — whether they want to use it to induce competitive bids or keep it to themselves entirely.

The choices complicate this season more than usual, for both buyers and sellers. Here’s what to know to help you and your agent come up with the best strategy for you.

What, exactly, is changing?

Starting Aug. 17, sellers will no longer set the commissions for real estate agents who represent buyers. Buyers will decide how much their agents will be paid. Even when sellers are willing to pay some or all of the commission for the buyer’s agent, the amount will no longer appear on the multiple listing service.

For decades, and up to Aug. 17, MLS listings have been required to advertise how much commission the seller is offering to buyer’s agents. The information wasn’t visible to home buyers but could be viewed in agent-only fields of the MLS.

When sellers set commissions for buyer’s agents, they’re sometimes advised that offering a low commission will attract fewer buyer’s agents — and therefore fewer competing offers. The plaintiffs in the antitrust suit argued that the policy of requiring commission info on the MLS was designed to discourage them from negotiating lower commissions for buyer’s agents.

Can sellers start offering 0% to buyer’s agents today?

Technically, sellers have always had the option of offering zero or minimal commission to the buyer’s agent. But most sellers have offered such commissions to motivate buyer’s agents.

The money may come directly out of the seller’s pocket, as has been the norm.

The money may come directly out of the buyer’s pocket.

The buyer and seller may split the payment.

The buyer may pay indirectly, by adding their agent’s commission to the price of the house when they make an offer.

Here’s an example of how an indirect payment might work for a buyer who is paying a 3% commission. The buyer finds a house costing $400,000. The 3% commission is $12,000. The buyer offers $412,000 and asks the seller to transfer $12,000 to the buyer’s agent at closing.

Keep in mind that sellers, having equity, tend to have more access to cash than first-time home buyers, who accounted for 33% of buyers in April. A seller who’s willing to pay all or some of the buyer’s commission may end up with more offers, and a higher final price, than one who flatly takes that commission off the table.

How much money could sellers keep, though?

As a home seller, you stand to save thousands of dollars on commissions if the buyer pays their agent directly or indirectly.

Let’s say the agents in your town typically collect 2.5% on each side of the transaction, and you sell your house for $400,000. Each agent earns $10,000. If you pay both agents, you’ll shell out $20,000 and end up with $380,000.

But if the buyer pays their agent, you would pay your agent $10,000 and walk away with $390,000. That’s $10,000 more.

On the other hand, buyers might request bigger closing cost credits, subtracting from the seller’s bottom line, Chuck Vander Stelt, a real estate agent in Valparaiso, Indiana, said in an email. Or buyers might offer less because they will bear the expense of paying their own agents.

Even after Aug. 17, sellers might keep offering commissions to buyer’s agents as motivation, Vander Stelt added. These offers could remain standard in many markets, multiple agents said. Offering commissions to buyer’s agents will still be permissible under the new policies, but those offers will no longer appear on the MLS. Listing agents can communicate the information on brokerage websites, or in phone calls, emails and texts.

What would be the cost of waiting?

You might be tempted to keep your home off the market until the new policy goes into effect. But waiting might not be a wise move, because it would mean sitting out homebuying season.

Home prices peak from May through August, then drop off. In 2023, the median existing home cost $410,100 in June, $405,600 in July, $404,200 in August — and $392,700 in September, according to the National Association of Realtors. If you list your house after mid-August, you probably won’t close until October or later, when prices are even lower.

With house prices peaking in summer, you might come out ahead by selling during the busiest time of the year, even if you end up paying the buyer’s agent’s commission.

“I don’t really have anybody holding off until after August to list their house because they want to save a couple bucks,” says Michelle Doherty, an agent in northern Virginia with RLAH Real Estate. She says her clients will be ready to sell in June or July, “depending on how things progress with prepping the house.”

Can I negotiate the listing agent’s commission too?

You might save money if you don’t pay the buyer’s agent’s commission. But what about the commission that you pay the listing agent for selling your home? You might not see an immediate reduction. If a cut in commissions from 3% to 2% is your hope, you’ll probably mope.

“First of all, nothing’s going to change quickly, OK?” says Stephen Brobeck, senior fellow for the Consumer Federation of America. “The industry will resist, and consumers don’t really focus on this much.”

Vander Stelt said that he sees headlines that proclaim “the end of the 6% commission.” That’s a mistaken belief, he said. “Overall, the average commission costs per transaction on a percentage is likely to come down over the coming years,” he said. But not instantly.

What if I list before Aug. 17 but sell after?

Months can pass between the day you put your home on the market and the day you hand over the house keys at closing. What if the Aug. 17 policy change happens in the middle of this period? The National Association of Realtors provides guidance for two scenarios:

Your home’s MLS listing offers to pay the buyer’s agent’s commission, and you sign the contract accepting the purchase offer before Aug. 17: You’ll pay the commission, even if the closing occurs on Aug. 17 or after.

Your home’s MLS listing offers to pay the buyer’s agent’s commission. But in accordance with the new policy, that offer is removed from the MLS on Aug. 17. Sometime after that date, you accept the purchase offer: That defunct commission offer on the MLS is no longer valid. You and the buyer will negotiate how to take care of the buyer’s agent’s commission.

When you put up your home for sale, you’ll sign a listing agreement with your agent. NAR says that listing agreement might have to be amended if it says that an offer to pay the buyer’s agent must be made “on the MLS.” As of Aug. 17, that clause in the listing agreement will conflict with the new policy. Your agent might ask you to sign an amended listing agreement before that date.



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

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How real estate commission changes could make buying and selling a home cheaper

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Debra Kamin:

You’re absolutely right, that, for first-time homebuyers, it is often very difficult to scrape together just the money you need to be able to get that down payment to buy that first home, especially now, when the housing market is so tight and so expensive.

And in the past, one thing that homebuyers did not have to worry about was paying their real estate agents. So, as this settlement has its effects, one of the things we might see is that homebuyers now feel, oh, gosh, I also have to pay my real estate agent on top of everything.

But, most likely, what’s also going to happen is we’re going to see new models for compensation evolve out of this that didn’t exist before, where the way that we pay real estate agents, particularly on the buy side, might be completely different. It could be a flat fee. It could be by the hour. There’s all sorts of ways to pay agents that never existed before because there wasn’t a competition in the market that allowed those new methods to be introduced.



This article was originally published by a www.pbs.org . Read the Original article here. .

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The 6% commission on buying or selling a home is gone after Realtors association agrees to

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CNN
 — 

The 6% commission, a standard in home purchase transactions, is no more.

In a sweeping move expected to dramatically reduce the cost of buying and selling a home, the National Association of Realtors announced Friday a settlement with groups of homesellers, agreeing to end landmark antitrust lawsuits by paying $418 million in damages and eliminating rules on commissions.

The NAR, which represents more than 1 million Realtors, also agreed to put in place a set of new rules. One prohibits agents’ compensation from being included on listings placed on local centralized listing portals known as multiple listing services, which critics say led brokers to push more expensive properties on customers. Another ends requirements that brokers subscribe to multiple listing services — many of which are owned by NAR subsidiaries — where homes are given a wide viewing in a local market. Another new rule will require buyers’ brokers to enter into written agreements with their buyers.

The agreement effectively will destroy the current homebuying and selling business model, in which sellers pay both their broker and a buyer’s broker, which critics say have driven housing prices artificially higher.

By some estimates, real estate commissions are expected to fall 25% to 50%, according to TD Cowen Insights. This will open up opportunities for alternative models of selling real estate that already exist but don’t have much market share, including flat-fee and discount brokerages.

Shares of real estate firms Zillow and Compass both fell by more than 13% Friday as investors feared that lower commission rates for agents could lead to less business for real estate platforms.

In a 10-K filing last month, Zillow warned that, “if agent commissions are meaningfully impacted, it could reduce the marketing budgets of real estate partners or reduce the number of real estate partners participating in the industry, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.”

Shares of real estate brokerage Redfin also fell nearly 5%.

Meanwhile, homebuilder stocks rose on the news: Lennar shares gained 2.4%, PulteGroup shares added 1.1% and Toll Brothers shares added 1.8%.

For the average-priced American home for sale — $417,000 — sellers are paying more than $25,000 in brokerage fees. Those costs are passed on to the buyer, boosting the price of homes in America. That fee could fall by between $6,000 and $12,000, according to TD Cowen Insights’ analysis.

“While the settlement comes at a significant cost, we believe the benefits it will provide to our industry are worth that cost,” said Kevin Sears, president of the NAR, in a statement.

In November, a federal jury in Missouri found the NAR and two brokerages liable for $1.8 billion in damages for conspiring to keep agent commissions artificially high. Because it was an antitrust case, the NAR was potentially on the hook for triple those damages — $5.4 billion.

The NAR had pledged to appeal the case, but other brokerages settled — and, eventually, so did the NAR, on Friday.

“NAR has worked hard for years to resolve this litigation in a manner that benefits our members and American consumers,” said Nykia Wright, interim CEO of NAR, in a statement. “It has always been our goal to preserve consumer choice and protect our members to the greatest extent possible. This settlement achieves both of those goals.”

The NAR had required homesellers to include the compensation for agents when placing a listing on a multiple listing service. Although NAR has long said commissions are negotiable and that the structure helped making housing more affordable for buyers, critics have long argued that the fees were expected and homesellers felt they would lose buyers if they didn’t offer them.

Homesellers who brought lawsuits against the NAR have argued that in a competitive market, the cost of the buyer’s agent’s commission should be paid by the buyer who received the service, not by the seller. The sellers who brought the lawsuit against the NAR and the brokerages said that buyers should be able to negotiate the fee with their agent, and that the sellers should not be on the hook for paying it.

This settlement, which is subject to a judge’s approval, opens the door to a more competitive housing market. Realtors could now compete on commissions, allowing for prospective buyers to shop around on rates before they commit to buying a home. Brokers could begin to advertise their fees, allowing customers to choose lower-cost agents. The NAR, in its announcement, did not set a suggested fee.

This marks the biggest change to the housing market in a century, said Norm Miller, professor emeritus of real estate at the University of San Diego.

“I’ve been waiting 50 years for this,” Miller said.

Although it’s unclear what the future of the housing market will look like, Miller said he expected homebuying to pick up somewhat as costs fall dramatically for homebuyers.

“There are all kinds of models we might see in the future, and no one knows what they are,” he said, suggesting some brokers may charge, say, a $3,000 fee for selling a home, while others will offer a competitive commission.

The agreement will bring sweeping reforms for millions of Americans, said Benjamin D. Brown, managing partner of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll and co-chair of its antitrust practice, who helped craft the settlement.

“For years, anticompetitive rules in the real estate industry have financially harmed millions of Americans,” said Brown.

Individual sellers often feel powerless to negotiate a better deal for themselves, given the risk that offering lower commissions could cause brokers to steer buyers to other properties, said Robert Braun, a partner in Cohen Milstein’s antitrust practice.

“For far too long, home sellers have faced a system recognized by many as blatantly unfair. This class action and settlement provides justice for our clients and will require important changes that help future home sellers,” said Braun.

Although most realtors are included in the settlement, brokerage HomeServices of America continues to fight the case in court, the NAR said.

The NAR said it had fought to get HomeServices of America agents covered by the settlement, but said it was pleased to have more than 1 million of its members on board with the agreement.

“Ultimately, continuing to litigate would have hurt members and their small businesses,” said Wright in a statement. “While there could be no perfect outcome, this agreement is the best outcome we could achieve in the circumstances.”

Miller said the settlement could lead to a mass exodus of brokers from the industry — potentially half of the 2 million or so agents in America.

Lower fees mean mediocre agents are likely to leave the field, but top brokers will get more business. “The good ones will absolutely do better,” he said.

America’s fees are significantly higher than in foreign countries, Miller noted. In Israel, Singapore and the UK, brokers charge between 1% to 2% for the same thing that agents do in the United States.

The NAR has been fighting off US antitrust officials and litigation for years regarding alleged anti-competitive practices. But November’s verdict marked the association’s biggest setback yet — and ultimately led to the downfall of the rules that have long protected its compensation model.

The association also faces scrutiny from the US Department of Justice, and it’s unclear whether this settlement with sellers will impact the government’s scrutiny of the brokerage industry.

The trade group has also undergone severe leadership turmoil over the past year.

In January, the former president of the NAR, Tracy Kasper, stepped down, after she said she received a threat to disclose a past personal, non-financial matter unless she compromised her position at NAR. Sears replaced Kasper earlier this year.

Kasper had just taken over the role in August 2023, after Kenny Parcell, the former president, resigned amid sexual harassment allegations that were first published by the New York Times. NAR employees reportedly said Parcell improperly touched them and sent lewd photos and texts. In the Times article, Parcell denied the accusations.

In November 2023, the chief executive of NAR, Bob Goldberg, also stepped down, and was replaced by Wright. Goldberg stepped down two days after the $1.8 billion judgment against the NAR.

This story has been updated with additional reporting and context. It has also been updated to clarify Norm Miller’s comments on brokers’ salary prospects.



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