Home Sellers: Here's What the NAR Settlement Means for You
As a home seller, you have a wide range of choices when it comes to listing your home. Agents who are REALTORS® are a trusted source of advice and stand ready to help you navigate this complex process and make the choices that work best for you. NAR’s recent settlement has led to several changes related to broker commissions that benefit sellers, and we wanted to clearly lay them out for you.
Here is what the settlement means for home sellers:
· You still have the choice of offering compensation to buyer brokers. You may consider doing this as a way of marketing your home or making your listing more attractive to buyers.
· Your agent must conspicuously disclose to you and obtain your approval for any payment or offer of payment that a listing broker will make to another broker acting for buyers.
· This disclosure must be made to you in writing in advance of any payment or agreement to pay another broker acting for buyers, and must specify the amount or rate of such payment.
· If you choose to approve an offer of compensation, there are changes to how this can happen.
· You as the seller can still make an offer compensation, but your agent cannot include it on a Multiple Listing Service (MLS)—MLSs are local marketplaces used by both buyer brokers and listing brokers to share information about properties for sale.
· Your agent can advertise your listing via off-MLS platforms such as social media, flyers and websites.
· You as the seller can still offer buyer concessions on an MLS (for example, concessions for buyer closing costs).
These settlement practice changes will go into effect August 17.
Here is what the settlement doesn’tchange:
· Agents who are REALTORS® are here to help you navigate the process of selling your home and are ethically obligated to work in your best interest.
· Compensation for your agent remains fully negotiable, and if your agent is a REALTOR®, they must abide by the REALTOR® Code of Ethics and have clear and transparent discussions with you about compensation. When finding an agent to work with, ask questions about compensation and discuss what you would like to offer buyers.
· You have choices. Work with your agent to understand the full range of these choices when selling your home, which will help you make the best possible decision for your needs.
More details about these changes and what they mean can be found at facts.realtor
The Truth About the NAR Settlement Agreement.
Misinformation has been pervasive in the media over real estate commissions. The Truth About the NAR Settlement Agreement.
There’s much the media has gotten wrong about NAR’s settlement, which would require the association to pay $418 million over four years. Some outlets have suggested that NAR previously set or guided commissions to a standard rate of 6%. Government Officials, in recent comments, misspoke in suggesting that the settlement makes commissions negotiable for the first time.
You know that is false. NAR does not set commissions, and commissions were negotiable long before this settlement. They are and will remain entirely negotiable between brokers and their clients. And housing prices are dictated by market forces beyond members’ control.
Getting the facts right is important, especially because the settlement agreement is complex. NAR is continuing to engage with media to correct inaccurate reporting about the settlement. Members are also encouraged to refer to official NAR sources, like facts.realtor, for the most accurate and up-to-date information about the settlement and what it means for consumers.
The settlement achieves two important goals: protecting members to the greatest extent possible and preserving consumer choice. The proposed settlement:
Resolves claims against NAR and nearly every member; all state, territorial and local REALTOR® associations; all association-owned MLSs; and all brokerages with an NAR member as principal whose residential transaction volume in 2022 was $2 billion or below.
Preserves cooperative compensation as an option for consumers looking to buy or sell a home—as long as such offers of compensation occur off of the MLS.
NAR fought for a release that covered all industry players, but large settlements reached by other corporate defendants shaped the negotiations. Throughout the settlement process, NAR also engaged with a diverse range of members to consider their perspectives and interests.
“Ultimately, continuing to litigate would have hurt members and their small businesses,” NAR Interim CEO Nykia Wright said in a statement. “While there could be no perfect outcome, this agreement is the best outcome we could achieve in the circumstances. It provides a path forward for our industry, which makes up nearly one-fifth of the American economy, and NAR. For over a century, NAR has protected and advanced the right to real property ownership in this country, and we remain focused on delivering on that core mission.”
Please use the following links for information regarding the NAR Settlement Agreement.
The Truth About the NAR Settlement Agreement
The Facts for REALTORS® (nar.realtor)
https://www.nar.realtor/competition-in-real-estate