Does that mean the buyers will have to come up with even larger closing cost if they use a realtor?

PP here. DH and I already have an agreement with our realtor so the percentages couldn't be shifted. Is that right?

So what does this mean for people who have active listings right now (looking at me, here!)? We're going into our second OH this weekend. Will prospective buyers want to wait until this lawsuit is finally settled? Can I ask the buyer to pay for the buyer's commission even if I already signed the contact? What awful timing for my family.

This is not necessarily relevant to lowering home prices, but good in lowering the transaction costs from people’s most expensive purchase of their lives, through injecting more competition into the industry

If you’ve already signed a contract with a broker (4.5%) to sell your house are out of luck?

This will be neutral to or positive to direct housing prices (more profit for seller), but will lower transaction costs, which makes moving easier which makes everything better economically. More efficient allocation of stock.

Anonymous wrote:Flat fee advocates, help me out here. Are you saying that someone selling a 440k condo should pay the same fee as someone selling their multi-million dollar mansion?

Are you saying someone buying a fridge for a condo should pay different from a fridge fo a mansion?
Maybe a fee for how much work the realtor is puts in? Or a bonus commission % for getting extra high price above a baseline?

Mind blowing, I know.

Flat fee advocates, help me out here. Are you saying that someone selling a 440k condo should pay the same fee as someone selling their multi-million dollar mansion?

Anonymous wrote:Looking to sell my house in Fairfax. It is $1M+ and spoke with a few agents. I have been quoted 3% total commission for buyer and seller agent by 4 different relators. I mean it's great but is this the trend anyone else is seeing as well?

Never thought we'd see the day. So 1.5% on each side? Meaning closing costs are also dropping.

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.


https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/15/economy/nar-realtor-commissions-settlement

Real estate agent we used in CA 20 years ago was useless. I feel sick every time I think about the money we forked over for their uselessness when I did most of the work.

Anonymous wrote:The question is, will this bring down housing prices? That's one of the big headlines in the Washington Post at the moment.

Eventually yes it will have an effect, but that will get swallowed by larger market moves. Still very good in the long run.

The question is, will this bring down housing prices? That's one of the big headlines in the Washington Post at the moment.

Anonymous wrote:Who would want to be a realtor anymore?

Only the good ones who can get business and close deals. Hobbyists, bye-bye!

Something like a flat fee for the buyers agent (if they are even needed at all- most countries don’t have them), and a flat fee plus 1 percent of sales price for seller would be ideal. They should have a bit of an incentive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who would want to be a realtor anymore?

1% of $1,000,000 is still $10,000! After a split with the broker (assume 75%), you do 1-2 a month and you can make $100,000 a year with a job that only requires a high school diploma. Being an agent is about networking and who you know, not what you know.

- former agent

This. As much as real estate agents and their fees annoy me, I recognize that our society still needs to find ways to employ the less educated. Otherwise we'll get a collection of underemployed morons storming the capitol again.

PP here (former agent). I think it shouldn't be a % but rather a flat fee. It seems unfair that you can live comfortably in DC selling millions of dollars of houses but in Appalachia there is very little money to be had. And arguably, it's the same amount of work put in either location.

I like this idea. Also arguably (I don't know but maybe you have experience), some of the cheaper houses in this area are harder to sell and require the most effort, because they're in an undesirable location or need a lot of work.