Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Three researchers believe a first-of-its-kind dataset has enabled them to definitively answer a long-debated question: why have buyer agent commission rates been so stable historically? and relied on salaried agents rather than commission-paid agents, who typically cost sellers 5-6%.

Clients 426

Clients Agents Buyers Sellers 426

Housing Wire

MAY 3, 2023

On Friday afternoon, my real estate agent called with good news. The agent wished me well and said that she would appreciate a review on her website. My agent exchanged a few emails with the buyer’s agent over a few minor repair requests, but this was all buttoned up very quickly. Congratulations!” And that was that!

Agents 400

Agents Real Estate Agent Brokerage Real Estate 400

Empire Appraisal Group

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

Lusky, DigitalVision, Getty Images Source: [link] FSBO Sellers Regret Not Having an Agent By Melissa Dittmann Tracey Survey: Sellers who go-it alone are twice as likely to be unsatisfied with the experience – and more likely to say their earlier opinion, “agents are overpaid,” was wrong.

Sellers 78

Sellers Agents Real Estate Agent Real Estate 78

Housing Wire

APRIL 15, 2024

Although more agents are fielding questions about the commission lawsuits than they were a quarter ago , they also remain optimistic about where the housing market is headed in the second quarter of 2024, according to the RealTrends Q2 2024 AgentPulse survey. In a similar vein, “getting listings” was the third-largest hurdle cited by agents.

Inventory 386

Inventory Agents Real Estate Sellers 386

Housing Wire

MARCH 15, 2024

NAR’s legal counsel approved the settlement agreement early Friday morning. According to NAR, this settlement brings an end to all of the litigation claims brought by home sellers. The National Association of Realtors has agreed to pay $418 million in damages to settle the commission lawsuits. It has yet to be filed in court.

Legal 539

Legal Agents Realtors Real Property 539

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

For most real estate agents, working with a reliable lending partner is essential to a smooth and successful transaction. That partnership is everything,” Amy Breach, a Seattle-based Keller Williams agent, told HousingWire in late 2022. The lender and LO can make or break the transaction.”

Agents 386

Agents Buyers Loan Officers Real Estate 386

Housing Wire

JULY 28, 2023

Real estate agents and business leaders play a pivotal role in improving the cities in which they operate, making community service an essential value to their professions. Demonstrate your values to customers Buyers and sellers want more than just transactional relationships with their agents.

Real Estate Agent 323

Real Estate Agent Real Estate Agents Clients 323

Housing Wire

MARCH 13, 2024

In their motion, the parties wrote that they “dispute the factual and legal arguments made in the DOJ’s Statement of Interest.” Preventing sellers and listing agents from setting buyer-broker commissions would promote greater price competition and innovation in the market for brokers’ services,” the DOJ argued.

Legal 410

Legal Contracts Sellers Buyers 410

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

In the filing, the parties wrote that they “dispute the factual and legal arguments made in the DOJ’s Statement of Interest.” Preventing sellers and listing agents from setting buyer-broker commissions would promote greater price competition and innovation in the market for brokers’ services,” the DOJ argued.

Legal 373

Legal Contracts Sellers Buyers 373

Housing Wire

APRIL 26, 2024

HomeServices of America , the last remaining brokerage defendant in the landmark Sitzer/Burnett antitrust commission case , has agreed to pay $250 million in damages to settle lawsuits that will change agent compensation across America. The DOJ may also file charges separately to prevent any display of buyer agent commissions on any platform.

Brokerage 443

Brokerage Agents Real Estate Buyers 443

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

As brokerages across the country have begun implementing buyer agency contracts into their business practices in the wake of the Sitzer/Burnett commission lawsuit verdict, the Consumer Federation of America is warning consumers that they may be filled with “unfair provisions” that primarily protect agents and brokers.

Buyers 366

Buyers Contracts Agents Realtors 366

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 22, 2024

When the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed last week the changes it would like to see in how real estate agents and brokers are compensated through its statement of interest filed in the MLS Property Information Network commission lawsuit , few in the real estate industry were surprised by the agency’s desire to decouple commissions.

Sellers 417

Sellers Buyers Real Estate Agents 417

Housing Wire

MARCH 20, 2024

Those too young to remember the wild west of real estate believe that real estate commissions have always been evenly split between seller’s and buyer’s agents, with each receiving a portion of the sale price. This misconception obscures the reality that, historically, buyers lacked formal representation.

Real Estate 475

Real Estate Buyers Agents Sellers 475

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

The trade group’s legal woes have brought it back to California, where is already facing other commission lawsuits. 2021 to a buyer represented by a Redfin agent. She was also represented by a Redfin agent in the transactions. The National Association of Realtors is facing yet another copycat commission lawsuit.

Realtors 380

Realtors Legal Agents Brokerage 380

Housing Wire

JANUARY 16, 2024

So, while I make no claim as to the specific deep legal issues, I have some familiarity of antitrust actions and more in the conduct of legal actions in a courtroom. They also testified to the importance and value of the MLS as a core service that agents provide to sellers and buyers. That is how they got to $1.8

Agents 354

Agents Law Sellers Legal 354

Housing Wire

MARCH 18, 2024

In the 24 hours after news broke of the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) settlement agreement in the commission lawsuits , Doug Danzey, the leader of the eXp Realty -brokered teamerage The Cobalt Group , said the most pervasive emotion among his agents has been panic. “I

Brokerage 404

Brokerage Real Estate Agents Sellers 404

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 6, 2023

“We believe this is the right course of action to remove future uncertainty and ongoing legal expense, serving the best interests of the company, our affiliated agents and franchisees, and shareholders, and enabling Anywhere to focus on moving real estate to what’s next.”

Buyers 427

Buyers Brokerage Agents Sellers 427

Housing Wire

APRIL 24, 2024

While she believes this transparency was a good thing for the seller, it harmed the buyer as many agents began to claim that they would represent buyers for free — which has certainly played a role in the commission lawsuits that are currently plaguing the industry. “So, So, it is a mind shift.”

Brokerage 387

Brokerage Legal Fees Real Estate Agents 387

Housing Wire

MARCH 28, 2024

At the moment, IPCs “include concessions from the seller to the buyer for items that are traditionally paid by the buyer such as loan closing costs or rate buy-downs,” but as buyer agents are customarily paid by the listing agent, their fees are excluded from caps on the IPCs. Sellers or buyers can pay the buyer’s agent’s fees.

Real Estate Agent 424

Real Estate Agent Sellers Buyers Agents 424

Housing Wire

JULY 19, 2023

A typical commission dispute arises when, after signing a listing agreement or buyer-broker agreement: A seller-client “cancels” a valid purchase contract. A seller-client cancels a listing. A seller-client permits the property to be foreclosed upon. A seller-client refuses to pay the full amount of the agreed upon commission.

Real Estate 306

Real Estate Legal Brokerage Clients 306

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

So, the fact that we are now seeing things further in the process come down to agents and brokers — I was not entirely surprised by that.” In addition to the DOJ, real estate agent commissions may have caught the eye of yet another government agency. Solicitor General Paul Clement to its legal team. “I

Legal 360

Legal Real Estate Real Estate Agent Law 360

Housing Wire

MARCH 22, 2024

Based on NAR’s settlement, agents working with buyers will need a signed buyer representation agreement starting in mid-July, pending final court approval of the settlement. Bills Clarke said this is exactly how agents already work with sellers, so it shouldn’t be a big deal to implement buyer agreements into a business.

Buyers 471

Buyers Contracts Real Estate Agents 471

Housing Wire

MARCH 20, 2024

Fewer agents? At the root of many of these predictions is the notion that the settlement agreement will result in a higher level of agent attrition than analysts would anticipate solely based on the housing market slowdown experienced over the past two years. “If They will have to find a way to attract more agents all of a sudden.”

Brokerage 433

Brokerage Agents Realtors Real Estate 433

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 8, 2023

Another day and another class-action antitrust commission lawsuit accusing the real estate industry of colluding to inflate real estate agent commissions has been filed. But this latest one comes with a twist — it was filed by homebuyers, unlike the others filed by home sellers.

Real Estate 426

Real Estate Realtors Sellers Agents 426

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 19, 2023

In his testimony, Gansho confirmed that NAR’s “Antitrust Compliance Guide” states that members should not discuss fees with competitors and that agents should never use statements such as, “I’d like to lower the commission, but no one will show your house.” We don’t tell people what to charge.”

Training 387

Training Agents Real Estate Brokerage 387

Housing Wire

APRIL 4, 2024

She is also filing the suit as both a home seller and a homebuyer. Jutla notes that while Redfin no longer requires its agents to be members of NAR or local Realtor associations, all of the agents she worked with during her transactions were NAR members. She used Redfin agents for both listing and buying purposes.

Realtors 346

Realtors Agents Sellers Real Estate 346

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023

According to court documents filed on Tuesday, Anywhere Real Estate and the home sellers suing the firm in both the Moehrl and Sitzer/Burnett cases, which both deal with buyer brokers’ commissions, have reached a preliminary settlement agreement, settling all claims in both suits. “The

Real Estate 417

Real Estate Buyers Legal Realtors 417

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 16, 2023

At the crux of the case is the allegation that commission rates are too high, it’s unfair that the seller pays the buyer’s agent’s commission, and that the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Code of Conduct and MLS Handbook lead to set pricing.

Buyers 453

Buyers Brokerage Agents Realtors 453

Housing Wire

APRIL 22, 2024

Photo Credit: AJ Canaria) Between inflation , an uncertain interest rate environment and legal challenges , the real estate industry is facing unprecedented challenges. Rather than focusing on recruiting one agent at a time, these small acquisitions would be recruiting groups of agents at a time,” Wright said.

Brokerage 355

Brokerage Real Estate Agents Sellers 355

Housing Wire

MARCH 29, 2024

The first change is that MLS PIN is agreeing to obtain certificates from their seller clients saying that they understand that MLS PIN does not require sellers to offer compensation to buyer brokers and that sellers are not required to compensate the buyer’s broker even when asked to by the buyer.

Sellers 420

Sellers Real Estate Buyers Contracts 420

Housing Wire

APRIL 24, 2024

Chicago-based At World Properties , which own @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate , has agreed to settle the nationwide class-action antitrust claims brought by home sellers. Additionally, all agents licensed under these firms are also covered by the proposed settlement.

Brokerage 270

Brokerage Real Estate Agents Sellers 270

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Real estate giant Zillow came out victorious in its years-long legal battle with discount brokerage REX Real Estate. District Court in Seattle determined that Zillow did not make deceptive change to its only agent listings that forced REX Real Estate to go out of business. In a verdict announced late Friday afternoon, a jury in a U.S.

Advertising 382

Advertising Brokerage Real Estate Legal 382

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

Some of these provisions include no longer requiring agents to be members of the National Association of Realtors or following NAR’s Code of Ethics or the MLS Handbook. “We are pleased with the court’s decision to grant preliminary approval of the settlement,” Nick Bailey, the president and CEO of RE/MAX, LLC.,

Legal 387

Legal Real Estate Agents Realtors 387

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

The real estate industry as agents and brokers know it has been turned upside down. It remains to be seen exactly what the guilty verdict in the Sitzer/Burnett commission lawsuit means for agents and brokers, as the industry waits for Judge Stephen Bough’s injunction. billion in damages. (It It would swell to $5.36

Open Houses 471

Open Houses Brokerage Agents Realtors 471

Housing Wire

JANUARY 11, 2024

District Court in New York by Robert Friedman, a resident of Brooklyn who sold a property in Park Slope in May 2021 with the help of a Douglas Elliman agent. Instead, if a seller wishes to compensate the buyer’s agent, they must pay the agent themselves. It is not required for a seller to compensate a buyer’s agent.

Real Estate 395

Real Estate Sellers Real Estate Agent Agents 395

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 23, 2023

A judgment as a matter of law is permissible if there is no legally sufficient basis for a reasonable jury to find for the nonmoving party (in this instance, the plaintiffs) on the issue. She also agreed that every HomeServices agent in Missouri is a member of the MLS and that the firm advocates for clear cooperation.

Law 417

Law Agents Realtors Contracts 417

Housing Wire

MARCH 15, 2024

In addition to the $418 million settlement amount, which will be paid into a court-controlled trust over a four-year period, NAR has also agreed to abolish all rules allowing seller’s agents to set compensation for buyer’s agents. It also agreed to prohibit broker compensation appearing in the MLS fields.

Agents 439

Agents Brokerage Advertising Real Estate 439