Realtors are facing changes in the way they help homebuyers purchase a home. It’s all part of a $418 million legal settlement, on March 15, 2024, into antitrust claims involving the National Realtor’s Association and its 1.5 million members. These new rules go into effect August 17 and now impact the way homebuyers work with their agents. Larry Miller, the Greater Baton Rouge Realtors Association President-elect explains, “Most processes will remain the same. The one change that affects all licensees in Louisiana is the requirement to have a buyer-broker agreement in place in order to provide real estate services.”
Commission fees could be slashed by up to 30% according to a report by the New York Times, which cited economists. Traditionally, buyers were not expected to pay their real estate broker. Instead, it was the home seller who paid for both the buyer’s agent and the sellers’ agent. Commissions typically ran between 5% to 6%. But from now on, seller’s agents won’t be allowed to advertise commission fees to buyers’ agents on multiple listing services, which realtors use to list and find homes for sale. The changes mean that a buyer’s agent cannot use that database anymore to search for houses based on how much they’ll get paid. That is called “steering,” and sometimes led to agents skipping listings which did not guarantee as much commission.
As the Louisiana Radio Network reports, Miller advises potential homebuyers and sellers to know their realtor’s experience and training, what services you expect them to provide and what it will cost. According to a new survey from Clever Real Estate, two-thirds of the general public (67%) support changes to real estate commissions, while 70% of real estate agents oppose them. The survey revels that 95% of real estate agents think the settlement will cause agents to leave the industry. The survey also showed that 66% of would-be first-time homebuyers indicated they wouldn’t be able to afford their agent’s commission in addition to the other closing costs and the down payment.
