08/15/2024
For my Facebook friends who haven’t seen this post floating around from other Absolute Charm realtors, thought I’d share. As Tammy has said, we’ve spent many hours learning the ins and outs but she explains it so well! Thank you Tammy Pack! 🧡
Absolute Charm Real Estate Group
“🤔 So what's the big change for BUYERS with the NAR Settlement... and what about this is terrifying buyer's agents? 🤯
For a buyer's agent to show you a property now, you MUST sign a BUYER'S BROKER AGREEMENT ... BEFORE they are legally allowed to show you a SINGLE property. It's no longer highly advised, it's required. 🙌
So I guess you could say buyers are more like sellers now in that BOTH sides need a signed agreement to work with an agent. 👏
In the past, you SHOULD have been required to sign a buyer broker agreement... otherwise your agent was technically working as a sub-agent of the seller. But very often, non-confrontational agents would let this slide until it was time to submit an offer. Now that agent will be in legal jeopardy if they don't have the agreement signed.
In the agreement a buyer is agreeing to be responsible for the agent's fee for showing property, negotiating on their behalf, etc.
This COULD sound more scary for a buyer than a seller because a seller KNOWS they only pay the agent out of the proceeds of the sale at closing, right? 🍾
A buyer may read the agreement and say, "I can't bring all that extra cash to closing ON TOP of my down payment, pre-paid taxes and insurance, title policy, etc."
THIS👆👆 THIS is the actual fear agents have. 😨
The TRUTH is, buyers are still allowed to (and nearly all will) ask the seller to cover their agent's fees as part of the negotiation of their offer on the house.
And MOST sellers will agree ... because they know good and well that the amount they offered their listing agent is probably NOT all they will be paying in agent fees, and they have priced the home accordingly.
So BUYERS... you can take a breath.... because unlike most professions, you typically won't pay your agent by the hour for ALL the properties they show you, the inspections and repairs they help arrange, etc. Their fee is paid at CLOSING. So if the seller isn't agreeing to cover those costs as part of negotiation, you can walk away. 🚶🚶♀️🚶♂️
So YOU are still in the driver's seat, buyers! 🚗🚙
You don't like what they are covering, you don't have to sign... and you don't have to pay. You move onto another house. 🤘
JUST LIKE you could walk away during option if the seller doesn't agree to reasonable repairs during negotiations.
NO big difference. You can just request that seller cover your agent's fees, just like you asked them to fix the non-grounded electric plugs in the house. It is ALLLLLL part of the negotiation and if the sellers have been well prepared by their listing agent, they are already prepared for this.
Prepared sellers will understand that (roughly) half of the Realtor fees that come out of the ultimate proceeds of the home will be agreed to in the listing agreement... and the other (roughly) half will be requested in the offer/contract.
👉 There you go BUYERS and SELLERS.... that is what has changed with the NAR settlement.
Tomorrow let's talk about why it's MUCH smarter to work with a CAPABLE, skilled buyer's agent than going straight to the seller's agent yourself... (HINT... sellers probably aren't looking to put that extra $$ in YOUR pocket 😂)”
