While the media has been stirring up their hysteria over the commission decoupling…..this from CNN:

It’s the second part of the settlement that will likely frustrate buyers even further:

Let’s call it, The Return of the PEAD!

When Covid broke out, it was decided that the only way we could safely show homes again was if every buyer and agent submitted a form to the listing agent that declared they didn’t have Covid, and weren’t exposed to anyone who did. It was a joke of an exercise, but we had to do something.

Because this is a business where the competency of the listing agent is many times just measured by their ability to complete the forms, the gathering of the PEADs became almost militant in nature. Listing agents demanded that a buyer-agent MUST provide their PEADs before even thinking about scheduling an appointment to show the home!

Do you remember how in the minutes/hours it took to send the PEADs over to the listing agents, it caused just enough delay to allow shenanigans to take place behind the scenes? Listing agents would declare with glee, “Oh, you took too long to submit your PEADs and I already sold the house to someone else!”

The same thing will happen with the buyer-broker agreements. I’ve already had a Coldwell Banker agent tell me that if I was going to submit an offer on his listing, to make sure I include a copy of my buyer-broker agreement. It’s not required until July, but hey, it’s never too early to bust the chops of the buyer agents!

Secondly, think about the buyers who haven’t found a buyer-agent they liked yet, and just want to attend an open house that looked semi-interesting online.

The new rule says you can’t see the house without a buyer-broker agreement.

Open-house agents will be manning the front door with their “sign-in” sheets. But now those sheets will be committing the buyer to a buyer-agent commitment too. Will the agents mention that part? How many unwitting buyers will attend an open house in July and then find themselves in a 3-month or 6-month commitment with an agent they just met?

The legit agents will at least designate their agreement for this house only, where the buyers are committed to the agent if they buy the open house. But those buyers will be giving up their name, address, phone, and email so if you don’t buy this one, the agents keep contacting you until you buy or die.

Oh, you don’t like that program?

Chuck had the best reply so far, “Hey, it’s the DOJ”.

(tomorrow is a day off – I’ll be back Thursday!)