We were on a call yesterday with our referral network of Compass agents around the country, and Gregg in the DMV (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia) said they have been required to use the buyer-broker agreements for the last twenty years.
Great – a test case. How has it gone?
He said that 98% of all DMV sales include seller concessions for the buyer-agent fee, and it’s been like that since the beginning! Wow! If we can do that here, then the whole commission-lawsuit debacle will fade away, and just be about more paperwork. The buyer-broker agreement I sent out yesterday was 14 pages!
The clip below is good news for buyers too. The new form was changed to give buyers a chance to cancel an exclusive buyer-broker agreement. Everyone has a chance to choose when signing whether the agreement is exclusive or non-exclusive. The non-exclusive can be cancelled at any time, but on the previous version the exclusive could not be cancelled. Now this is included:
Starting today, Compass agents can include the amount of the buyer-agent compensation that their sellers are willing to pay. The amount is added manually to each listing, so it might take a while before every agent gets fully immersed. If you’re curious, check out Compass listings at compass.com:
Over the last several months, the NAR team has led a full-court press to educate members, media, and consumers, providing resources and working to promote understanding of the practice changes across the country, including:
Conducting press briefings on the changes with 130 reporters across national, local and industry media, including deploying our leadership team as they meet with state and local associations and speak at community events across the country. We continue to educate journalists and are always ready to correct the record if there are misunderstandings or misinterpretations.
Empowering our 634 member volunteers across all 50 states to take to their own social media platforms and local media outlets to communicate the rule changes and their implications for consumers. Our member volunteers have made more than 4,000 posts of NAR content as part of this effort.
Hosting member webinars on the practice changes led by the NAR legal team which have seen around 12,400 member sign-ups. The last in this series of webinars, scheduled for today, will be recorded and shared widely.
In the week leading up to August 17, publishing an article each day on REALTOR® Magazine on different elements of the practice changes.
Creating and continually enhancing a “single source of truth” on facts.realtor with an extensive array of resources.
The result has been 920 media interviews, op-eds and articles in national and 39 regional/local media markets explaining how the rule changes will benefit agents and consumers alike. Want to help spread the word? Join our surrogate advocacy group. Email surrogates@nar.realtor to sign up.
With the hearing for final approval of the settlement set for November 26, we will continue these efforts in the coming weeks and months. We are committed to helping consumers, our members, and the industry at large navigate this period of change.
We thank you for your engagement and support.
Thank you,
Nykia the CEO of NAR