With so many articles available on the settlement reached between the National Association of Realtors and home sellers, we thought it would be a good idea to share NAR’s position on commissions via this link Correcting the Record: NAR Does Not Set Commissions to their statement. The settlement National Association of REALTORS® Reaches Agreement to Resolve Nationwide Claims Brought by Home Sellers (nar.realtor) has brought in question of what has been a longstanding practice of sellers paying both the buyer’s and seller’s commission on single transaction. Another major development in has been the questioning of the widespread industry practice of charging a 6% commission normally split between the buyer and seller’s agents. While NAR has long held the position that commissions are negotiable, the industry majority had settled into the 6% charge with most seller’s not being totally aware that this number is negotiable, The settlement re-emphasizes the fact that sellers are free to negotiate the level of commission that they are willing to pay. Another key highlight is the fact that each party to the transaction, buyer and seller will be responsible for their representing agent’s commission. This means that buyer’s will now also need to negotiate commissions and paying of such with their agents.
A real estate agent’s take on the National Association of Realtors settlement.
The recent National Association of Realtor settlement has left buyers and sellers feeling a little unsure of what’s happening in regard to commissions realtors charge. They’ve been plenty of articles written on the future of commissions and the real estate market. For an interesting take on the subject here’s an article by Emily Ross a real estate agent in Austin, Texas for USA Today. NAR settlement explained: Why Realtors like me are scrambling (usatoday.com)