Realtors, What Do They Really Do

Changes are coming to real estate agent fees that should help all buyers and sellers. Americans have long been paying some of the highest real estate agent commissions in the world, amounting to roughly $100 billion annually!

 But following multiple class action lawsuits, and a recent settlement, that is now set to change. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has agreed to pay more than $400 million in damages and to rewrite its current agent commission fee rules. 

Typically, the commission fee is 5-6% of the home value, with the amount paid out of the seller’s pocket and split between the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent. But, starting this month, brokers can not be listed on Multiple Listing Services and the buyer-side agent has to enter into written agreements with their buyers.

Buyer agents will no longer be able to see the commission that sellers are offering (the database, Multiple Listing Service, previously listed this information) and will have to get their commission from the buyer, not the seller. The concern was that the broker’s interest wasn’t aligned with the buyer’s interest, and instead was driven by the commission fee at times. Which certainly isn’t a stretch to believe.