Unpopular opinion: Not much has changed with the NAR ruling.
Despite the clickbait and fear mongering, buyer’s side commission is not disappearing.
First of all, the National Association of Realtors is a trade organization. They are not legislative. Real estate is governed state to state and standards are set within municipalities. NAR only settled the case because they were being bled dry with legal fees. In the settlement, there was no admission of guilt.
Commissions have always been negotiable. The reason why agents are having such a hard time wrapping their heads around this ruling is that the conversation is disparate to our experience. It’s gaslighting. As an active agent in five markets, I can vouch that it’s not a given that commission is set at 6% or even split equally on both sides. Sometimes it’s 5%, or less at higher price points, and sometimes there are concessions made by brokers to get the deal over the finish line.
Cooperative commissions will continue to be the standard as they simply make sense. The main difference going forward will be the elimination of the commission line item on MLS. Instead, the discussion regarding how the fee will be divided will take place between the buyers and selling agents. It could be argued that this will backfire, and thus result in less transparency rather than the court’s intended goal of adding visibility regarding commission. Time will tell.
