These changes take effect on Aug 17, 2024. The main changes are about disclosure of how Realtors can be paid in a transaction. Another change is the commission to any party can NOT be published in the Multiple Listing Service otherwise known as the MLS. 

The commission for a Realtor has always been negotiable and that remains to be true today.

Changes for Sellers

When I take a new listing contract I will have a different commission discussion about a seller’s option to offer a buyer agent commission. A seller does not need to pay a buyer agent’s commission with these new changes. 

I’ll point out that the buyer for the seller’s home still has a defined pie of money. These changes to how Realtors get paid do not change the size of a buyer’s money pie. It will still be broken into many parts to have a transaction close. 

The money slices are the seller’s proceeds, the funds for the buyer and seller to pay closing costs at settlement, real estate agent commissions and township taxes. If a seller does not offer a buyer agent commission then the buyer will be responsible for paying their contracted Buyer agent at closing. 

The listing agent prices the house, I usually handle a pre-listing inspection, contractor quotes, stage the home for sale, have the home photographed, set up the marketing, write up the house, enter it into the MLS. I host open houses and broker opens, and navigate and negotiate the offers. Then I present the offers to the seller explaining the merits of each. I keep track of the agreement terms, help clear title, help with the appraisal, find another home for the seller and continue to shepherd the transaction until closing.

Changes for Buyers

The changes for my buyer clients come before unlocking a home door. I will now need to have a buyer client sign a Buyer Agent contract. This is now the law. If a Realtor wants to be considered the procuring cause, the Realtor must be able to produce the signed buyer-agent contract when the buyer is ready to purchase a home they were shown by Betsy Zeitlin. 

This contract can be a non-exclusive buyer agent contract. The contract can be used each time I show the same buyer different homes. When both buyer and agent are comfortable working together, I would have the buyer sign an exclusive buyer-agent contract. We will negotiate an amount of time and a potential commission to be paid at a successful settlement to work as their exclusive agent. With these new commission changes it’s important for a buyer to understand that they might be responsible for paying my company’s buyer agent commission directly at the settlement table. 

Before the change, almost all agents were paid from the seller sale proceeds. 

This Buyer agent fee was negotiated by the seller’s agent when they signed a listing contract. With these changes, sellers could decide not to offer a buyer agent commission. 

……………………IN my opinion, Buyer agents do half the work to close the transactions and get the sellers paid using the buyers money pie. After a buyer agent finds THE house for a buyer they handle all the inspections, contractor quotes, and negotiations. They make sure the mortgage is on track, deliver the condo docs, tax certs are in, order the title, the dates and terms of the contract are followed, and hold the hand of the nervous buyers. 

These buyers still have the same pool of money to buy a home as they did before these new rules go into effect Aug 17, 2024. I think it’s important that each side of a transaction be represented with a professional agent who only has their client’s interest put first. 

The public knows that working with a seasoned Realtor is also paying for the experience that the agent brings to the negotiating table and experience has its rewards.