Home Sellers: Understanding the NAR Settlement – Key Changes to Broker Commissions and What It Means for You

HOME SELLERS:

HERE’S WHAT THE NAR SETTLEMENT MEANS FOR YOU

As a home seller, you have a wide range of choices when it comes to listing your
home. Agents who are REALTORS® are a trusted source of advice and stand
ready to help you navigate this complex process and make the choices that work
best for you. NAR’s recent settlement has led to several changes related to broker
commissions that benefit sellers, and we wanted to clearly lay them out for you.

Here is what the settlement means for home sellers:

• You still have the choice of offering compensation to buyer brokers. You may
  consider doing this as a way of marketing your home or making your listing
  more attractive to buyers.
  
  
• Your agent must conspicuously disclose to you and obtain your approval for
  any payment or offer of payment that a listing broker will make to another
  broker acting for buyers.
  
  
• This disclosure must be made to you in writing in advance of any payment or
  agreement to pay another broker acting for buyers, and must specify the
  amount or rate of such payment.
  
  
• If you choose to approve an offer of compensation, there are changes to how
  this can happen.
  
  
• You as the seller can still make an offer compensation, but your agent cannot
  include it on a Multiple Listing Service (MLS)—MLSs are local marketplaces
  used by both buyer brokers and listing brokers to share information about
  properties for sale.
  
  
• Your agent can advertise your listing via off-MLS platforms such as social
  media, flyers and websites.
  
  
• You as the seller can still offer buyer concessions on an MLS (for example,
  concessions for buyer closing costs).

These settlement practice changes will go into effect August 17.

Here is what the settlement doesn’t change:

• Agents who are REALTORS® are here to help you navigate the process of
  selling your home and are ethically obligated to work in your best interest.
  
  
• Compensation for your agent remains fully negotiable, and if your agent is a
  REALTOR®, they must abide by the REALTOR® Code of Ethics and have clear
  and transparent discussions with you about compensation. When finding an
  agent to work with, ask questions about compensation and discuss what you
  would like to offer buyers.
  
  
• You have choices. Work with your agent to understand the full range of these
  choices when selling your home, which will help you make the best possible
  decision for your needs.

More details about these changes and what they mean can be found at:

facts.realtor