Market Update: NAR Settlement
Pam Gebhardt & Leslie Tomasini ,
Over the past few weeks you may have heard that the National Association of Realtors is planning a settlement to address the class action lawsuit brought about 5 years ago on behalf of buyers. If you are unfamiliar with the lawsuit, you can view the NAR’s briefing here.
There has been a great deal of false information being spread throughout the media about this settlement and the effects it will have on the real estate industry. This is a great article detailing some of the common myths you may have been hearing and why they are false. And to better inform our clients on this settlement, we wanted to share these key takeaways with you:
1.) Real estate commissions have always been negotiable.
2.) In Georgia, we have been using Buyer Brokerage Agreements for many years and will continue to do so. This is a new requirement nationwide as a result of the settlement.
3.) Fundamentally, we don’t expect how real estate transactions take place in Georgia to change. While there will be some new challenges with commissions no longer being listed in the MLS (which we believe provides for less transparency instead of more), we expect new innovations and solutions will help us continue to communicate commissions to agents.
4.) North Atlanta Home Group’s business model has been and continues to be a Full Service, Full-Time Real Estate Team. We value our clients and appreciate the trust they have in us to help them buy and sell their homes.
Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or for additional detail. There are many aspects of this settlement that still need to be flushed out and we look forward to working through these changes to help improve and grow our industry.
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