Esquire Realty Ciaramella & Co.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱. 𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗸𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝘂𝗽?

In August 2024, significant changes to real estate brokerage practices took effect following the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) settlement. These changes affected how real estate commissions are disclosed, negotiated, and documented.Yet more than two years later, there’s still considerable confusion surrounding the new compensation structures. And that confusion isn’t limited to buyers and sellers.

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸.𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗗𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗔𝗥 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗦 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘?

• Real estate commissions are negotiable. Sellers do NOT “have to” compensate buyer’s Agents or earmark specific amounts of money for them in advance.

• Offers of buyer-broker compensation can no longer be communicated through participating Multiple Listing Services.

• Sellers may still agree to compensate a buyer’s broker, subject to applicable disclosure and authorization requirements (and very often that makes sense to do!).

• Buyers working with MLS participants generally must enter into written representation agreements before touring properties.

• Listing agreements and commission structures may look different from what attorneys and consumers were accustomed to seeing.

𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗𝗡’𝗧 𝗔 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗬 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦?

Ideally, yes. However, real estate attorneys and real estate brokers serve different roles. An attorney may be exceptionally knowledgeable about contracts, title issues, financing, and closings without being entirely familiar with the practical implementation of the NAR settlement.That’s not necessarily a reflection of their legal abilities. It simply means that brokerage practices have evolved, and staying informed is important.

𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗞𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗕𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥.

I absolutely encourage buyers and sellers to have their attorneys review agreements, ask questions, and protect their interests, and at Esquire we are more than happy to communicate with real estate attorneys about the changes and the structure of our agreements. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴.