Midyear meeting highlights regarding settlement agreement

At the recent NAR meetings in Washington DC in May, information was shared from both the legislative and broker perspectives in regard to the settlement agreement.

Effective August 17, 2024, there will be practice changes as established by NAR, specifically that the settlement agreement mandates that MLS listings cannot be filtered based on the buyer agent commission offered. This promotes fairness and transparency in the process of listing and selling properties. See the Settlement FAQ.

How can brokers prepare for the August 17 date?

• Have a written agreement ready to go August 17. All new buyer clients/customers will need to sign one before touring a home.
• Have a Pitch Deck ready to explain the written agreement requirement.
• Become comfortable with the compensation conversation.
• Understand the buyer representation value and how to communicate that to consumers.
• Existing buyer representation agreements in effect before August 17 do not need to be amended, a separate disclosure can satisfy the requirement.

Buyer’s Agent Toolkit

Realtor.com has created a new tool to share the benefits of using buyer representation. This free social media toolkit amplifies why it is important to have representation. Here is a direct link to the free materials.

Broker access of agent data through M1 Database

Brokers now have access to pertinent Association-related data, credentials, education, volunteerism and more on the agents in their offices in the Realtors® M1 Database. Read more from a recent Realtor® Magazine article here.