America’s Real Estate Guru Bill Zeltman returns for Episode 17 – Breaking Down the NAR Lawsuit. Bill discusses how the recent court decisions will affect Realtors now and moving forward while interpreting the ruling. Follow Bill @AmericasGurus.
Unpacking the 1.78 billion dollar lawsuit that NAR and other brokerages just lost and its effect on the industry.
The main issues of the lawsuit were this:
#1 The seller didn’t want to pay the buyers agent to negotiate against them.
#2 The seller didn’t feel like they had a choice to not pay the buyers agent.
#3 The seller did not feel that they could negotiate commissions.
We need more info about the ruling but what this likely means:
1: All MLS’s and these companies are going to have to publicly make it very clear that commissions are 100% negotiable (I mean actually not just we say they are) and also they are going to have to make it clear that a seller is not forced to pay any set buyers agent fee (if anything).
2: Any company or MLS that does not publicly do this quickly will have a huge target on their back for future lawsuits.
The ramifications of this are pretty cut and dry.
#1 Buyer leads are going to plummet in value and might become next to worthless as the industry pivots to no longer require a seller to pay for a buyers agent.
This CRIPPLES Zillow, Opcity, etc if that happens.
#2 A lot more dual agency is coming if buyers do not want to pay for their own buyers agent.
Listings will become INCREDIBLY more valuable than they already are and working with buyers will be INCREDIBLY risky unless you get them to sign a buyer rep agreement and are prepared to sue them to get paid because your agreement with a buyer will not stop a deal from closing without you getting paid.
This will possibly speed up Zillow move to become a full fledged brokerage because they have to replace the lost revenue from buyers leads potentially dropping in value.
Buckle up folks and remember what I’ve always taught you. We work will sellers and play with buyers!