Eckington By The Numbers || Weekend 03.30.2024

We are receiving many questions regarding the recent lawsuit that may alter how Sellers offer commissions on their properties. Some of the coverage we've encountered is highly misleading and frankly incorrect. Here are a few things we anticipate happening:

Firstly, this won’t result in an immediate change. Even if Sellers are no longer able to offer a commission to the Buyer's agent on the MLS, there will still be other ways around it. For instance, Sellers aiming to market their homes in the best light may offer a credit for the Buyer's commission.

It will not necessarily lead to a decrease in the price of homes. The cost of the Buyer's agent, in some cases, may then be transferred to the Buyer. This makes the home buying process more expensive for first-time buyers, as they will not be able to finance that cost into the purchase of a home.

There will likely be much more confusion regarding the price of a home. For instance, if a home is listed for $600,000 but doesn’t offer a credit to the Buyer's Agent's commission, then the actual price of that home is $618,000. However, the additional $18,000 cannot be financed, resulting in additional cash out of pocket for Buyers.

So, what is our immediate advice? Don’t change anything for now. Don’t delay listing your home or rush into buying. Changes like this take time, and there are still several appeals in process. Even if the change takes place, our belief is that most Sellers will still offer to pay a Buyer’s Agent Commission to keep their home competitive, although it will be done in a different way with several new legal forms to sign. If you need to list, do what is right for you now and move forward with it.