How the Realtors' legal settlement could change the buyer-agent relationship

Mar 18, 2024
More agents might start charging buyers hourly rates or working on retainer.
In the traditional model, home sellers pay the buyer’s agent. The NAR settlement could mean more buyers directly paying their Realtors.
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The way real estate agents are paid could be changing. Here's how that could affect buyers and sellers.

Dec 12, 2023
Agents typically split the 5% to 6% commission when a home is sold. Rates could go lower in the wake of class-action litigation.
A wave of litigation targeting the costs to home sellers could shift the economics of real estate representation.
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In a tight housing market, both buyers and sellers are getting creative

Jun 22, 2023
Realtors are encouraging their clients to get creative if they really want to make a move while interest rates remain high and inventory remains low.
Some homeowners with a low interest mortgage rate locked in are offering to sell that loan along with their house.
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Housing price trends are split down the middle of the country

Mar 30, 2023
Prices are cooling in the West, but the market in the East is still hot. We check in with a real estate pro in the center of the divide.
A home for sale in Houston, which sits on the fault line between regions going in opposite directions.
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"We're in for a little bit of a roller coaster," San Francisco real estate agent says

Jul 15, 2022
As mortgage rates rise, the housing market in San Francisco has come "to a screeching halt," says Cynthia Cummins.
In June, 14.9% of housing agreements nationwide fell through, Redfin reported.
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As the real estate market cools, so does the market for agents

Jun 21, 2022
As home sales decline, the field is becoming more competitive.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Missoula's hot housing market makes this real estate agent's job harder

Aug 4, 2021
"You're working twice as hard for the same amount of money," says Mindy Palmer of helping buyers in a tight market.
Limited inventory and high home prices have created challenges for Mindy Palmer, a realtor in Missoula, Montana.
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For public good, not for profit.

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As the housing market heats up, so does competition among realtors

Mar 16, 2018
With fewer homes to sell, realtors say they need to look for new ways to find business
Jim Haffey, an agent at Howard Hanna Realty Services, says the influx of new realtors has him working harder to find new business. Recently, he's started sending video postcards to potential clients.
Adrian Ma for Marketplace

Lights, camera, helicopter, open house!

Sep 1, 2015
Some L.A. realtors resort to Hollywood-worthy productions to sell a house.