Despite Realtor assurances their industry is adapting smoothly to new homebuying rules, signs of hiccups, confusion and frustration surfaced last week when more than 7,000 industry professionals gathered in Long Beach for the California Association of Realtors’ annual convention.
Misinformation about the settlement has been rampant on social media, several convention speakers complained. One agent lamented about competitors pirating away clients at open houses.
In some cases, real estate license holders appear unaware of new requirements, which took effect in mid-August, like the need for buyers to sign contracts with their brokers. Others expressed frustration over the amount of paperwork now required.
“For the rest of your life, you’ll be referring to the time before Aug. 17 as the good old days,” CAR Assistant General Counsel Gov Hutchinson told one convention session.
The “good old days” ended when the National Association of Realtors enacted two key changes to comply with a settlement aimed at ending a succession of antitrust lawsuits over sellers paying buyer’s commissions.
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The new rules constrain sellers from making blanket commission offers in Realtor-affiliated listing databases, although they’re allowed elsewhere.
They also compel buyer’s to agree in writing to paying their own agents if they can’t get sellers to cover that cost.
Overwhelmed and exhausted
Seven sessions during the three-day conference addressed various aspects of the settlement.
Although professionals need to guide consumers through this complex new process, agents are feeling “overwhelmed, exhausted, a little confused and uneasy,” said Barbara Betts, chief executive of The RECollective of Long Beach.
“This is the largest fundamental shift we’ve ever seen in our industry,” Betts said.
California Association of Realtors members check out session schedules on wall-sized billboards in the lobby of the Long Beach Convention Center on Thursday, Sept. 26. One month in, agents say they’re still adjusting to new home buying rules that took effect on Aug. 17. (Photo by Jeff Collins, Orange County Register/SCNG)
And while the industry continues to adjust, the new landscape keeps shifting.
A federal judge in Missouri still needs to sign off on the new rules in November before they become official. And California Realtors are looking over their shoulders at an ongoing U.S. Department of Justice investigation that could upend agent compensation even further.
“Everything we’re doing now is still in the maybe-not, maybe-yes phase,” observed Daniel Winkler, an East Bay Area broker.
Nevertheless, most buyers have been requesting “concessions” in their purchase offers since the settlement took effect, Winkler and other brokers said. And most sellers are agreeing to pay them.
Rates mostly unchanged
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Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
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