On March 15th, 2024, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reached a settlement of a class action lawsuit that was brought to court by organizations representing homeowners in Missouri and California. I’m not sure what the impact will be to the real estate industry but there will be changes. If the settlement is approved by the courts, there will be changes on how buyer agents are expected to be compensated and the advertisement or disclosure of buyer agency fees by the listing agent will be prohibited. Additionally, buyer agents will have to have expressed (written) agreements in place prior to any work or showings with the understanding that buyers will be responsible for the buyer agent’s compensation.

There’s been a lot of misinformation in the news about the role of Realtors and how they are compensated and I’ve been asked to provide my thoughts on the NAR settlement.

In my opinion, this settlement will hurt home buyers, especially first-time buyers in a buyer beware state like North Carolina, who will not be able to afford the additional expense and may opt not to hire an agent to help guide them through the home buying process.