There is pending litigation of a class action lawsuit against multiple large brokerage firms involving billions of dollars, the lawsuit claims a requirement for sellers to make “blanket unilateral offers of compensation” to buyer brokers when a home is placed for sale on a multiple listing service violates the law.
Why do you care? As of June 1, 2023 our local MLS has changed its rules to allow sellers to offer zero compensation to buyer’s brokers while listed in the Private Listing Network, aka Coming Soon. It’s only a matter of time until this trickles down to all active properties too. If you are a buyer, you will know what co-op % a seller is offering your agent. If it’s less than the customary 2.5%, you will likely need to make up the difference to your buyer’s agent. As a seller, you can determine what to offer the co-op agent. Be aware of what other sellers are offering. If there are 3 comparable listings and a buyer knows one seller is paying 1%, but others are paying 2.5% then that house is 1.5% more expensive because the buyer will likely be asked to cover the difference to pay their agent. Confused? Yeah, it’s awkward discussing this stuff. Let’s meet to see what works best for you.
