So much is changing about the way people buy and sell homes since the National Association of Realtors reached a settlement over commissions earlier this year. That includes open houses.
The door will still be wide open for both looky-loos and serious buyers alike — but upon entering, some real estate agents will ask visitors to fill out a form stating whether they are a buyer with representation or without. The form will also ask visitors to acknowledge that the agent hosting the open house doesn’t represent them.
Forms like these are part of the new rules set to go into effect Aug. 17 that will reform how buyer’s and seller’s agents are compensated.
For years, the seller has typically paid the agents on each side of the transaction — usually 5% or 6% of the sales price, which the seller’s agent might split 50-50 with the buyer’s. Although buyers have always been able to negotiate how much their agent gets paid, oftentimes they would go along with the commission set by the seller.
Now, a buyer will have to draw up their own contract with an agent and decide for themselves how much in commission to pay — something they’ll have to sign before they can tour a property with an agent.
Though a seller is still allowed to offer to cover the buyer’s agent’s fee, buyers shouldn’t take that for granted. If a seller doesn’t opt to cover the entire fee, the buyer will be on the hook for the rest.
If a seller does decide to offer compensation to a buyer’s agent, they won’t be able to include that figure in the official listing — though they can advertise that elsewhere.
So when it comes to touring an open house, does this mean a buyer will be turned away at the door if they decline to sign a disclosure form?
“Each company will set its own policy on what to do if someone doesn’t want to sign,” said Tricia Thomas, CEO of the Bay East Association of Realtors. “There’s no standard on that.”
It remains to be seen how this new policy — and the others — shake out in the industry.
Thomas promised that real estate agents aren’t gaming the forms to gain new clients — they’re about making it clear who is represented, and who isn’t.
“You can have conversations with the listing agent up to a point,” Thomas said. “There is a line, where some of the questions and advice you’re asking drift into the line of representation, where a listing agent can’t respond to those questions.”
