WFCN – A real estate agent in the Valley for 25 years, Blair Ballin is based in Phoenix.
According to him, homebuyers are now required to see listings and sign a contract with an agent before visiting any property.
“It can be for one house, it can be for a day, it can be for a week or however long,” added Ballin.
“Because we didn’t really use it (the contract form), before standardized at least, there’s more potential opposition from certain buyers saying why should I sign it.”
Now, commission payments need to be discussed. Although the goal of the modification was to increase openness, it raises a significant concern: who will foot the bill for an agent’s commission?
“The lawsuit is really kind of garbage because commissions, at least here in Arizona, have always been negotiable,” he added.
What’s new with purchasing and selling homes according to the NAR settlement?
Real estate agents, purchasers, and sellers are all impacted by the consent decree. To begin with, the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) has just made it illegal for selling agents to pay buyer’s agents to promote their properties.
Therefore, it is unclear who is responsible for paying your agent’s commission moving forward.
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“It’s a matter of the buyer’s agent calling the listing agent or communicating with him to say ‘Are you offering a commission or a fee?’ and if they say yes, finding out how much, if they say no, chancing it and hoping that you can negotiate it into the deal,” Ballin pointed out.
In what ways can this regulation affect those purchasing their first home?
Many people, especially first-time buyers and those with smaller down payments may feel the effects first and worst, according to Ballin.
“And it’s sad because they should be able to not have to come out of pocket more already with everything else: rising insurance costs, housing, inflation of everything, cost of living, it’s sad,” he pointed out.
It is premature to express definitively how these changes will influence the Valley housing market, according to Ballin, as many of them will act on a case-by-case basis.
Without a doubt, the amount of money needed to obtain the keys to your new property will increase.