Real Estate Contracts

[fomofo]

Have these proposed new rules made it through the courts yet?

Realtors agree to make commission changes - Los Angeles Times
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Changes are underway for people on the market to buy a home with a real estate agent. Beginning as early as August 17, potential home buyers must enter a written agreement with an agent before touring a home.

https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/in-...ack-enterprise


Also, for grins, this...

Quick synopsis: So I just sold my house, pissed off a few agents, used their advertising, paid no commission and had 12 offers.

Sold my house today and the agents hate me

[nickwm21]

I really hope FSBO becomes more of a thing. Or at least normalize flat fee, low-commission / light-service options.

There is a time and a place where a full service RE agent makes sense - like a travel agent - but a sophisticated seller in 2024 doesn’t get $30-$60k in value out of today’s cartel setup…

What percentage of the current housing un-affordability is due to dirt pimps dirt pimpin. At least 6%


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[XXX-er]

no body makes anybody use an agent they should have all dissapeared if we read these threads but somehow they are still around ?

For a number of reasons mostly time/ distance IME they have been worth the $

[fomofo]

Today's the day!

“This is a sea change for both the consumer and for real estate professionals,” Tricia Thomas, CEO of Bay East Association of Realtors, said. “Everyone is entering into waters that they are not familiar with.”

Realtors React as NAR Settlement Goes Into Effect

[old goat]

Or maybe not. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/16/r...smid=url-share

[fomofo]

Kicking and scheming, go they.

Gonna be an interesting next few months.

[yeahman]

It's just going to result in a bunch of stupid red tape bullshit that costs everybody more time and money.

[old goat]

it's hard for me to see how this will work. Buyers' and sellers' agents have both always been working for the seller, like it or not. Both are paid by the seller and both make more the more the buyer pays. A true buyer's agent would have to be working for a fixed fee to find properties not easily found on Zillow or other sites and to get the best deal for the buyer. But what's the incentive. The agent gets paid the same regardless of the value they provide and the buyer is unlikely to be a repeat customer. And why would anyone want to be a buyer's agent, since any fixed fee a buyer is likely to be willing to pay upfront would be a fracion of a sellers' agent's commission. It's not clear to me that having an agent will do any more for a buyer than it has in the past, which is not much.

My guess is that someone will come up with a website that has stuff like how long on the market and history of listing prices, which is already on Zillow, plus perhaps a history of offers, inspections, perhaps an appraisal based on comps--stuff that would allow a buyer to better negotiate.

[XXX-er]

IMO its more important for the agents that the RE moves and they get paid than to get mo money

[old goat]

IMO its more important for the agents that the RE moves and they get paid than to get mo money

Yeah, I guess it depends on the market. In a hot market the agents can keep buyers panicked into making above asking offers without an inspection and get paid fast and a lot. In a slow market I can see them pricing low to get the property sold. The main thing is that the way the system is set up it's the agents' priorities that rule, not the buyers' or the sellers'. I'm not sure what's a better way though, besides making it easier and easier for buyers to get a decent deal without an agent.

[XXX-er]

I think that ^^ is over thinking

The way i see it if the vendor is paying an agreed upon % of the purchase price which the buying & selling agents are then gona split, A bit more money on the selling price isnt gona make that much difference on the commision they take home, the important thing is that they DO take home a comission

The main thing is that the house SELLS especialy for the buyers agent cuz he could miss out on the whole thing if his buyer gets cold feet or some other buyer makes an offer, same with the selling agent if his vendor takes the house off the market or for any reason pulls the plug

so i think the idiom " a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush " defintley applys

of course the vending home owner would have a different opinon

[old goat]

Whether the agents are trying to drive the price up to increase their commissions or down to speed the sale the result is the same--the agents' true clients--the people in whose interest they are acting--are themselves.

[TNKen]

How about this. Call a real estate attorney, ask him/her if they can write you a purchase contract to avoid broker fees. Use the attorney for the closing and it becomes a win/win for you and him/her.

[RootSkier]

Some states (e.g. MT) don't use attorneys for closings. Just send the contract and the earnest money to the title company. They do the closings.

But yeah, lots of attorneys can draft a purchase agreement, and they are probably smart enough to not include specific performance as a remedy for the seller, which is one of the default remedies in the Montana Realtors' form Buy/Sell agreements. Just unbelievably stupid.

[neufox47]

Some states (e.g. MT) don't use attorneys for closings. Just send the contract and the earnest money to the title company. They do the closings.

But yeah, lots of attorneys can draft a purchase agreement, and they are probably smart enough to not include specific performance as a remedy for the seller, which is one of the default remedies in the Montana Realtors' form Buy/Sell agreements. Just unbelievably stupid.

Not if your motivation is to close and get your fee.

[old goat]

IME in California lawyers aren't usually involved. The selling broker provides a standard contract in simple large print English with the terms written in. There may be contingencies like the buyer having to sell a house first that don't need a lawyer to negotiate (but good luck with that in most CA markets). Title company does the rest. The one time I used a lawyer was to draw up a mortgage when we carried the mortgage on our kid's house after Wells dropped the ball. Obviously the bigger the price the more likely someone will want a lawyer involved but we've never been in that situation.

[BFD]

since this is on the first page. Just sold a house. 15 minutes on Facebook Marketplace, Title company handled all paperwork. Just spent more time trying to get my camera and microphone working to sign paperwork with online notary than on the entire process.

[old goat]

Obviously you priced it way way too low.

[fomofo]

Contracts, schmontracts!



Update: Woman charged in case of deed switched without homeowner's knowledge

[fomofo]

Still kinda early on, and typically a sluggish time of year, but curious if anyone has been involved in a sale (as buyer or seller) since the new realtor engagement rules went into effect?

[Mazderati]

What do you want to know?

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Still kinda early on, and typically a sluggish time of year, but curious if anyone has been involved in a sale (as buyer or seller) since the new realtor engagement rules went into effect?

Thus far in our market: Sellers are still offering to pay the buyer's agent and still in the same % range pretty much as previously. Have yet to come across a listing that isn't. Have heard of a couple that weren't offering compensation through my office, but the buyey/buyers agent just writes into their offer that they want their agent to be paid at X% of purchase price. Haven't heard of any of them not getting accepted written that way.

It has certainly cooled off here and many properties are sitting and not flying off the shelf. Properties priced right are still going under contract in a few days. I'd imagine things could be different if these rules went into effect summer 2021. Desperate buyers with out of state money would probably be more apt to pay their agents directly......especially when they were all cash or locked into a 2.25% mortgage rate.

[smmokan]

How many sellers know of the new law, and how many selling agents are informing them of the change? If you live in a decent market with a well-priced house, I don't know why a seller would be willing to pay the buyer's commission now that it's clear they don't have to.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

How many sellers know of the new law, and how many selling agents are informing them of the change? If you live in a decent market with a well-priced house, I don't know why a seller would be willing to pay the buyer's commission now that it's clear they don't have to.

The Montana Listing Agreement was updated in May 2024 to spell it out more clearly to the seller that they DO NOT have any obligation to pay a buyer's agent. They never HAD to, but to make things more clear the forms were updated in advance of the national changes and I would assume this is the case in many/most states now. Many clients have been asking about the changes for 6+ months before they actually went into effect.

[Yukonrider]

It's just so easy to buy a house without a realtor. I spent more time signing buyer broker agreements the one time I used a realtor than I did doing the whole process at the title company.

Plus the middle man process, if you want to do anything other than a very standard transaction the realtor stands directly in your way and often needs to be educated in the various terms.

But I see why people use them, people just hate fussing around with stuff, regardless of how much money it saves them, they would rather pay a realtor than spend 5 hours on making or saving $10,000. Plus big real estate has made the entire process daunting so people won't even consider doing it themselves unless they are already pretty savvy.