NAR Lawsuit Settlement: Why POWER AGENTS® Don’t Need to Panic
While the NAR Settlement announcement sent many agents into a panic, POWER AGENTS® are prepared and ready for anything.
With the National Association of REALTORS® recent announcement regarding the settlement in the Antitrust lawsuits, agents are looking for answers on how this will impact them. For some, this is huge news that sent them scrambling for answers, but members of the POWER AGENT® Program have been preparing for this and learning new strategies and skills since October, giving them THE platform and calm they need to navigate these changes with more confidence and less confusion than agents who chose a “wait and see” direction.
There were many who were caught off guard and now are feeling that “scramble”, especially for Buyer’s Agents. We get it. There’s a lot to take in! Our coaching call yesterday was filled to the brim with questions about how to handle these commission conversations now that all the “rules” are changing. So much so that we’re hosting a special BONUS coaching call on Friday to help members get the full scope of their questions answered right away.
POWER AGENTS®, watch for an email and head to your training registration page to tap into that bonus coaching call here: https://darrylspeaks.com/training/
Here’s a quick review of what happened:
The announcement essentially stated that Michael Ketchmark and NAR got together and came up with an agreement, which states these two major things:
- An agent must have a signed buyer agency agreement. We have been encouraging agents to have this document signed to ensure a commitment from the buyers, and ensure you get paid. Now, according to this agreement, it’s a requirement.
- The selling broker’s commission will no longer be a field on the MLS. This doesn’t mean that the seller can’t offer something to the buyer’s agent, which is the best model that works.
In addition to these two points, instead of suing for $1.8 billion, they’ll say they will settle for $418 million and spread the payment out over four years.
It needs to be noted that this settlement is not yet set in stone. NAR and Mr. Ketchmark (the attorney who sued NAR) have come to an agreement and submitted that to the courts. The ball is now in the judge’s (literal) court to decide if he will accept that or tweak it. We believe that the chances of him rejecting it or changing it dramatically from the new terms seems unlikely. That’s really great news for us.
Related reading: ESS – Mastering Adaptability: Key to Future Organizational Success
So, what now for agents?
Great question and one you and every agent should be asking because how you handle the next steps will dramatically affect your business and bottom line in the next few months as you navigate both change and commission conversations with both buyers and sellers.
Here are Darryl’s top four things to do post-settlement announcement:
- Don’t engage in the online drama. It will be easy to jump into the social media chatter about the lawsuits, what happened, what’s next, and who’s to blame, right? Don’t. First of all, that’s not good for you, your business, your brokerage, or your clients to see. It’s a rabbit hole that has no bottom, so leave it and focus on creating your breakthroughs and serving people at your highest level.
- Decide how you are going to present commissions on your listing appointments. If you will be using a tiered plan of service, what rate are you comfortable with, and how will those conversations will play out. We will talk more about how to do this effectively in our training this week.
- Decide how you are going to present commission on your buyer appointments. Know now that your Buyer Agency Agreements are a must. Decide on your standards of service and how you will navigate that conversation with buyers so that they fully understand both the value you bring and the different ways that commission can be paid.
- Become masterful at those two presentations. Now is the time to master your listing and buyer conversations and be able to communicate your value and communication.
That said… deep breaths and commit to skill development.
Much of this is good news and changes we need to see happen in our industry. The prepared will be fine. In fact, they’ll excel. Those who are not prepared, or even in the mindset to manage change, will more than likely find themselves looking for another industry to settle into.
Now is the time to ditch distractions and focus on skills. That’s why we are here. That’s what we’ll be helping agents do and have been since this all broke wide open. POWER AGENTS® – you are in the best place possible to navigate this aftermath. It’s like already being at the hospital when you are having a cardiac episode. You’re where you need to be to have access to the best possible care and “treatment”.
Darryl’s doing the heavy lifting delivering the right words, skills, solutions, and tools to help you be at peace with change and leverage it to achieve your next level.
The Takeaway
This upcoming year is going to be one of changes in the way we do real estate, and while some agents are viewing this settlement negatively, we consider this a good thing. These changes will raise the bar of professionalism and integrity and will make agents stronger at serving their clients. We’ve been preparing for these changes, which is why this big industry news isn’t big news to us in the POWER AGENT® Program. Now that what Darryl predicted has come to fruition, we will continue to teach agents to focus on being transparent in their client relationships and get super-skilled at presenting value and fees to clients.
For more information about the NAR Antitrust lawsuits, go to HERE.
Related reading: 5 Ways to Manage Fear in the Wake of the NAR Lawsuit
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