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News that the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) has settled commission cases and essentially agreed to decouple commissions has prompted many reactions from brokers on social media. With plenty of lemons in the news and on the horizon, can the agents get out of the way, make lemonade and succeed in the coming months?
I hear your voice and I feel your frustration.this news media With the widest consumer audience and consistently leading with the most sensational side, agents don’t have a fair chance.
While ranting won’t get you anywhere, being aware of these potential changes and being prepared to answer consumer questions will help you turn that bowl of lemons into a refreshing glass of lemonade. You just have to be willing to make your own path.
tantrums on the sidelines
After the settlement was announced, we saw shocking TikTok reactions, wild rants, and a surprising number of people claiming they would be able to negotiate higher commissions than before.Some agencies have a Travis Kelce-level tantrumswhile others seemed keen to make strange and unhelpful sarcastic observations.
Inman, meanwhile, immediately began an in-depth discussion following the live broadcast by James Dwiggins, Keith Robinson, and Ed Zorn, MLS general counsel for the California region. discuss.
Thought leaders, experts, executives, and rank-and-file agents all speak passionately about their frustrations. Still, while these strong feelings are valid, they have nothing to do with the facts many agents face: uncertain revenue in a low-inventory market, inflation pushing up the cost of living, and consumers who trust them to help them without bringing Bias in achieving real estate goals.
As Inman reporter Taylor Anderson describes it, the industry has been divided into four ideological camps: compromisers, reformers, fighters and referees. Unlike the Sorting Hat-assigned houses at Hogwarts, consumers will not be awarded any points to these factions until all the legal shuffling is over and a clear path to payment emerges.
@subparlover The traditional Sorting Hat ceremony at Hogwarts! #hogwartslegacy #sortinghat #gamingontikok #hogwarts #slytherin🐍 #avadakedavra ♬ Original Sound – SubParLover
In the past 20 years, the real estate market has experienced too many changes, and every ebb and flow has adjusted the sails and corrected the course. You can choose to make lemonade, but you have to be resourceful and ready to squeeze lemons.
I am always impressed and inspired by the resilience of those who choose to build careers in this field. I have no doubt that agents and teams that work hard to adapt to change and adapt their customer service skills will not only survive, but be able to forge new ground over the next 20 years.
After five years of warning, all the what-ifs ended in an anticlimax. Consumers have become a front-row seat to the disruption happening in our industry. As things unfold, the big question is who will make the lemonade and who will continue to eat sour grapes.
Bet on yourself, don’t believe the hype
Many agents are right: some headlines CNN, this New York Timesand other news outlets have chosen to dominate with the express purpose of grabbing consumer attention and are a gross oversimplification of a very complex and not yet final legal decision.
@cnn Real estate commissions are expected to drop by double digits after the National Association of Realtors agreed to reduce the standard 6 percent commission on home-purchase transactions, according to real estate industry analysts. #Real estate broker #committee ♬ Original Sound – CNN
But here are some of the realities we face right now:
- Agents getting defensive in the comments sections of major news outlets will not impress consumers.
- Consumers have a right to know what’s going on, and agents have a responsibility to provide them with the information and tools they need to properly understand.
- Brokers and team leaders need to immediately bring their agents together, provide guidance, and screen what their agents are doing online in public and private forums.
- As an industry, agents must immediately begin working to repair the relationship between consumers and agents. Agents must begin cooperating. The survival of the fittest attitude is not a good look. This should be the focus that everyone cares about the most. Transparency is key. Ditch the ranting and tantrums.
- Remember, the only certain thing about change is that it will keep happening; this decoupling may evolve into more forms or even resume in the coming years. Agents who are energized and calm about changing market conditions (as always) will remain on the move based on the conditions they face.
Be transparent and soften a sour situation
Consumers will demand explanations, and you need to be prepared. There are two routes you can choose.
Route one: You can be transparent, address their questions and concerns, and tell consumers you’re learning with them and will do your best to listen to them. Be open to new ideas and develop a strategy to work with less commission if a deal or consumer asks for it but won’t cooperate. In other words, heed the warnings and prepare for the storm in advance.
Route 2: You can double down on the fact that you have to find a way around it (which is exactly how you’ll end up under the legal microscope) to fight the change in order to keep your full commission, and argue with the consumer that the change is unfair to you , and the value you provide.
I really think it’s that simple. One way is through your willingness to adapt to the changing needs of consumers.
The second path is to use your “superior” negotiation skills to roll the dice, manipulate the consumer into doing what you want, and hope that after the transaction is over, the customer will not be upset about what happened and leave. , “Wait a minute, my neighbor just told me they had a sale. How come I didn’t get the deal?” and then come back and take legal action because they feel pressured by you. Be fair and transparent upfront and you can save yourself some heartache in the future.
In a perfect world, your superior negotiation skills will impress your clients, and they will fall in love with your superior business skills, praise you for your hard work, and value your value as a professional—and then you will will get happiness.
However, we do not live in a perfect world; this commission system has been found to be flawed and dysfunctional for many parties, and it is time for improvements. Every other industry has experienced innovation and development over the past 100 years; why should real estate be exempt from change?
The line between negotiation and manipulation is thin, so proceed with caution. If things don’t go your way, the coaches, experts, and all the people who are pushing you to work hard won’t be standing next to you on the court.
Advocate for change
If you’re not happy with this, I challenge you to do something about it. If you have evidence (and I know many of you have evidence) that these changes are hurting consumers, document it and write letters, make phone calls, and do whatever you can to create a tangible ripple effect that might help improve this situation.
Complaining without action is useless; when it comes to truly changing the world, we are full of complaints and opinions. Despite this, few take the time and energy to become solution makers and work against overregulation.
@thatonedamninger Reply @real estate consumer lawyer ♬ Original Sound – VALoanLady
Real estate in our country is at crisis levels. Between affordability, discrimination, and lack of inventory, to stay on this career path you have to be actively involved and work to help solve the problems that make this career difficult to make it better for consumers and yourself in the future. It’s easy to post anonymously on Facebook and get 800 ridiculous comments; educating yourself on how to change that is more challenging.
Let’s calm this down as soon as possible
As an industry, the primary focus must be on rebuilding the relationship between agents and consumers. It’s a broken disaster and consumers don’t trust agents. I don’t care which industry association steps up to help solve this problem; I hope that the current dynamic creates new leaders who are problem solvers rather than people stuck in the past.
Romancing with tradition and nostalgia is very dangerous, especially for those who are not privileged in this country. Individuals with extreme privilege and wealth have long dominated and profited from the real estate industry, profiting from consumers who did not understand their right to negotiate.
The reason we are here today is not because of the many hard-working agents advocating for fair housing and the American dream, but because many in our industry have generally failed to properly educate consumers so that they understand how commissions work and The value of the work performed by the agent.
Now that litigation has begun, there is no turning back.
Enough with the tantrums. Do better, be a leader of change, and be an example of how to make change work for everyone, not just some. Don’t be sorry, angry, sad, or discouraged. Start researching solutions. I’m curious who will step up and make the best lemonade this summer.
Rachael Hite is a former broker, business development professional, fair housing advocate, copy editor, and currently perfecting her long-term home selling game in a retirement community in Northern Virginia.You can contact her about life, marketing and business at Instagram.
