The commission lawsuits have plunged the entire residential real estate industry into total chaos. Agents are in denial about what’s coming, but with NAR’s settlement agreement, in July of 2024, most MLSs in the country will no longer have a field for a buyer’s commission.

Complicating matters even more, if you’re relying on paid leads from one of the portals or major lead generation companies, those pipelines are also going to be turned off in July because they can only distribute leads from those sellers who have given written consent to receive that lead.

In other words, they can only refer the lead to one agent where the seller has given their consent, unless the seller agrees to have multiple agents contact them but still must have their names. (See RealClues February 26, 2024, edition.)

If you haven’t taken broker brokerage agreement training, do so now. As I stated in the article, it is going to be highly likely that only agents who have signed buyer broker agreements will be allowed to show the property.

Second, brush up on your negotiation strategies. The changes do not prohibit you from asking for a commission in your buyer’s office, a credit, mortgage rate buy-down—there are hundreds of ways to still put deals together on the buyer’s side—you just need to be able to show your value, be creative, and stay on top of your overcoming objections scripts.