när – Housing Seller

NAR Settlement: What it Means for Home Buyers and Sellers

Admin — Wed, 20 May 2026 00:56:13 +0000

With decades of real estate experience, Chris Spina shares his invaluable professional perspective on the NAR Settlement. Read on to truly understand the details and their effects.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently reached a settlement agreement pending court approval in a large lawsuit involving over 500 plaintiffs. As someone who has been in the real estate industry for over 45 years and has sold homes in Florida for 26 years, I would like to address this settlement and share my thoughts on how it will impact both sellers and buyers.

BASIS OF THE NAR LAWSUIT

The bottom line is that the lawsuit alleges that buyers end up paying more for a home because a seller offers a commission to the buyer’s agent, also known as a co-broke.

The lawsuit also alleges that NAR’s requirement for a field on the Multiple Listing System (MLS) for broker compensation was a manipulation of the system, resulting in increased prices. It also states that offers of broker compensation should not be communicated via the MLS.

THE PROPOSED NAR SETTLEMENT

Under the proposed settlement, NAR has agreed to pay $418 million over the course of three years to the plaintiffs, but has acknowledged no guilt.

The main points of the NAR Settlement include

1. NAR is mandated to eliminate the fields on the MLS that offer a co-broke amount to a buyer’s agent.

2. NAR will require all members of NAR and local associations to execute a Buyer’s Broker Agreement outlining the payment a buyer’s broker will receive from the buyer upon completion of the purchase, unless a seller is willing to pay the buyer’s agent.

3. These two items will become effective in mid-July after the judge finalizes and signs the agreement.

How does the NAR Settlement Affect Home Buyers and Home Sellers?

As someone in the real estate field for many years, I believe these changes will have a definite impact.

Here is my professional take on the likely results of this settlement:

Buyers May Be Hesitant to Sign Agreements

Under the NAR Settlement, home buyers will be required to sign a Buyer’s Broker Agreement prior to looking at homes. Moreover, this agreement will include how the commission and real estate agent fees will be paid.

If the home seller is unwilling to pay the buyer’s agent, then the buyer will be responsible for paying their real estate agent.

Many buyers will push back on signing anything, especially something requiring them to pay to retain the professional services of an agent. If the agreement stipulates that if a seller pays, then they do not, buyers may be more willing to sign.

Yet, regardless of their feelings on the document, if a buyer wants to proceed with the home search, they are required to sign a Buyer’s Agreement, according to the NAR Settlement.

Buyers Will Face a Bigger Barrier to Entry

First-time homebuyers often struggle to gather the funds for the downpayment and basic fees. Moreover homebuyers frequently rely on assistance from the seller for closing costs and pre-paid expenses. Adding another fee on top of the significant costs that homebuyers face will be a barrier to entry for some buyers, especially first-time homebuyers.

Also, because a broker payment cannot be part of a loan package, those buyers are at a disadvantage unless they go it alone without a buyer’s agent. This presents a whole new set of challenges, for those first-time buyers who have never been through a real estate transaction and are unaware of the necessary steps.

Sellers May Still Pay Both Commissions

Sellers will need to decide if they are still willing to pay a cooperating broker a commission to bring a buyer into their home. Their listing agent will need to communicate that to the buyer’s agent.

My gut tells me most sellers will continue with their current course of action. As a result, it is crucial for the buyer’s agent to identify this and inform their client of the potential impact prior to any showings.

Additionally, if the amount the seller is willing to pay is disclosed in the Confidential Remarks of the MLS (unless prohibited by local boards), the buyer’s agent will be aware of the compensation offered.

Offers May Include the Buyer’s Agent’s Compensation

While the seller may not offer to pay the buyer’s agent’s commission, this could be negotiated on the back end.

The buyer’s offer can include a request that the seller pay the buyer’s agent’s compensation. This formal documentation will ensure there is complete transparency and legal agreement.

Home Prices May Decrease (but probably won’t)

The plaintiffs feel that prices will decrease because sellers are no longer obligated to pay a buyer’s agent. In my humble opinion, this will not happen in reality.

Sellers are unlikely to lower their prices simply because they no longer have to pay a commission. I simply do not see this happening, especially with the low inventory and high demand in most areas.

Agents Will Develop New Strategies

To navigate this new landscape, listing agents will need to strategize with each of their clients to determine the best course of action for them.

Documents Will Be Modified

The current forms used to list a home will also need to be amended by the local boards, as they currently refer to a co-broke amount in the agreement.

Builders Will Still Pay a Finders Fee

Builders will continue to pay a “finders” fee/commission to agents who bring buyers to their developments, i.e., Lennar, DR Horton, and the like.

The Updated Buyer’s Broker Agreement

At this point, individual brokerages are responsible for drafting their own Buyer’s Broker Agreement or Buyer’s Representation Agreement. This will be a contract that the homebuyer will need to sign that lays out the duties and obligations of the agent with a compensation agreement.

For my company’s use, our Buyer’s Broker Agreement will indicate that if the seller pays a commission to me (the buyer’s agent), the buyer will not be responsible for any additional fees and is completely off the hook. It will be straightforward and simple.

However, if the seller does not pay a commission, the buyer will be responsible for a set amount at closing, per the agreement.

As an aside; This is the first time in my 26 years of representing hundreds of buyers that I will be implementing such an agreement. I have NEVER used a buyer’s brokerage agreement, so this is a first for me.

Final Thoughts

The real estate industry will experience many changes in July as a result of this lawsuit. It remains to be seen how these changes will actually and practically play out. One thing is certain– educating buyers and sellers about these changes will be crucial.

As a professional, I am committed to providing first-class service to my clients, regardless of any changes. For me, it is important to focus on representing the best interests of my clients.

I will keep my eyes on the twists and turns of the Market so my clients don’t have to. If I can assist you in selling or buying, contact me and I will jump right on it!

After failed NAR vote, brokerages beef up referral disclosures

Admin — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 22:56:57 +0000

The moves come after a failed effort to amend the Realtor code of ethics last week. This move would have broadened the referrals Realtors are required to disclose to clients. The amendment was widely approved by the full Board of Directors just minutes before

it failed to pass

a vote by a group of local Realtor leaders known as the Delegate Body.

TAKE THE INMAN INTEL SURVEY FOR NOVEMBER

In an apparent response, the brokerages and even one large Realtor association have issued statements in favor of broad disclosure.“The real estate landscape is evolving rapidly. In response, brokerages and even a large Realtor association have issued statements in favor of broad disclosure.“The real estate landscape In this climate, keeping quiet isn’t an option. Transparency does not only benefit business; it also builds public trust. Inman asked it to provide more information about the changes before Monday’s webinar. However, Exp declined. The firm’s exclusive right to sell or lease form would also include a fee disclosure.

Moreover, a new “Con

The firm’s exclusive right to sell or lease form would also include a referral fee disclosure.

Moreover, a new “Consumer Choice in Your Real Estate Transaction” form will outline the consumer’s right to choose their ancillary providers.

The brokerage also said in its statement that its Full Referral Fee Disclosure would expand referral fee disclosures and give clients added clarity.

James Dwiggins, CEO of NextHome, shared the forms online and applauded eXp for leading the way toward greater transparency.

“To be clear, this is in response to NAR governance failing to pass a rule change to Article 6 of the Code of Ethics to require disclosure of referral fees to clients, as well as the new litigation against Zillow regarding referral fees,” Dwiggins wrote.

Also on Wednesday, Benchmark Realty — which operates in Tennessee and Kentucky — updated its policy on disclosures, effective immediately.

The firm said that all referrals — “whether paid or received” — must be disclosed to clients in writing before or at the time of the referral arrangement. The brokerage stated that they were beefing up their policy as a result of the failure by the Delegate Body to pass a rule change to “Our policy is designed to preserve trust, protect consumers, and strengthen professionalism in the industry.”

The Benchmark Realty policy applies many different types of referrals: agent-to-agent referrals, relocation networks, lead-generation platforms, broker-to-broker referrals, marketing or advertising networks that pay agents, and any third-party provider that provides money or other incentives.

Agents who fail to meet the disclosure requirements face termination from the brokerage, the company said.

In addition to eXp and Benchmark Realty, the California Association of Realtors in recent days also publicly expressed support for referral fee transparency. The organization said it was revising its forms accordingly, which will “make it easier to disclose receipt and payment of referral fees.”

Referral fee transparency remains a hot topic among industry professionals, but overall the changes were welcomed on Wednesday by Summer Goralik, a California-based real estate compliance expert.

“If you’re rolling out new policies and forms, that’s fantastic, I commend you,”

Goralik wrote

. It’s great that you are implementing new policies and forms. I commend you,”

Goralik wrote0100

EXp CEO Leo Pareja: We aren’t waiting for NAR on referrals

Admin — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 22:56:40 +0000

EXp rolled out updated referral disclosure forms on Monday. “Are we waiting for some third-party body that we’re members of to have our back? As we learned, I’d rather be safe than sorry,” Pareja said.

Real estate has quickly changed into a landscape where lead-generation platforms are collecting a referral fee at closing, more companies own their own lending divisions, and the industry at large is in a protective, pro-consumer stance.

That’s according to eXp Realty CEO Leo Pareja and Holly Mabery, eXp’s senior vice president of brokerage operations. The two spoke with Inman about the firm’s Monday rollout of new and updated referral disclosure forms at the nation’s largest brokerage by sides and agent count.

EXp announced last week that its agents would begin using new forms around referrals. That announcement came eight days after a group of Realtors failed to approve an amendment to the Realtor Code of Ethics that would have expanded when agents must disclose referrals to their clients.

The proposed amendment overwhelmingly passed a vote of the full Board of Directors at the National Association of Realtors’ NXT conference in Houston just minutes before it failed a second and final vote.

“I thought it was going to pass, I truly did,” Mabery said. “When I found out it failed, it was like, ‘Oh, no.’”

Mabery suspects there was confusion about the amendment among the local leaders who make up the Delegate Body, which narrowly failed to approve the change. Regardless of the reason, eXp quickly began the process of creating new forms and updating existing ones for use by all agents, effective Dec. 1.

EXp rolled out the forms despite the failed amendment and at a time when the brokerage feels it is more responsible for its legal liability than the rule-setting NAR.

“We are, at the end of the day, responsible for our own future from a legal standpoint,” Pareja said. “At the end of the day, are we waiting for some third party body that we’re members of to have our back? As we learned, I’d rather be safe than sorry and own and offer our stuff.”

EXp was among the nearly 100 brokerages that were not covered by the landmark NAR settlement in March 2024.

“If it’s legally challenged, I feel like we’re going to be there anyway,” Pareja said. “So we might as well be authors and active participants in that process.”

Real estate evolution

EXp’s days as the No. 1 brokerage by transactions could come to an end if Compass’ bid to acquire Anywhere is finalized next year.

The blockbuster merger is just one sign of how the industry is changing as more companies acquire competitors and expand their in-house ancillary services.

“The world is different than five years ago,” Pareja said. “We witnessed the death of the pay-per-lead kind of reoccurring business model from the lead-gen side of the world.”

“We’ve seen a slow but steady migration to a success fee with all companies now taking a referral fee from most of the lead-gen products at scale.”

Zillow is facing a pair of legal challenges over allegations that agents in its Zillow Preferred Agent program (previously Zillow Flex) must meet a quota of clients referred to use Zillow Home Loans.

In a separate lawsuit, attorneys alleged that Zillow inflated costs to homebuyers through the Zillow Flex referral program, which imposes up to a 40 percent “success fee” to agents who successfully close a transaction via a lead generated through the platform.

“We’re now in a world where three of the five largest search portals are owned by lenders or own a lender,” Pareja said. “That is a pretty big shift from if we were to rewind the industry five, 10 years ago.”

“Compass buying Anywhere is another part of the consolidation, where you see vertical integration with all services under one roof,” Pareja said. “By the way, we own a lender, so we’re not different.

“So we just want to continue to double down on the consumer being our North Star and being hyperaware. There’s absolutely no requirement on them to use any service provider.”

The updated referral forms are available for use as of Monday, which will kick off a kind of “grace period” during which the updates are rolled out to agents, Mabery said.

“When it comes to using the new listing form or buyer broker, we strongly encourage our agents to use our eXp forms,” Mabery added. “But we also recognize we are a platform that provides choice for the agent to rise to the level of success that they choose. And so, sometimes, they’re going to be using their state-provided forms.”

“We have provided a standalone referral disclosure. If they haven’t used our form, they need to use the referral disclosure,” Mabery said. “It’s that simple.”

Email Taylor Anderson

Dispatches from NAR NXT as real estate grapples with AI

Admin — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 22:56:02 +0000

I’ve never been to Houston but I wasn’t off the plane a minute before being reminded of an old joke from a friend: “It’s not the heat, it’s the humility.”

Humanity’s lack of spatial awareness, the narrow airport corridors and the fecund air quality combined to make me feel like I was tunneling through a mangrove thicket to find the cabstand. Isn’t this November?

NAR NXT is an annual event in which the industry’s prevailing trade group invites its members to be “part of the process” but still decides on the most important stuff behind closed doors. The press room made jokes about it.

Assuming you could find a meeting to attend — given the galactic scale of the nautically themed George R. Brown Convention Center (a fitting decor choice given that the place can double as an aircraft carrier garage) — the hired door sentries knew exactly who was allowed where and were well-trained in objection handling. I was rejected from two Expo Hall entrances on morning one, only to eventually find a gap in the curtain behind the registration desk.

Trade show attendants are particularly perky on the first day of an event. Keep your distance. Avoid eye contact. There was an Infiniti dealer promoting some new luxury models, a cashmere scarf vendor, yard sign printers, a LEGO station, an active screen printing operation, cowboys on two-story stilts juggling pins and generally all manner and method to extract money from real estate agents on display. I must’ve been asked 10 times if I wanted a branded grocery bag.

Actor Christopher McDonald from Happy Gilmore and The Iron Giant was on hand one day for handshakes and selfies. People who never wear cowboy hats finally had their moment at NXT, and around every corner an agent was recording a Reel. It’s definitely a terrific venue for content. More importantly, I think it gives agents confidence in the sheer breadth of resources available for them to be successful.

Instead of diving right into conversations with new vendors like the AI lead finder Real Intent, woman-founded transaction experience solution Real Time, or Subi, I wanted to step back to listen to agents’ needs and how solution providers responded to them. It didn’t take long for a clear pattern to emerge. Despite Houston being the most multilingual city in the United States, all I heard was the language of AI: RAG servers. Generative. Clones. Agentic.

If you really want to get your money’s worth at a conference, lean heavily into the expo halls and networking events. Everyone has a reason for attending, and those reasons directly reflect the state of the industry.

Outside of Brad Inman interviewing Gary Keller, stories are rarely found on stage. Instead, what I found was a nation of agents grappling with the sudden onset of artificial intelligence.

Embracing cautious optimism

Kelly Ranstad is the owner and managing broker of 150-agent Hybrid Real Estate in Eugene, Oregon. I tracked her down at REACH Demo Day, an opportunity for new members of the program to test their pitch skills. It was a crowded room.

“I’ve been going to REACH events even before they were part of NXT,” she said. “I like to think of myself as a tech connoisseur.”

Kelly Ranstad

Ranstad depends on REACH’s evolving list of technology vendors because the organization is quick to recognize “what’s next.” She centers technology decisions around ease of use for her agents and even developed a proprietary relationship management solution used in conjunction with Lofty. She’s no AI neophyte.

“AI? I love it. We launched a new Lofty website two weeks ago. I asked ChatGPT to optimize it for SEO,” Ranstad said. “Two weeks [in], we’re already top three in organic searches, specifically for our website in our market with our keywords. We’re getting leads from all over the state.”

She also uses AI for blog content and market reports. But for now, she still wants to stay manual when it comes to contract review and transaction compliance.

“I still need that human touch. AI is great for some things, but even with our blogs, we still want it to feel human.”

An hour or so later, I was with friend and industry colleague Britt Chester, Nautilant’s Director of Business Development, at the Expo Hall margarita stand, where the team from MetroList mentioned they were talking about me last night.

Apparently, they’re customers of Lundy, Inc., an AI business solution. It started as a voice transcription service for the visually impaired homebuyer and has since evolved into an internal business automation solution, a quickly emerging use case for AI. Founder Justin Lundy has teamed with LionDesk founder David Anderson. I’ve covered both of them for years.

“We’ve dubbed this year the ‘year for AI’ for MetroList,” Brian Groth said. He’s the director of sales and marketing. “We’ve adopted numerous AI programs; we’ve partnered with Restb.ai to be able to integrate AI image search and listing input. We’ve partnered with Lundy for MetroList Voice, which allows the agents to input a listing entirely by voice.”

Brian Groth

Groth said they’ve been rolling out the changes in person, visiting about 1,000 members so far.

“It’s one of those things that, once agents see it, once it’s in their hands, they realize what a time saver it is.”

Late afternoon would find conference-goers retreating to the patio to catch up on emails or decompress. It was still stupid hot, but at least a few tables had umbrellas. That’s where I found Dallas’ Sermondo Johnson with GenTech Realty. He’s a loan officer, too. The team uses FollowUp Boss as a CRM, but he said he’s here to learn about what’s going on with AI.

“I came to learn about industry advancements, and AI is certainly the hot ticket. I wanted to find out about the latest and greatest, and man, it’s evolving. I just made a clone of myself in a matter of three minutes that can make videos on my behalf,” he said.

“I use AI on a daily basis to come up with content, and I set up job tasks for it to search all the different publications, articles and give me the top five subjects for the North Texas area, and then I’ll post about it.”

Like Ranstad though, Johnson isn’t granting it free rein.

“AI will fool you into thinking it’s the most intelligent thing,” he said. “Don’t take it at face value; you need to tell it to double, triple-check itself.”

He acknowledges that the confirmation process is still much faster than creating the content from scratch. It’s worth the time savings and idea generation.

“I’m also an arbitrator, and AAA is using it to help determine settlement recommendations,” he said. “It’s summarizing the evidence package in minutes; it could be 200 pages, and it’s doing it in minutes. It’s kind of mind-blowing.”

He said if you’re not using AI in some form or fashion, you’re already behind.

“It’s not going to regress, that’s for sure.”

Portal wars reach the NXT front

I made my way over to the MoxiWorks booth to see about RISE, its new AI-supported, flagship enterprise product. The company went big with a space cowboy theme centered around a Light Cycle replica from the Tron universe — the most recent installment of which was about a rogue AI — and an actor in cowboy garb sporting aggressive snip-toe boots. No chaps, though.

There were foam rocket tchotchkes and a looping video of a rocket taking off. Fitting for Houston.

The software looks good. Flexible, lightweight. It’s designed to automate much of the user experience, enabling agents to fly through tasks, discover new business from old contacts and help brokers get a better handle on the spilled bag of marbles that often represents operating a real estate company.

The company clearly spent a lot on this show, with a big team on hand and banners in the main corridor. It’s good to see these long-recognized names harness new energy. I bet the company changes its name to better reflect this product despite already paying for a big brand overhaul, not an unusual move for a recently appointed CEO.

A couple of the usual players weren’t on hand, at least in booth form. I didn’t run into Inside Real Estate or Lone Wolf. No Compass either. A few major technology companies couldn’t be missed, however.

Homes.com looked ready for (portal) war: Its “booth” could’ve registered for its own ZIP code. It was a compound. Orange-clad attendants scurried every which way to earn the attention of lanyard-sporting passers-by.

It had designated meeting rooms, faux-garden panels, and on Saturday and Sunday, an enormous monitor aired football games. It’s Texas, after all.

Homes.com booth at NAR NXT 2025; Credit: Craig C. Rowe

Not far away, Zillow occupied a much smaller footprint. They had a coffee station, the de facto expo hall attraction for companies with trade show budgets. I had a double espresso Sunday morning; the only payment required was a badge scan, like I’m a packaged food item at check-out. Now I’m certain to get more Zillow spam.

Realtor.com at NAR NXT 2025, hosting a Chat GPT class. Credit: Craig C. Rowe

The portal leader’s presence was subdued, not flashy. Staff appeared mostly nonplussed with my bright green press badge. I came and went with not a single pitch about becoming a Premier Agent.

Reba McEntire’s image was ever-present at the Realtor.com booth. Her likeness appeared in banners, digital ad boards, hanging promotions and hallway kiosks.

The portal was conducting a ChatGPT prompt class on Sunday morning when I strolled past. Based on the number of cowboy hats I saw, the session appeared popular. The instructor was going on about best practices. “Prompt, modify, post,” she said twice, or something to that effect.

Redfin stayed at home this time around, but I have a request in my inbox to look at its new conversational AI search.

Last call

The conference circuit can be hectic and, often, a great deal of fun. The W+R Studios and Giant Steps Advisors co-founder Greg Roberston once told me, “Never go big on the first night,” advice to which I mostly adhered this time around.

After the booths close down for the day and dinner checks are settled, there’s typically a sponsored networking event somewhere that pretends to be exclusive. They have invites and lists and sometimes wristbands.

The majority of what you hear deep into the third quarter of happy hour a few days into a conference isn’t usable in formal reporting because when real estate conference-goers have access to an open bar, they ask for doubles. In short, some conference receptions aren’t for the faint-of-liver.

These events offer the opportunity for a lot of very smart people to be themselves with the expectation of not being quoted. It’s a responsibility I’ve always taken seriously and, in fact, leverage to get a feel for where the proptech space is headed. Everything is “on background,” to exercise an industry term.

What makes these events so unique is the opportunity created for known business leaders to speak off-script, free from the vernacular of pitch decks and toothless talking points. If we’re lucky — like this time around — the industry’s highest level of leadership will open up about what they think of our coverage and leap at the chance to pitch the next story. “You know what you should write about?” I stood by as Inman’s Taylor Anderson took some friendly fire from a recent subject.

These are the events where you meet fledgling founders who can’t yet afford a floor presence or an agent with a bootstrapped MVP (minimally viable product) they’re cautiously pitching at a high-top in the corner. It’s an open forum for critiques, insight, punditry and platitudes. It’s part sewing circle, part mastermind.

Group sizes ebb and flow as topics exhaust themselves and the last round of free drinks is announced. The crowd thins because of morning meetings, flight changes and the general acknowledgement that anything not talked about this time can likely wait until next time.

I never come away from these evenings without a story idea or the recurring confirmation that the real estate industry has a surplus of great thinkers. When a select hive-mind congeals from an enormous business facility into a cramped, blaring tavern, you realize that despite lawsuits, portal drama or market worries, the industry remains in very secure hands.

Even when those holding it move on.

Until NXT time.

Email Craig Rowe