What They Mean For Buying And Selling Homes!
The Game-changing Real Estate Rules In Ohio
As you may or may not know, a lot has changed in the real estate industry over the course of the last year, and there’s some specific changes coming up this August that I wanted to make you aware of. This impacts both buyers and sellers, and so I thought I’d make a video outlining the difference for both.
- Buyer’s Broker Agreements
- Commissions
Buyer Broker Agreements
For buyers, not much has changed except a lot has changed, buyer broker agreements are now required before you actually go look at a house with a buyer’s agent. So what does this mean for you? Historically, it’s been easy to pick up the phone and say, “Hey, I wanna see this house at 123 Main Street” and you meet the agent there for the first time. If you like the house, you write up an offer. If not, you may or may not go see other homes with them.
However, now that a buyer broker agreement is required, it’s advantageous for you to sit down with your buyer’s agent before you ever start looking for homes so you can go over what you’re qualified for and go over the entire process so they can understand your wants and needs.
I think this is great for buyers so they can actually meet and interview multiple agents ahead of time to figure out if they’re gonna be a good fit for them or not. Some buyers only need to see one house. Some need to see 30 or 40 before they actually make an offer. So you need to find an agent that’s willing to work for you at your pace.
What Does This Mean For Sellers?
As for sellers, a lot has changed for sellers, but again, not much has changed, and what I mean by that is commissions have always been negotiable. However, it’s just more transparent on how these fees are being distributed for listing agents and buyer’s agents.
In the past, the commission was split between the listing agent and the buyer’s agent on the total commission line, or some form thereof. However, now it is separated so that it is a listing commission and a buyer broker offer of compensation. And again, it has always been negotiable, but what that means is you don’t have to pay a buyer’s agent to bring a buyer to your house. The reason that we recommend that you still do is to make your home appeal to the widest number of buyers in our market. Over 63% of buyers actually need that additional money or don’t have the additional money to bring to closing to pay their agent. The reason that your house is appraised at what it is today and the reason the values are what they are today is because of the way that the system has worked in the past.
So I want to be clear that commission has always been negotiable, and you can offer whatever you’d like, but I’m always going recommend that you continue to offer that offer of compensation to attract the widest number of buyers that potentially could buy your house.
What Should You Do Now?
Regardless if you’re buying or selling, it’s advantageous for you to reach out. Let’s have a conversation so that we can better get to know what you’re looking for, what the selling time frame is, any wants and needs that you have with regards to real estate. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Join The Discussion