On Aug. 17, a settlement agreement takes effect that will impact the real estate industry.
It stems from a lawsuit filed against the National Association of Realtors over its practice of setting commissions.
The settlement doesn’t have much effect on commercial sales, which are traditionally negotiated commissions. But it does mean changes for residential sales because up until the legal challenge, buyers may not have known commissions were negotiable since the fees were often spelled out in the forms.
Julie Meier, president of the Hawaiʻi Association of Realtors, has been conducting virtual training workshops statewide to help Hawaiʻi relators understand how the changes will affect them.
"What we really want to make sure that everyone understands is the settlement doesn't fundamentally change the way people buy or sell homes in Hawaiʻi," Meier said. "That remains the same. Fees will continue to be negotiable between consumers and the realtors, and overall, the settlement will be beneficial, because it's allowing us to communicate and be very transparent on the buyer broker fees and listing fees between agents and buyers and sellers."
Currently, when a seller lists their property, they have an agreed upon compensation rate for their realtor — which is also shared with the buyerʻs broker.
"Now the change is that the buyer's broker will now negotiate directly with the buyer's agent on that compensation, so that was the significant change, Meier said. "That was a change. And another change is that our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) is where we have all of our listings there will no longer have any information about fire compensation."
To find more information on the settlement, click here.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Aug. 12, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
