Home buyers and sellers in Maryland might be thinking closing costs and commissions will get cheaper after reading national headlines this past week about a multimillion-dollar Realtor settlement. Not so fast — many of the protections in the proposed national settlement are already in place in Maryland.
Multiple real estate lawsuits claimed that the industry inflated fees to keep agent commissions high. Now, the National Association of Realtors has said that it will change policies to make it easier for homebuyers to negotiate fees with their agents, a move that could lead more buyers to forgo using agents altogether.
As part of the settlement, announced Friday, the NAR agreed to no longer require a broker advertising a home for sale to offer any upfront compensation to a buyer’s agent. Currently, real estate agents working with a buyer and seller typically split a commission of around 5% to 6% that’s paid by the seller.
To put it plainly, home sellers will no longer automatically have to cover this commission fee for both sides of the transaction.
The NAR also agreed to pay $418 million to help compensate home sellers across the U.S. If the settlement is approved, the national association could implement changes in July.
