Lawsuit settlement bringing changes to realtor commissions, Arkansas realtors react

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Realtors across the nation are preparing for a major overhaul set to go into effect on Aug. 17.

The changes, which impact how realtors get paid, are part of a $418 million settlement from March.

Home buyers will now have to set an appointment with an agent and sign an agreement, before even looking at properties.

“We’ve always had listing appointments with sellers when they went to list their homes,” Little Rock Realtors Association Executive Director Stacy Hamilton said. “Now we will have that same level of service provided on the buyer’s side.”

Hamilton said Arkansas has been practicing this for years. What’s new is the way a buyer’s agent gets paid for their service. Instead of splitting the commission, the signed agreement will decide who will make that payment.

“Is the money that is going to pay your realtor going to come from the seller selling their home? Or is the buyer going to chip in and pay a portion of the commission?” Realtor Conley Golden said, noting these will be the questions answered in the agreement.

Golden said this will have a huge impact on how agents for both the seller and buyer will now communicate to each other about the bottom line.

“We move quick. We sell a lot of houses. We text back and forth. Now we’re going to have to pick up the phone,” Golden said.

Another change is that an agent’s commission will no longer be posted on multiple listing services.

Many analysts are calling this the biggest change in America’s real estate market in a century. But Hamilton said her realtors are ready.

“So we have adjusted our business practices to make sure our realtor members have all the tools they need to navigate this change very successfully,” Hamilton said.

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