DISCLOSURES, COMMISSIONS, AND OUR NEW NORMAL

On August 15, 2024, Buyer Broker commissions disappeared from our local Multiple Listing Services and it felt like half of our industry members panicked. As professionals authorized to practice law in a very limited capacity, our agents and brokers are heavily regulated and rightfully so. We have all recently been bombarded with information from our local associations, our brokers, our colleagues, and the social media channels that many of us follow. New rules are in effect and many agents are unsure how to move forward for fear that they’ll do the wrong thing and get pounded with a heavy fine. Rumors of testers from the DOC and DOJ are quite valid, and it is absolutely in your best interest to know how to operate your business now and going forward. 

 

When the market began shifting a few years ago, I’ll never forget one of the fresher agents in our coaching program asking me during a zoom call how it was going to get hard. “Linsey Frawley,” (she only calls me by my first and last name), “all of these seasoned agents are telling us that things are going to get hard. I’m a new agent and things are already hard. How can they get harder? I need you to tell me things are going to be okay.” What she didn’t realize was that things wouldn’t get harder for her because she was already doing what she was supposed to do. The hard part for our veteran agents was going back to the basics (where she already was) and then move forward with purpose. 

If you’re new or newer, the good news is that you likely won’t experience these changes in a negative way- you’ll just roll forward because this is how things are now. Just because this next part might feel hard to some of the tremendously successful agents you know, please know that it will likely not be as hard for YOU. 

 

In Minnesota and Wisconsin we’ve been leaps and bounds ahead of the game in regards to disclosure and representation of buyers in exclusive, dual, and designated agencies. Agents in our areas are more concerned about the nuanced scenarios than what agents and brokers are concerned about in other markets. Did you know that many markets never even had a representation agreement form for Buyers?? That’s nuts! 

 

Listen…
Listen.

There is absolutely nothing in the new requirements that negates what we’ve been doing all along. Keep it simple. 

1. Disclose agency. Do so at the first substantive contact. Explain how representation works in your state or association. This has always been your job. Don’t skip it because you might have more stuff to talk about.

2. Don’t behave as an agent until you have a written agreement authorizing you to do so (this especially includes showing homes).  Stay in your lane, friend.

3. Have a cast iron unique value proposition. At the end of the day, if you aren’t 100% SOLID about your value, stop what you’re doing and get that sorted out. I’m not kidding. Get out a pen, shut everything down, and write at least TEN reasons why a prospective Buyer or Seller should hire YOU instead of the next bloke. If you can’t rattle off your 30 second elevator pitch RIGHT NOW, you’re not ready. Get ready.

4. Get right with the forms. They’re new and many agents hardly read them. READ THEM. The parameters of our new regulations are pretty cut and dry, and if you’re not completely clear on something, you have to ask your Broker. You have to ask your Broker. You HAVE to ask your BROKER. This is YOUR JOB. You are a professional and you are the steward of homeownership to your people and a beacon of calm in what is for some people the most stressful decision making experience of their lives. This is your  obligation and you must rise to it.