As you may have heard by now, the lawsuit over real estate commission sharing has entered the settlement phase, bringing about changes within the industry for buyers, sellers and agents.
As of August 5th, the way we do business in real estate here in South Carolina will change. I’ve had a lot of questions about it, and the short answer is I personally am not worried. I feel like it’s another change that the industry is seeing, and I’ve seen lots of them over the 19 years that I have been an agent. It will be different; it may be painful as all change can be, but I do think some good things will come out of it both for sellers and for agents.
Now, for buyers, that’s another story. I think that things could get very complicated for them, and I just want you to know that if you are looking for a house, I am happy to explain everything to you—what the changes are, what they mean and how we can work for you to get you proper representation with minimal or nothing out of pocket. It is a change, and it will be challenging, but we have some good ideas on how to help buyers, so I don’t want you to feel like you have to call the listing agent because you do not. There are things we can do legally to get you the money that you need to pay for the agent’s services.
And if you are a seller, it is also going to bring some changes for you, and while it may help a lot financially, I think that there’s a lot to navigate in this situation. So you need to understand what the challenges are and what we can do about them. Because as easy as it seems, “just don’t offer a commission”; that’s fine, but it’s just not going to be that easy, I don’t think. I think in time everything will shake out, and it’ll be good again, but within this change there is a challenge. Change can be hard.
So I promise you as a listing agent, I will net you the most money you possibly can, and as a buyer’s agent, I will absolutely still give you amazing service, and we will work to get this commission and compensation thing taken care of for you so that you can get the representation that you need. If you have any questions or you think somebody would like to hear this information, please share this post with them. I’m happy to have conversations with anyone at any time.
Warmly,
Lauren | Lauren Zurilla & Associates