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NAR Settlement and What YOU need to know being a home buyer
Dated: August 2 2024
Views: 133
Buying a home is one of the largest financial transactions most people will ever undertake. Having a trusted advisor, like a REALTOR®, can help you navigate this journey and make the best choices for your unique circumstances. Recent changes from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) bring new benefits and some challenges to homebuyers. Let’s break down what these changes mean for you.
What the Settlement Means for Homebuyers
Written Agreements with Your Agent
Before Touring a Home: You’ll now need to sign a written agreement called an Exclusive Buyer Representation Contract with your agent before touring any homes. What this means is that you are agreeing to work exclusively with this agent vs calling/using anyone else. This ensures that the terms you've discussed are clearly outlined and that you understand the services being provided, including their costs. Understanding everything your Realtor® is going to be doing throughout the transaction with you and for you is an important part of understanding why they are having you sign this exclusive agreement.
There is nothing worse than not knowing all of the details before getting into the home buying process so by NAR requiring this document to be signed allows everyone to be educated on what the next few weeks or months are going to look like.
Clarity: Everything is in writing, so there are no surprises about what services your agent will provide and for how much.
Transparency: You’ll know exactly what you’re paying for and can understand what your responsibilities are as a buyer, what fees may be involved, and how your agent will work in the best interest of you.
Extra Step: This adds an extra step before you can start house hunting. While this does add an extra step, to me, it is probably the most important step throughout the process. Often times I find buyers have many questions and this allows them the opportunity to ask those questions. It also provides an opportunity to learn about your agent and for your agent to learn more about you.
So what's in this agreement?
The amount or rate of your agent’s compensation or how it will be determined. Your agent will first negotiate terms with the seller to have them cover the cost of your agent's compensation but this clearly spells out that if they are unwilling to cover some or all of the compensation you both have agreed to, it then falls on you, the Buyer to ulitmately cover the costs of compensation.- Objective compensation (e.g., $0, a flat fee, a percentage, or an hourly rate), not open-ended.
- A clause preventing your agent from receiving compensation beyond what’s agreed upon.
- A statement that broker fees and commissions are negotiable and not set by law.
- Protection: These terms protect you from unexpected fees.
- Negotiability: Clear statements that fees are negotiable put you in the driver’s seat.
So what homes can I see without signing this?
Applies to All Tours: This written agreement is required for both in-person and live virtual home tours. The only exception to this rule is if you are chatting with an agent at an open house but keep in mind that the agent at the open house has a duty to their sellers.
Robyn Feld
This career quickly turned into a passion for helping others achieve their goals of homeownership. And proving to myself that sometimes you just need to take a terrifying leap into the unknown to real....
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Copyright © MFRMLS.com All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal. Neither listing broker(s) or information provider(s) shall be responsible for any typographical errors, misinformation, misprints and shall be held totally harmless. Listing(s) information is provided for consumers personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. Information on this site was last updated Last updated on September 27, 2026 6:11 PM UTC The listing information on this page last changed on Last updated on September 27, 2026 6:11 PM UTCd. The data relating to real estate for sale on this website comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange program of MFR MLS.
All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal. Neither listing broker(s) or information provider(s) shall be responsible for any typographical errors, misinformation, misprints and shall be held totally harmless. Listing(s) information is provided for consumers personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing.
Updated on September 27, 2026 6:11 PM UTC
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Data last updated: September 27, 2026 6:06 PM UTC and updating occurs daily
The data relating to real estate for sale on this web site comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange Program of Metro Search, Inc. Real estate listings held by brokerage firms other than Pivot Realty Group are marked with the Internet Data Exchange logo or the Internet Data Exchange thumbnail logo and detailed information about each listing includes the name of the listing broker.
© 2026 Metro Search, Inc.
The data relating to real estate for sale on this web site comes
in part from the Broker Reciprocity™ program of the Multiple
Listing Service of Greater Cincinnati. Real estate listings held by
brokerage firms other than Pivot Realty Group are marked with the MLS ™ logo
(the small logo to the left) and detailed information about them includes
the name of the listing brokers. The information herein is furnished by the property owner in good faith
All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal. Neither listing broker(s) or information provider(s) shall be responsible for any typographical errors, misinformation, misprints and shall be held totally harmless. Listing(s) information is provided for consumers personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. The data relating
All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawl. Neither listing broker(s) nor SE IN BD REALTORS shall be held responsible for typographical errors, misinformation, misprints and shall be held totally harmless.
