(04-16-2024, 11:00 PM)HereOnThePrimalEdge Wrote: Don’t forget that the realtor 6% commission is over. If I had signed a six month agreement with a realtor at 6%, I might want to wait to sell until the contract expires and I can negotiate a better rate. A 3% reduction on $700,000 is $21,000.
There was never a 6% "rule" on commissions in Hawaii. There are several brokerages that charge 1%, there are flat raters, it's all negotiable. Always has been. The changes in other parts of the country may have been more substantial than Hawaii.
What mainly changed is that the cooperative broker fee can no longer appear on the MLS listing. It can appear anywhere else. So the only thing that really changed is that the process is now less transparent to the buyer, and a whole bunch of lawyers are rolling in cash and laughing at the "transformation" they created. Another change is that real estate agents are required to have buyers under a contract before they show them any property. Some agents in Hawaii were already doing this, but most weren't. Basically under the old system, a buyer or seller was guaranteed results or they paid nothing. Now, that's not the case.
The end-game is to turn the real estate market into a used car lot where the buyers have no representation and the choices will be the Blackrock or Vanguard real estate lots. And Vanguard is a majority owner of Blackrock so there is really only one lot. They'll make the process "easier", though not cheaper, they will even take trade-ins so customers can get screwed on both transactions. They will offer in-house financing just like a car lot. How much can you afford a month? We have the right house for you! And if they don't have a buyer for the trade-in, they'll rent it out. So buyers, sellers, and renters will all be equally screwed. What they really want is to get rid of buyers and owners completely and create a nation of renters. It won't happen overnight, but the pieces are slowly falling into place. Welcome to Pottersville, where you'll own nothing and be happy.
The lawsuits that created this change were from sellers who feel like they shouldn't have had to pay for the buyers's representation. But get this, now there are talks of the buyers suing because by bringing the money to the transaction, they are the ones who REALLY paid for both sides of the representation.
As far as I know, the proposed new rules haven't been approved by a judge yet, so much of this is speculation based on the assumption they will be approved. But if you don't want to pay 6%, there is no reason to wait, you can get a 1% brokerage right now.