Good morning. With commission lawsuits settled but the same broken system still operating, sellers across America are getting the same misleading advice that costs them thousands.
Last year, the National Association of Realtors and major brokerages were found guilty of colluding to inflate commissions. NAR alone agreed to pay $418 million in damages, with other brokerages paying hundreds of millions more. Case closed, right?
Wrong.
The Same Script, Different Day
Here's what's still happening in listing appointments across America:
A listing agent sits across from you and says, "We need to offer buyer agents 2.5-3% upfront, or they won't show your property. This is just how it works."
Stop. Read that again.
An agent hired to represent YOUR interests is negotiating a commission for an agent who:
Works for someone else
Shows your competition to buyers
Negotiates against you
This is the twisted logic brokerages train their agents to push:
"Pay the person working against you, or your house won't sell."
Before the lawsuit, this wasn't just suggestion. It was mandatory. MLSs required sellers to enter buyer agent commissions. I know because when I tried to list my own property without offering one, the MLS threatened to remove my listing.
Now MLSs have swung completely the other way—agents get fined if they even mention buyer agent compensation in listings. Yet brokerages still train their agents to push the same narrative, and agents continue advertising these commissions in their marketing materials outside the MLS. Why? Because two commissions per transaction means double their profits.
Here's the reality no one talks about: The only interest a buyer agent shares with you is getting your house sold if their buyer makes an offer. So why pay them an inflated 2.5-3% commission when most of their work involves showing your competition?