BATON ROUGE — If you’re currently looking to buy or sell a home, prepare for some changes. These changes will go into effect soon and are intended to make things more transparent when it comes to real estate.
Buyers, sellers and agents will experience some changes to the home selling process after the National Association of Realtors settled a lawsuit brought by home sellers.
“I think it makes the whole process more transparent,” said Christina Kasich, president of the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors.
This isn’t the first time Kasich has seen changes in the industry. One big change has been the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), a database of homes for sale.
“As a buyer’s agent, you’re not going to get paid what’s offered on the MLS, so you have to negotiate through the purchase agreement,” Kasich said.
Sellers can offer to pay buyer-agent fees but can’t publish them on the MLS, and agents are required to use a buyer-agent contract, which Kasich said many already do, but it’s not a prerequisite.
“This needs to be done before you tour the house,” she said.
The Buyer Brokerage Agreement will detail what the broker plans to do for you and their compensation.
“If someone calls us and says they want to see a house, but we haven’t worked with them before, we have to meet with them, discuss what we’re going to do for them, discuss those services, and get them to sign a buyer’s representation agreement before we can move forward,” Kasich said.
Compensation deals could get more creative. Kasich said compensation deals are and will remain negotiable.
The Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors is set to make changes to its MLS in mid-August.
