Real Estate Podcast: What the NAR Settlement Actually Means for Real Estate Agents

Posted on March 22, 2024 by Admin

The Real estate industry has just changed FOREVER… and you should be HAPPY about it. This is a great thing for agents and consumers. On Friday, March 15, 2024, The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) has agreed to a landmark settlement in industry lawsuits, paying $418 million in damages and agreeing to sweeping changes in the U.S. commission structure.

According to NAR’s own statement, the settlement, if approved by the federal court judge, would settle all legal claims against NAR, as well as “over one million NAR members, all state/territorial and local REALTOR® associations, all association-owned MLSs, and all brokerages with an NAR member as principal that had a residential transaction volume in 2022 of $2 billion or below.” Along with paying $418 million in damages, NAR has agreed to put in place a new rule prohibiting offers of buyer broker compensation on the MLS.

NAR has also agreed to a new rule that would require MLS participants—specifically those working with buyers—to enter into written representation agreements with their buyers.

The NAR settlement has brought significant changes to the real estate industry, particularly in terms of commission flows and rules. This episode discusses the impact of the settlement on real estate agents and provides key details about the changes. We also dive into HOW to negotiate commission with buyers and the importance of offering competitive compensation as a seller.

In this Real Estate Podcast, from Massive Agent Podcast, we hear who the settlement helps and hurts, emphasizing the opportunities it presents for great real estate agents. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of education and having a strong support system to thrive in the industry.

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Fed Projections Suggest Three Rate Cuts in 2024

Posted on March 22, 2024 by Admin

Source: Statista

As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25 to 5.50 percent for the fifth consecutive meeting, as it wants to “gain greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainable toward 2 percent” before beginning to cut rates. Two years into the most aggressive tightening cycle since the early 1980s, one thing appears to be clear though: unless something extraordinary happens and inflation unexpectedly heats up again, we have like reached the ceiling and rates will only go down from here.

“The economy has made considerable progress toward our dual mandate objectives,” Fed chairman Jerome Powell said at a press conference. “Inflation has eased substantially while the labor market has remained strong, and that is very good news.” Powell refused to declare ‘mission accomplished’ just yet, though, pointing out that “inflation is still too high, ongoing progress in bringing it down is not assured, and the path forward is uncertain.” He did say that it would “likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year,” though, which is about as optimistic as it gets from Powell, who has been very cautious with his rhetoric throughout the inflation crisis. In agreement with their chairman, FOMC meeting participants also reiterated their belief that rate cuts are on the horizon for 2024. According to projection materials published on Wednesday, we could see as many as three 25 basis point cuts before the end of the year, with 15 out of 19 meeting participants anticipating that the target range for the federal funds rate will fall below 5 percent by year’s end.

For next year and beyond, the committee members expect interest rates to return to lower levels, albeit at a slower pace than previously anticipated. Looking at the dot plots for 2025 and beyond also reveals a high degree of uncertainty and different levels of optimism within the committee, as predictions for the appropriate policy rate at the end of 2025 range from 2.625 to 5.375 and from 2.375 to 4.875 for the end of 2026.