I was not going to write a blog this week. With the holidays and kids on spring break, I was just going to be like Elsa and let it go. However, one topic has been coming up over and over again in conversations, in the headlines, and on my Instagram. That topic is the NAR settlement. Maybe that means I need some new friends or I should follow some other people on Insta but my real estate hobby is what got us to this point and here we are.

I don’t know if this disclaimer is needed, but I am in no way an expert on this topic. I do think this settlement will affect me both as an agent and as an investor and therefore I have thoughts about it. For those of you who aren’t aware of the settlement, the National Association of REALTORS (NAR, and yes the capital letters are part of the name), settled an antitrust lawsuit and as a result, compensation can no longer be advertised on the MLS.

Now, the reaction to the settlement has been celebratory. Some people think the prices of houses will come down or that buyers may no longer use agents when purchasing a property. The only clear thing is that buyer’s agent compensation will no longer be automatically advertised as part of a listing, a seller’s agent will still be compensated through the sale.

Two comments have really stood out to me in the period following the settlement. The first was a meme that said something along the lines of “Realtors when they realize they will no longer get paid for writing a four sentence description and signing a few documents” with a video of a crying man. I interpret this as referring to the seller’s agent… who will still be paid… at the same rate as before the settlement. It suggests to me that the problem people were trying to fix may not have been the one that was fixed.

The other comment was said to me by a relative that “buyer’s agents are useless.” In a world of Redfin, Zillow, and realtor.com, it is easier than ever to find a home you might be interested in. And if it was as easy as finding a property you like, saying yes please, and moving in, I might agree that the buyer’s agent has become superfluous.

However, a buyer’s agent does so much more. They have to make their offer as competitive as possible while still being within their client’s budgets and limitations. They have to negotiate price deductions, manage the different stages of the transaction, and try to get the client as much as possible after the inspection.

I recently was a seller’s agent at the same time we were buying a house without using an agent. Was I able to do it? Of course. Was it easy? Not at all. My days were filled with phone calls and negotiations. Luckily, I have extensive training in real estate and contracts so I was able to muddle through it all. Even with my training, I had questions for my friends with far more experience than me. I don’t think I would have known where to start without my education.

No one really knows what the settlement truly means yet for buyer’s agents. I can see a number of potential forms real estate agency might transform into, but we will have to wait to see how it plays out. I expect even our REI ventures to be affected by this decision, not least in what happens with sale prices. Now, back to spring break.