Real estate settlement reached could lower some costs for home buyers, NE Florida realtor says

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — If you’re looking to buy or sell a home, you could be in luck.

A new settlement with the National Association of Realtors may save you money.

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The settlement, reached Friday, would eliminate the typical 6% commission rate realtors get paid in a home sale.

“It could definitely lower some of the costs for our buyers,” local realtor Kelsey Ebarb-Rembold said.

Ebarb-Rembold said the settlement provides an opportunity for healthy communication between realtors.

“At this point, it’s going to be a lot about just a healthy communication and competition between realtors about what they can offer. And same for sellers,” Ebarb-Rembold said.

RELATED: Realtors reach settlement expected to lower cost of buying, selling a home

Under the terms of the settlement, the NAR agreed to pay $418 million in damages and eliminate rules on commissions. Typically, that number is 6% of the home sale.

But Ebarb-Rembold said it’s important to remember that the rate does not go to one person.

“We split that commission, that 6%, with the cooperating agent who brings in that buyer,” Ebarb-Rembold said.

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And that commission rate is something Ebarb-Rembold said has always been a discussion, never a fixed number.

“It’s always been up for negotiation,” Ebarb-Rembold said.

She said this settlement helps opens up a discussion about the percentage between the buyers and sellers.

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“And so, at this point, if we decide that maybe 6% does not look appropriate for a specific sale as it does to another sale, then we negotiate that and we just talk about that and how that will look for the seller, because the ultimate goal is to put the most money in the seller’s pocket,” Ebarb-Rembold said.

Ebarb-Rembold described what the process could look like going forward.

“Agents are going to be calling each other 1 to 1, saying, ‘Here’s what I’m going to be offering and here is what we want to do.’ And then going back to the seller and saying, ‘Hey, this agent wants this number versus this agent wanting this number,’ and it’s going to really open up,” Ebarb-Rembold said.

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