Real estate agents are preparing for their own Olympics – the navigation of business practices is changing

It’s fitting that the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will set the stage for the final two weeks leading up to when the real estate sector will undergo its biggest structural change in decades – a feat of almost Olympic proportions.

Like the athletes in Paris, agents and brokers in the US have been busy training and preparing to be ready for August 17, the date when the terms of the National Association of Real Estate Agents (NAR), the National Commission Settlement Agreement will go into effect.

Under the terms of the settlement, agents will no longer be allowed to share their seller’s offers for buyer agent compensation on an MLS. They will also be required to obtain a signed buyer representation agreement prior to a buyer’s first home tour.

Within weeks, real estate professionals from across the country will know if their training is paying off.

In Minnetonka, Minnesota, Bryan VantHof – member of the RE/MAX Advantage Plus-mediated The Minnesota Real Estate Team – said he feels ready to tackle whatever the industry and housing market can throw at him.

“I was nervous at first, but I like a challenge, and at this stage I feel like I have a strategy that will really set me apart from people who are still trying to figure it out,” VantHof said.

His confidence did not just fall out of the blue. VantHof has trained for a number of months to prepare for the changes in business practice.

“We’ve had so many meetings,” VantHof said. “And during those meetings, several leaders came in and talked about how these rule changes are impacting business Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA or FHA position. They also brought in a forms specialist who really dug into the new forms to really explain them to us so that we know when and how to use them and so that we can explain the contracts to our customers in plain English.”

VantHof said RE/MAX Advantage Plus plans to update the forms of Minnesota real estate agentswhich only recently came out, leaving him only a few weeks to fully process the contents of the forms.

“We were given a few months to play this all out in our minds, and then, with about two weeks’ notice, we are faced with all the forms and how the procedures will work in our state – because each state has its own laws, which change what the settlement looks like in each state,” VantHof said.

Form training has been a central focus for brokers across the country.

“Personally, I haven’t had this much training on forms in over a decade,” says Anthony Lamacchia, the broker-owner of the Massachusetts-based Lamacchia Real Estate.

For Lamacchia, it is essential that its agents and brokers can clearly explain and communicate the forms they ask their clients to sign.

“Agents in some states, or at some real estate agencies, are getting these forms thrown at them and no one is explaining to them how to answer customer questions. And the officers are scared,” Lamacchia said.

While learning the forms has been an integral part of many agents’ training efforts, agents say the role plays they have conducted to practice buyer and seller presentations, along with answering questions from buyers and sellers, have been valuable.

“We role-played how to handle questions from buyers and sellers so that we are armed with answers and know how to handle these situations,” said Brian Huskey, the associate broker of the Montana-based ERA US real estate.

Huskey said these training sessions were mainly limited to his brokerage, which consists of 15 agents, although some are larger Real estate everywhere network, of which his company is part. But Huskey said he would like to see broader industry collaboration on training.

“It would be great if we all started working on the same handful of talking points because if a consumer goes to four different agents and they all give different answers, that doesn’t look good for our industry,” Huskey said. “But if we all had the same group of talking points to answer questions with, we would be better able to establish that we are the experts on the industry and home sales transactions.”

Back on the East Coast, Ruth Kennedy Sudduth, director at LandVest Christie’s International Real Estate in Boston — said she, too, feels prepared heading into the Aug. 17 implementation date, thanks in large part to the training provided by her brokerage.

“I really commend LandVest and Christie’s for their efforts to not only jointly educate, but also listen to the brokers and agent community about the types of issues presented by the changes in business practices and develop practices that respond to those “, said Sudduth. “I feel really well supported.”

While Sudduth said she is ready to tackle the changes, she is keeping a close eye on how some of these policies may evolve.

“I think everyone needs to think carefully about where the thrust of government policy is going and try to be consistent with that, and also just be transparent with their customers,” Sudduth said.

While many agents feel prepared and supported by their brokerage, Steve Capezza, the president of the white-label brokerage Sideknow that this is not the case for others.

“For Side partners, they will have to deal with these new rules coming into effect – that said, they have spent months preparing our teams and our partners to be successful and I fully expect that they will, ” Capezza said.

“Obviously it’s a change, so there’s always going to be some change curve, but I think they’ll go through it relatively smoothly. That said, given the majority of real estate agents across the country and the lack of options they offer, there may be a lot of real estate agents on August 18 who don’t know what to do. potential customer through a referral or an online lead, and that conversation will be quite challenging for them.”

While agents acknowledge that this may be the case, many see the changes as an opportunity for them to really shine.

“It’s nothing to be afraid of,” Huskey said. “Change is scary, but if you can create value, you don’t have to worry about anything. If you can show people that what they pay you is enough for the service you provide, everything will be fine.”