The new 19-page listing agreement is out! They didn’t waste any time getting to the listing agent’s pay. Boom, right at the top of the newly revised form, it commits to the commission rate plus a little extra if the buyer is unrepresented.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All the way down on page 14, the Optional Additional Compensation is described:
We’ve never had this option before and everyone is probably wondering what the extra work is worth? It will look a lot like dual agency in practice and the liability is 2x on those, compared to when two agents are involved. When faced with the buyer wanting to cancel their purchase, most every agent will be forced to provide what’s needed to get them through.
Extra pay is warranted, but how much? It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seller Concessions finally get an explanation on page 11:
The MLS will have an entry for the amount of concessions, but the new form insists that the seller must notify the broker in writing of the amount, BUT THIS FORM DOESN’T PROVIDE A PLACE FOR THE SELLER TO NOTIFY. It is as if the C.A.R. wants to make it near-impossible for buyer-agents to exist.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They did get around to some explaining on page 15, but if you’re a seller and happen to get this far, it sure looks like the buyer is paying the buyer-agent commission:
Buyer-agents need to rely on their buyers paying their fee, because these forms aren’t giving much hope to sellers paying them any compensation. The authors of these forms have abandoned buyer-agents to cover their own backside. It is embarrassing that they don’t fight for buyer-agents instead.
