It May Now Be a Whole Lot Cheaper to Buy and Sell a House
The way Americans buy and sell homes had a major shakeup Friday, with a powerful realtor group agreeing to overhaul the standard 6 percent commission on purchases—a move that’s expected to dramatically reduce the cost of real estate transactions.
The National Association of Realtors, which represents 1.5 million U.S. real estate agents and has set the guidelines for home sales for decades, agreed to drop the mandatory commission to settle lawsuits that accused it of artificially inflating commissions for its agents.
The organization also agreed to pay $418 million in damages, The New York Times reported, citing a signed agreement.