Let's pretend a seller says, "Nope, I'm not paying the buyer agent commission."

This can happen, albeit rarely. When it does, it’s your job to educate them on what comes next. Just because they say they don't want to pay it doesn't mean they won't receive offers requesting them to do so.

It's likely most offers will include language requesting the seller pay the buyer agent commission of X dollars. Then, the seller will have to decide to either reject the offer or counter it. We need to educate the seller about this.

You could do this by saying, "Hey, I totally get it. But just so you know, most offers we receive will still ask you to pay the buyer agent commission. At that time, we can look at the overall offer and decide if you want to do that or reject all offers that include that verbiage."

"I wouldn't reject everything out of hand. I'd suggest looking at the whole spectrum—what they're offering versus what your net will be. We can judge it on an offer-by-offer basis. I just wa...

Here's an amazing number you should share with everyone in your sphere of influence:

The average American homeowner now has $298,000 in equity, a record high!

This presents a fantastic opportunity to update your clients on their equity growth over the past year. We should do this every year with our clients, and if you haven't done it yet, make a point of doing it now.

Consider shooting a quick video and saying:

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"Hey, good news! Across the country, the average homeowner now has $298,000 in equity. If you're curious about your equity position, I'd love to do a PAYER report for you.

What's a PAYER report? It stands for Personalized Equity Analysis Report. It provides a quick update on your home equity and where you stand. If you're thinking about selling, I'd love to help you. Or, if you're considering investing in more real estate and building even more equity, I'm happy to assist you there as well. At the very least, get a copy of that free PAYER report.”

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That's the s...

A question you should ask every seller when you’re about to list a property is: "Do you have an FHA, USDA, or VA loan?"

These loans are often assumable, making the property highly valuable. If they have an interest rate below 5%, the house can fetch a premium price.

For example, if current interest rates are at 7% and a buyer can assume a 4.5% loan, it's a fantastic opportunity. There are some caveats, though. Be cautious about locking up veterans' benefits, preventing them from using those benefits elsewhere. If the seller is retiring or doesn't plan to own another home, they might be okay with someone assuming their loan.

For USDA and FHA loans, the buyer must qualify. They can't be a deadbeat; they need to qualify for the loan. Most buyers in a position to assume these low-interest loans will be thrilled, and your sellers can get a premium price.

Start asking sellers, "Do you have an FHA, USDA, or VA loan, and would you be okay with it being assumed?" There are many opportunitie...

Here's a massive opportunity for you when you're looking at your sphere of influence. If you've got a list of people in your sphere that own businesses or are entrepreneurs with locations, we’re in a unique position with the commercial market right now. In many areas, the commercial market is really struggling.

The script for reaching out to these business owners in your sphere of influence is straightforward. Start by asking, “Do you rent or own your current location?”

Most will be renters, some will be owners.

If they say they are renters, you can respond with this:

“If you'd like to own, this is one of the best times in the last 10 years to buy commercial property. There are several factors at play:

• Vacancies are high
• Rents are declining
• Rental prices and commercial real estate prices are stable, with some areas seeing decreases

There’s a real opportunity to get a bargain in today’s market.”

Or if they already own their property, ask, "Have you ever thought of adding a ...

Question:

Let's say you have a seller that says, “Jim, I watched the news this weekend, and I understand that I don't have to pay a buyer's rep.”

What will be your response to that?

Now, if you get that, I would say that they’re right, and they really haven't had to do that for years. The only difference is that the buyer rep fee is not going to show up in the MLS as of July.

But should you choose not to pay a buyer's rep?

Here's my personal thought on this:

When you offer to pay a buyer's rep, what happens is you’re going to attract more showings and thereby get more offers and more exposure for your property because there's not many buyers that have the money to write a check at closing to their buyer's rep.

So when a seller says they’re not going to pay it, a lot of times they're just going to eliminate that house from consideration. They'll just go look at the houses where the buyer's rep is being paid.

Now, if they choose not to pay a buyer's rep—and that's their choice—he...

The NAR settlement, which will happen in mid-July (but you’ll start seeing this already): You're going to see a rise of unrepresented buyers.

These will be buyers knocking on your door as a listing agent and saying they’re unrepresented and that they want to make an offer on your listing.

Are you going to, as the listing agent, treat them the same as if they're represented? Or are you going to treat them differently?

Well, I just saw a top agent that did an internal study with his team and found…

70% of the deals that came from unrepresented buyers in his market failed.

So think about that, and I believe that to be true because they just don't have somebody walking them through the process. When you’re sitting with your seller, you need to have an unrepresented buyer conversation going forward. And here's what that conversation might look like:
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“Mr. And Mrs. Seller, there's been some changes with the way that we're selling real estate based on an NAR settlement. You probably...

Okay, guys, here's an important question regarding this NAR settlement and everything around it:

We are going to have to start having buyer representation agreements. In that agreement, it's going to say how much you're going to get paid, right? You’ve established what you charge sellers a long time ago, but now you've got to do it with buyers.

What's going to be your minimum commission standard with a buyer?

First of all, accept the fact that you have value and that you are worth more than some other agents in your community. So, you're not going to base your number on what another real estate agent is doing. Maybe they're brand new or barely active.

Instead, you need to base your numbers on the services you provide and your experience.

But here's a bad tendency with a lot of agents: They're going to undershoot their value.

They may say, "I don't want to be greedy, so I'll come in lower."

But don't go too low. There's still going to be sellers offering buyer agent compensation....

What's going to be your approach in having conversations with buyers about this idea of writing you a check or potentially writing you a check at closing? It feels scary, doesn't it?

I'm going to give you a script focused around what I call a success fee. Just remember, we're never paid in general. The vast majority of us get paid at closing and only if the buyer's successful.

So my starting point will be:

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“Hey guys, I just want to point out that today we work under a buyer representation agreement… You don't pay me until you found the perfect house, got it at the right price, financing sorted, inspections done, deal closed. That's when I get paid. If I don't help you get to the finish line, I don't get paid a dime. My fee for representation, if you get to the finish line, is X. In many cases, we negotiate with the seller to have all or part of that fee paid on your behalf.

It's going to be super transparent. I’ll give you a net sheet on each transaction, outlining your out-o...

So the NAR settlement, what does it mean to you? What should you do today as an agent?

First of all, what does it mean to us?

Here are three big things it means:

1. Buyer comp is not going to show up in the MLS as of mid-July. If this is approved, it probably will be.

2. You're going to have to sign with your buyer a buyer representation agreement, which says how much you're going to get paid.

3. It's going to outline the fees that are going to be paid to you by the buyer. Now, that doesn't mean that the seller can't pay. This is the biggest misconception of this. Just because the fee is not going to show up in MLS doesn't mean sellers won't still agree to pay it. This is something specifically that was in the NAR proposal.

I'll read it to you:

The NAR said the proposal would allow sellers and their listing agents to continue offering compensation for buyer broker services. That's clear. It's just not going to show up in MLS.

So let's think about that now. How are you going to ...

In the real estate industry, there are two types of ghosts:

The first occurs when a buyer initiates contact but then disappears. It's common, but we shouldn't ignore it. Instead, we should follow up with these individuals after some time has passed. More often than not, they simply got busy, not because they disliked us or found another agent.

Reaching out with a call, text, or email is essential. We should inquire politely about their home buying progress. Even if they ghost us again, it's not a big deal. Let's not fear this type of ghosting and continue to pursue potential leads.

The second ghosting scenario involves us ghosting others inadvertently. It happens when we forget who certain contacts in our phone are. To address this, we should review our contacts and ask those we're unsure about to remind us of our connection.

By doing so, we might uncover opportunities we would have otherwise missed. Let's stop being ghosts ourselves and maintain connections with our contacts. Thes...