Free Republic

Things are not OK in Realtorland. The US housing market is still reeling from pandemic-era shocks, home sales are stuck in a rut, and mortgage rates, while inching downward, are still near two-decade highs. It's a bad time to be a buyer, and maybe a worse time to be a seller. Despite all this upheaval, there's another story brewing in which the stakes for everyone in real estate, from agents to the average consumer, are even higher. It won't have anything to do with the debate over whether you should put your hard-earned cash toward rent or a down payment....

The recent $1.8 billion jury verdict against the National Association of Realtors and several top brokerage firms highlights mounting legal and market pressures on real estate commissions. A recent Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst report estimated that the $100 billion paid in real-estate commissions annually could be cut by 30%, with as many as 1.6 million agents losing their source of income. Commissions are already negotiable, but buyers agents are likely losers as homebuyers are more likely to bypass them, or in the least, negotiate for lower fees. A recent jury verdict against the National Association of Realtors and large...

A U.S. jury on Tuesday said the National Association of Realtors and several real estate companies, including units of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N), must pay $1.78 billion in damages for conspiring to artificially inflate commissions that home sellers pay to buyers' brokers. The verdict followed a two-week trial in the Kansas City, Missouri, federal court, where the case had drawn widespread attention for challenging widely used real estate industry practices. The jury award will be automatically tripled under U.S. antitrust law to more than $5.3 billion, said Michael Ketchmark, the lead lawyer for the plaintiffs. "Today was a day...

A class-action lawsuit filed by home sellers that would fundamentally change the way houses are bought and sold, and in particular, the way real estate agents are compensated, is catching the attention of local agents. Currently, no matter how much experience a buyer’s agent has in the real estate industry, they get the same commission from the seller that a seasoned veteran does. A case in Illinois known as Moehrl v. National Association of Realtors would change that if the plaintiffs win. The plaintiffs filed suit against NAR and several major real estate brokerage companies, claiming the system that splits...

Two real estate sites, Realtor.com and Redfin, have decided not to include crime data in their websites because of racism or something… The idiots at Realtor.com explained it this way: As a relative newcomer to the real estate industry, I’ve been struck by how entrenched this problem is. Stories abound about Black, Hispanic and Asian homebuyers receiving unequal treatment, starting with their ability to see whatever homes they like, and continuing through to the appraisal and mortgage processes. At virtually every step of the way, too often people of color find hurdles in their path, making it difficult to turn...

A violent brawl involving dozens of suited-up men broke out inside a casino in Atlantic City this week, chaotic footage shows. Police in New Jersey said the fight erupted at Harrah’s Resort just before 3 a.m. Tuesday, the Press reported. At least one person was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries sustained in the melee, according to cops. Footage of the fight shows multiple people being thrown to the floor and punched inside one of the casino’s dining areas. At one point, a man in a light-colored suit jacket could be seen striking someone on...

Late last year, the National Association of Realtors adopted a policy forbidding members from engaging in supposedly "harassing speech" or "hate speech" even in their private lives, entirely outside the context of real estate transactions. The Realtors are a private organization, so this isn't a First Amendment violation, just as blacklisting of supposedly "un-American" employees in the 1950s wasn't a First Amendment violation. But it strikes me as potentially quite dangerous, especially given that National Association of Realtors membership appears to be quite important professionally to real estate agents (more on that below). In any event, we're seeing now the...

In what some consider one of the most far-reaching social policy moves in the corporate world, the National Association of Realtors, called the nation's largest trade organization, has revised its professional ethics code to ban “hate speech and harassing speech” by its 1.4 million members. Under the new policy, real estate agents who insult, threaten or harass people based on race, sex, or other legally protected characteristics can be investigated, fined or expelled. Its online training sessions offer a glimpse at how difficult the rules can be to enforce. NAR The sweeping prohibition applies to association members 24/7, covering all...

What is really happening with real estate sales right now? Any stories out there? Seems to be one of the best kept secrets right now. Anyone have any truthful information?

For the past six years, climate change has been on the bottom of the list of concerns for real estate industry professionals. Now it’s on top.

Ever since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in late 2017, Democrats and a few Republicans have decried how the law’s $10,000 cap of the state and local tax deduction harms schools, local communities, home values, first responders, and middle-class families. Fast forward almost two years later and these false claims are not going away. House Democrats recently announced a hearing scheduled for Tuesday where many of the common myths are likely to be repeated. Here are a few of the most common misconceptions. Myth #1: The Cap Hurts Middle-Class Taxpayers Before the 2017 tax cut capped the state...

In Michigan, following the kidnap and murder of an Arkansas real estate agent, a number of women real estate agents are studying how to effectively control their guns in a deadly force situation.   The person who is encouraging them is the petite, attractive, Shelley Gottschling, pictured above. There is nothing particularly unusual about this.   Firearm instructors have long noted the ability of women to become excellent shots, and the fact that women do not bring the macho baggage to the range that some men do.   Shelley's mentor, however, notes that she is exceptional.  From mlive.com: "I haven't seen too...

According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales fell and fell by the most since June 2012. ehssep13 And now for the bad news. Home affordability plunged to the lowest level since the end of 2008, and the beginning of The Fed’s quantitative easing (QE1) program. haffor102113 Of course, increasing home prices coupled with rising mortgage rates will put a damper on affordability. While the Freddie Mac Mortgage survey rate is still lower than it was at the end of 2008, house prices (using CoreLogic’s home price index) are higher than at the end of 2008. loanhpfreddieinded We...

I am seeking information from Houston Freepers about real estate there. My daughter moved to Houston 2 years ago from San Diego when her company asked her to temporarily run their Houston office. She now has the opportunity to make the move permanent, and she wants to stay in Texas. Mr. RightField and I are here in Houston for the month of October (visiting in our motorhome). While we are here, we're hoping that local Freepers might point us to a good realtor and a mortgage broker. This will be her first home purchase, and she is looking in the...

New home sales plunged 13.4% to an annual rate of 394,000 units. nhsjuly13 If we chart new home sales against the Freddie Mac 30 year commitment rate, we see a pattern (in the red box). Mortgage rates rise and new home sales plunge. nhsjulfreddi Expectations were for 487k and a prior reading in June of 497K that was revised down to 455K. So the July read declined and was below expectations. In baseball parlance, this was a big swing and a miss. obama-baseball-shirt Share this:

My mother is preparing to sell the home that she and my late father have lived in for more than thirty years. Luckily, the housing market hasn't affected her that much since the area she lives in has become a hotspot for real estate over the years (Bay Area, CA). The realtor she has been working with is, in my opinion, being pushy. He wants her to sell the house as soon as possible (within the next two months) and I'm of the opinion that she needs to wait given the depressed market and current economic situation. She also doesn't...

The good news: National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun is predicting that home prices will rise 4% in 2010. The bad news: Lawrence Yun has never been right about anything in his entire life, ever. Yun predicted that sales volume will also rise about 14%. I'm definitely not smart enough to try to make short-term predictions about what will happen with home prices or sales volume. But the track record suggests that Lawrence Yun isn't smart enough either. In July of 2008, Yun opined that "I think we are very near to the end of the housing downturn....

Flawed appraisals are derailing real estate sales and depressing values across the United States, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday as it reported that existing home prices declined 17 percent in May from a year earlier. "It's pointing to thousands of delayed or canceled transactions," Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the Chicago-based Realtors group, said in an interview. "We've had a massive inundation from members saying this is a big problem." Appraisal rules that went into effect on May 1 require lenders that sell loans to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to set up a firewall between appraisers and...

The housing crunch and Internet are shrinking the ranks of agents. __ Huerta and Youngmin Bae bought their Burbank home without ever meeting their real estate agent. Instead, they scoured listings for their favorite neighborhoods, haggled over prices and even wrote their offer using Marco's cellphone. There was no housewarming plant on the porch when they moved in, but the couple aren't complaining: They received a $10,000 check as a "rebate" from their agent's 3% commission. "It's a great incentive," said Marco Huerta, 32. "This is what capitalism's all about." Experiences like these are leading some to wonder whether Realtors...

David Stevens, the administration's pick for an assistant secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development failed to pass muster and his confirmation delayed as it was disclosed that the real estate brokerage he operates as chief is facing several class action lawsuits. The charges against Long & Foster, a Virginia real estate brokerage, allege that their agents steered homebuyers to affiliated mortgage and title companies, which then shared their profits with the real estate brokerage. We often advise our readers to contact a Realtor as their best source of information. Regularly we Realtors are asked for referrals to...