Posted on 10/31/2023 1:46:34 PM PDT by NohSpinZone
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 of accountability," Ketchmark said.
The defendants included Berkshire-owned HomeServices of America and two subsidiaries, as well as Keller Williams.
Plaintiffs in the class action included sellers of more than 260,000 homes in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois between 2015 and 2022.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
6% has been standard as long as I remember
~~~~~
Prove it. Yes, in some markets some institutions ONCE touted 6% as “standard”. About 30 years that practice was eliminated, sometimes by law, but always by professional standards.
I could never understand how RE agents can make these massive sales commissions. Out west their commissions can be $35,000 to million$...
All this big money for these sales people and all they do is some paper work? A few phone calls?
It’s 100% bull sh*t.
“INTELLIGENTLY analyzes “
Can you possibly understand such intelligent analysis? Fact is, if you could, then you could read the decision yourself.
When do the trial lawyers get sued for exorbitant commissions and double dipping?
The prices which you base your house’s value on were established by sales which were advised and marketed by market experts. Your expectations of a sale price are several percent higher than they would have been without selling and buying agents. Agents don’t “make” their commissions as profit. There are advertising and other expenses.
Get back to me when the courts finally go after groups like vanguard and blackwater who are buying up all the real estate
Concur. I have bought and sold three houses. All charged 5% commission total (selling and buying agents split the 5%). In all instances the realtors earned their money. They spent a lot of time telling me: about the current market; cheap up grades and improvements that would easily increase a price increase, spent time taking very high quality pictures, spent significant time showing me houses, etc... .A good agent earns the money. OBTW, in all three instances the market were not "hot," so significant negotiation had to occur between the buyer and seller agents. A good agent earns the money.
That’s a load of carp. RE agents rip people off all the time.
Sell a house that takes a week or two to sell and they expect $50,000 for some paper work?
Bull sh*t!
“But with Zillow and Redfin, all that is pretty much moot.”
I think (I could be wrong) that most of the data on Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com orginate from MLS data, or the brokers who put the data on the MLS.
A market based on price-collusion for services is not a free market.
Contract is made between the seller and his agent. Buyers are free to contract with any agent for any commission they want.
Perfect reply.
Snotty posters usually get a terse response like that.
Remember way back - before we discovered the true depth of corruption in our government - when tort reform was the major conservative issue that the GOP never made any progress on?
In cases involving this much money, only children and adult fools think the LAW matters. What matters is who has the most money to pay the chain of judges that will, in the years or decades to come, “review” the case.
First the award will be cut, probably at the trial court level, after that happens, attorneys for the plaintiffs, rightfully scared they will get out-politicked and get zero, will scream at and threaten their clients to take pennies on the dollar.
I know. I’ve been there. And, it took 15 years to get there and I won the jury verdict. It’s a game. Like the proverbial cat playing with a ball of twine on the living room floor.
I do — and I cry.
Let’s see some of the agents of that inaction, which go by the names of Hastert, Ryan, Boehner, and McCarthy.
Not holding out for one named Johnson, but we’ll see.
My siblings and I sold my mother’s house earlier this year. Our real estate agent was worth every penny she received at closing. Of course, we had known her all our lives having gone to high school with her, so we trusted her and she was very honest with us during the entire process. We couldn’t have done it as problem-free as it was without her assistance. She knew her stuff and helped us avoid problems by bringing up issues we hadn’t thought of before. She did cut her usual percentage a bit for us since we were all old friends.
I’ve heard too many horror stories from those that tried to “sell by owner” and I certainly didn’t want to face any of those issues.
More commie BS ....
“Average estate agent fees in 2023 are typically 1.42% including VAT. So on a £275,000 house this would mean estate agent fees of around £3,900.”
https://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-selling/how-much-should-i-pay-the-estate-agent/
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.