The judge can award treble damages and likely should.
FSBO is always an option if you want to opt out. I have done it both ways, and both have their advantages.
We can’t have starving lawyers...
Next to price fixing in healthcare.
upwards of 6% ?
What does that mean? 6% has been standard as long as I remember, but you can get 5%. When I probated and sold my brothers buildings and house, the State mandates 5% commission.
I’ve been on both sides of the fence ... a good realtor earns his money.
Why a buyer needs a realtor is a bit of mystery to me ...
but if he wants one he should pay him/her.
99% of the victims do not even know they have been victimized.
Most of the $1.8 billion - if it survives appeal - is going straight to the Plaintiff lawyers and to a small group of their class action Lead Plaintiffs.
Everything is negotiable.
If this verdict doesn’t get overturned then there is no American justice.
Sellers are not forced to pay buyer agents. That provision in listing agreements is negotiable. If a seller doesn’t want to advertise that he will pay prospective buyers’ agents then he doesn’t have to. That makes the buyer’s cash outlay at closing much higher compared to sellers who advertise that they will pay buyers’ agents. Conversely, when sellers pay buyer agents any increase in sale price generally gets rolled into mortgages.
So paying buyer agents is a big incentive to prospective buyers and their agents. What it is not, is forced. Sellers are not forced to pay buyer agents.
That 6% sales commission is nothing but high priced inflation.
Do like my lawyer buddy did: called several realtors and told them he wasn’t listing his house with any of them, but wanted an immediate sale for a price of $X. The first one to get him an offer that yielded him that amount could have everything more than X as a commission. House sold in 8 days.
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.
When do the trial lawyers get sued for exorbitant commissions and double dipping?
Get back to me when the courts finally go after groups like vanguard and blackwater who are buying up all the real estate
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.
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.
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/
There are agents that sell a lot of houses and feel entitled to a high commission.
There are agents that sell only a few houses annually and need a high commission.