Real Estate Commission
Seattle Real Estate | Gerhard Ade

Real estate commission changes (and a class-action lawsuit)

If you are ever going to buy or sell a home again, you need to know this. The way real estate business is done will change twofold on October 1, 2019.

Real Estate Commission: The Status Quo

To grasp the significance of the two changes, we must understand the status quo. Please bear with me. Reading this now will save you time later.

When a real estate agent showed you homes have you asked yourself how much the agent is getting paid if you buy a home? Have you asked the agent? Was the answer, “my services are free since the seller pays all the real estate commissions?” Or was the answer, “I will be paid from the Selling Office Commission (SOC) as stated in the listing?” Did your agent explain that “the SOC amount is a percentage of the purchase price?”

How did your agent know this? The SOC is stated as privileged information with every listing that’s entered into the database of the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS). The SOC could be a percentage like 2.5% or a dollar amount.