Real estate broker Chaunta Mero shows clients a home in Shreveport, La., Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024.
It has been a strange time in the real estate world. It started with a market that was so hot, listed homes lasted only days. "It was like nothing I've ever seen," said Realtor Jeri Little of "In March, April and May of 2020, I got not one phone call and had zero showings.
Then in about July, it was like the rush for toilet paper. I would get a call, and they would have to see a house right then, they couldn't wait one hour, not 30 minutes, right then. I had to start cold calling (to find inventory) to get clients what they wanted.
" The market today is vastly different, favorable to neither buyer nor seller with limited housing inventory, high prices and potential buyers who are either sitting it out until interest rates come down or, if in the market, can afford less "house" because of those rates. Add to the mix the with the Department of Justice that went into full effect on Aug. 17.
The settlement changed the way commissions are charged, and potentially, the size of those commissions. It was, quipped CNN, a "seismic" change. Northwest Louisiana Broker/Realtor Chaunta Mero said she understands the reason for the lawsuit and the eventual settlement.
It was the same reason she got into real estate in 2006. "Over 20 years ago, I sold a home, and I met with some agents — this was before I got into the business. When I listed the house, they said, 'Oh, it's 3%,' and at the closing, I had to pay 6%.
I wasn't aware, I wasn't knowledgeable of the fees, how they worked, that it was split, so I decided to get into the business to see what was going on." Real estate broker Chaunta Mero shows clients a home in Shreveport, La., Saturday, Aug.
17, 2024. On Saturday, the day the new commission laws took effect nationwide, she unveiled her newly named firm: "My model is going to be if I'm listing somebody's home (to sell), my fee is going to be 1.5% with a max of $3000.
00. Now if I'm working with a buyer, my flat rate is going to be 2%, but if I see where that is going to be a problem in the end, we may have to do an addendum to adjust it to make it a little less." Mero believes the days of the 5% to 6% commissions are gone.
"If I wasn't a Realtor, I would be looking at my house and going, 'I've been in this house for years, I have $50,000 in equity. I don't want to give $25,000 of it (to an agent) because it's my money, for my investment, my retirement.'" "Right now, it's about to be every man for themselves.
You've got to figure out a way to still give that great service but for a lesser commission." Mero says she loves all parts of real estate, but her passion lies with first-time buyers. Real estate broker Chaunta Mero shows clients a home in Shreveport, La.
, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. "Nothing beats the feeling when someone realizes they can qualify and get in a home.
I've had clients as old as 75 that never owned a home and when she found out could purchase a home after she had been renting all her life it just gave me chills and felt so good. She never thought she could qualify. Back in her day, people never talked about home ownership.
" She admits, though, that first time buyers often are challenged to come up with the 3.5% of the loan amount to qualify for an FHA loan, plus the cost for the appraisal and home inspection, and fees for the title company and now, the Realtor's commission, which, before the settlement, was routinely paid by the seller. Mero said every customer is different.
Some purchase houses from a single video walkthrough. Some, she said, walk into a house and know immediately that it is "the one." "Some I may have to be with all day sunup to sundown — we may have to pack a lunch — that's just the real estate business.
I wouldn't dare tell someone I need to renegotiate my commission because I've shown you 23 houses. My contract is what my contract is." Some buyers, says Scott Hughes Northwest Louisiana Association of Realtors CEO/Association Executive, decide to go the "For Sale by Owner" route and pay an agent $500 for a listing on the local Multiple Listing Service, or MLS.
That route would include no other Realtor assistance in marketing, showing or selling the home. No matter which direction the seller decides to go, Mero sees the recent change as beneficial. "I think this is going to be really good for everybody, the buyers and the sellers," she said.
"My ultimate goal is to get my buyers into the home of their dreams.".
