Doing the right thing is easy in theory, but often the hardest to put into practice. Our family founded Baird & Warner more than a century ago with the mission of serving buyers and sellers with transparency and integrity. During that time, we’ve endured many changes in the industry. Our choices haven’t always been the most popular, but doing the right thing has always been in our DNA. My father, who took a stand against the then-common practice of redlining in the 1960s and ultimately influenced the creation of the federal Fair Housing Act, is just one example.
I have always believed that buyer and seller brokerage commissions should be paid by their respective clients, either directly or through a transaction, with full transparency provided to all parties. After decades of opacity and several class action lawsuits, updated Multiple Listing Service (MLS) policies were enacted on August 17th that comply with practice changes mandated in the National Association of Realtors (NAR) settlement. One of the most significant changes is requiring MLS participants working with buyers to have a written contract in place before showing the property, and the second is requiring the removal of the buyer brokerage commission field on the MLS.
The second requirement marks an important turning point, given that the lawsuit against NAR is based on antitrust and steering principles. We must follow the spirit of the settlement, not just the letter, and heed the tone of the Department of Justice’s warning. It is clear that brokers and real estate companies that pursue workarounds, such as listing compensation on their websites or other advertising, will only be perpetuating the same practices that created the situation today and risk fueling a vicious cycle of litigation.
Today’s consumers have access to more information than ever before. Our job is to be trusted advisors, not gatekeepers managing properties based solely on the compensation we receive. As professional, well-trained brokers with high integrity, we earn our clients’ trust and compensation by demonstrating our expertise, negotiation skills and fiduciary responsibility.
After participating in some of the dozens of meetings and training sessions our brokerages have held since last year about these changes, I am more committed than ever to continuing our firm’s tradition and calling on all brokers and real estate agents to do the right thing for their clients and the future of our industry.
Steve Baird is president and CEO of Baird & Warner Real Estate..
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