Industry experts have speculated that to save money, buyers may choose to buy homes without using an agent at all. Instead, they may use online real estate platforms, such as Zillow or Redfin, to find properties and then negotiate directly with the seller’s agent.
However, veteran buyer's agents say home buyers can’t afford to forgo an agent. Trying to navigate a competitive market and a complicated buying process leaves buyers vulnerable to missteps, exploitation, and remorse.
Read more at The Star
Going forward, sellers will pay only their listing agent, while buyers will pay their agent out of pocket. In the face of high home prices and mortgage rates, experts expect some buyers to forgo an agent entirely — or use a discount broker. It’s unclear how this will affect home prices or the number of home sales. What is clear is that some will benefit from this new commission landscape, while others could be at a disadvantage.
Read more at Idaho Business Review
Scammers and predatory lenders pull off all kinds of immoral and illegal schemes all the time, but most of them have the good sense not to prey on the multimillion-dollar estate of one the world’s most beloved cultural icons.
Read more at CNN
Under the terms of the settlement, home sellers will no longer be required to offer a commission to buyers' agents in order for their properties to appear on “multiple listing services,” which is where most home sales originate. Commissions still can be negotiated as part of the process.
Read more at Reuters
Short-term rental owners talk legal battles, regulations at state conference
In October 2023, Park Township Neighbors (PTN) sued Park Township, claiming it improperly amended its zoning ordinance to ban short-term rentals in residential areas.
Read more at Fox17
House Bill 5048 went into effect on Tuesday, allowing localities to set their own lodging taxes that would only affect visitors, not local taxpayers.
Eight counties are taking advantage of the new legislation, including Kent, Calhoun and Kalamazoo counties.
Read more Wood TV8
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has issued a new consumer alert, Real Estate Scams – How to Avoid Being Taken in by Fake Listings to educate renters and homebuyers on how to avoid property scams, spurred by recent reports. Fraudulent real estate listings often advertise properties that don't exist, are not for sale or rent, or are not what they appear to be.
Read more at Michigan.gov
A loophole got him a free New York hotel stay for five years. Then he claimed to own the building
A man who succeeded in using a New York City housing law to live rent-free in the iconic hotel has been charged with fraud after he claimed to own it.
Read more at AP News
Home brokerage Keller Williams has agreed to pay $70 million as part of a settlement to resolve claims that it conspired to overcharge U.S. home sellers by billions of dollars on the commissions they pay to agents for buyers.
Read more at Reuters
Housing-related zoning amendments recommended by GR Planning Commission
The amendments— parsed into five categories— primarily serve to increase housing supply, in accordance with a recent update to the city's Housing Needs Assessment, which states a need for 14,106 new housing units by 2027 (an average of 2,831 per year, a pace not currently being met).
Read more at Fox17
