It’s only been 22 days since Colorado adopted the new rule of the game (two days before it was mandatory nationwide). The rule being that brokers can no longer display in the MLS whether or not a seller is willing to offer buyer-broker compensation. We’ve shown dozens of homes since then and continued to work with buyers and sellers. Here’s what we’ve noticed.
- Sellers are still willing to offer buyer-broker compensation. We are seeing a range from 2.5% to 3%. Offering this compensation is a great way to incentivize buyers because it doesn’t push the burden of payment off to the buyer who is already scraping the bottom of the savings barrel just to offer the home.
-
Buyers aren’t balking. We’ve brought on 4 new buyers since the news hit and we are crystal clear during our buyer discovery calls that there is a CHANCE the seller may be unwilling to offer buyer broker compensation. At FORM we make it clear that we will never get between a buyer and their dream home and we will always negotiate to get the seller to pay. We just haven’t had to yet.
So what’s changed???
In essence, it’s business as it has been. At least for now. I am predicting that in a relatively neutral market, like where we are now, with abundant inventory and fewer buyers, we can expect sellers to offer compensation to cover the cost of working with a buyer’s broker. If the market gets red hot, I predict we will see a pull back of sellers willing to pay for this portion of the closing costs. Just like the closing services fee (charged by title) or a water transfer fee (typically paid for by the buyer). It’s all negotiable. Period.
If you have any questions about with this means for your buying or selling journey in Denver, we’d be happy to chat.
