What the NAR settlement changed for sellers

The National Association of Realtors, usually shortened to NAR, is the trade body most US real estate agents belong to. It settled a set of antitrust claims about how commissions were set and communicated, and the resulting rule changes altered the default assumptions of a home sale.

The two changes that matter to sellers

Buyer-agent compensation left the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Sellers no longer advertise an offer of compensation to buyer agents on the listing. That offer was effectively automatic before, which is why sellers routinely paid both sides. It is now a separate negotiation.

Buyers sign written agreements with their agents. Before touring homes, a buyer now agrees in writing what their agent will be paid. That moves the conversation about buyer-agent compensation to the buyer and their agent, where the seller is a participant rather than the default payer.

What that means in practice

You can decline to offer buyer-agent compensation. Many sellers still offer something, because a listing that offers nothing competes against comparable listings that do, and buyers who must pay their own agent out of pocket have less cash left to put toward the price. It is now a strategic decision with a real tradeoff rather than a fixed cost.

The decision is also reversible in a way most selling decisions are not. You can list without an offer, see what the showing traffic looks like over two or three weeks, and introduce one later if the market tells you to. The calculator lets you model both ways so you know what the concession is actually worth before you make it.

Commission rates are also being discussed more openly. They were always negotiable, but the settlement made that explicit and put it in writing in more places.

Why it helps For Sale By Owner and flat-fee sellers specifically

Historically some buyer agents avoided showing FSBO homes, because compensation was uncertain when the listing was not on the MLS with a published offer. With compensation now negotiated separately on every transaction, an unrepresented seller is a less unusual counterparty than they were.

Roughly a third of sellers now use a discount brokerage, sell FSBO, or take a cash offer rather than a traditional full-service listing. The settlement did not create that shift, but it removed some friction from it, and it made the flat-fee route materially more attractive than it was.

What did not change

Transfer taxes, title costs, recording fees and attorney fees are untouched. Those are set by your state and county and are charged whoever sells the house. They are also the costs most sellers forget when they estimate their proceeds, which is what the calculator and the state pages are for.

Nor did it change what a good agent is worth on a difficult sale. The settlement made the price of representation negotiable and visible. It did not decide for you whether to buy it.