How are you doing? We are here on day fifty two of the BBA marathon. We're having a blast tonight. We really are. We've got a really great, session for you today. Let me look and see how many people we've got in. We've got twenty five. So far, we've got thirty. People are still coming on in. Let's go ahead and just give it a little bit of time. Let us know where you're coming from. I see Cindy. I know where Cindy's coming from. Cindy Alvarez. Daytona Beach? Alright. Alright. Let's see. Who else is coming in here? Lawrenceville, Georgia, Reno, Nevada, Winter Park, Florida, Jacksonville, Florida. So many Floridas. We're gonna have all the Florida's tonight. Very cool. Alright. Well, we're gonna go ahead and kinda get going. I hope everybody, has been enjoying all these sessions. They've they've been really good for me. I I don't know about the other panelists, but for me, it's like every time I do this, it's it's just like we talk about. Every time you have these conversations, they get better and better, and it's the same for us. So let's let's talk about the BBA when it comes to all of these changes and how they impact our sellers. There's a lot of different potential here now with sellers. And, if if there are some really important things to know as far as how this impacts sellers and our situation with sellers, I really wanna emphasize that the sky is the limit. This isn't just, you know, some sort of motivational thing to get you thinking that there is this wide open range now, but I'm telling you folks, I talked with an agent just yesterday who secured an executed an executed, contract including an eight percent commission. Eight percent. Yeah. That was right. Percent to but yeah. Right? Five percent on the listing side, three percent on the selling side, on the buying side. It it's just it really is wide open. And if you can find a way to show your value to sellers, they're gonna they're gonna see some incredible things, and you're gonna see some incredible things. So let's talk about how to bring those conversations and how to bring that strategy to your sellers. So we're gonna role play through a little bit. For those of you who may oh, there we go. Look at that. We've got the the screen going now. So just for a second, just to introduce ourselves for a second, I'm Shay Carter. I'm the Texas broker here in LPT. We've got a great team of folks in Texas. I'm the designated broker, so, it all falls on me sometimes. It's a lot of responsibility, but it's a lot of fun. Y'all two take it away. Go ahead and introduce yourselves, and then we'll just jump right in. Go ahead, Sarah. Go ahead, Patty. I am Sarah Frey. I am your or not your because there's only one person from Georgia here, but I am the Georgia state broker, the only Georgia state broker. So, I do that. And then I also am our regional one director, so overseeing Florida, Louisiana, and Tennessee as well. So I know I see a lot of familiar names, and, you know, just glad to have everybody here and and excited to kick this one off. Excellent. So, I am the state broker in charge for South Carolina, West Virginia, and Alabama, and the region five director, which includes South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi. So and then I have a trickle few agents in North Carolina I'm the broker for. But, yeah, excited to be here again and ready to get started. Nice. Nice. Thank you. So they're gonna jump right in. So the first role play, scenario that we've got is, okay. You're talking to your seller and they say, I'm ready to list with you, and I don't know that anything has changed. Fill me in. Alright. Do either one of you wanna go first on this one? K. Great. Nothing has changed. Sign here. Great. I mean, you still have to give them the verbiage. You still have to educate them on a on a much smaller scale. Just say, hey. You know, this is what it looks like. Business as usual. These are your options. What do you wanna do? And just and just go with the flow. Like, you don't have to dig in. You don't have to give them this big spiel. But, yeah, like, let's just do it. Yeah. Yeah. And and I don't think there's much else to say other than that. Commissions have always been negotiable. Yeah. Take take a moment to make them aware of what's going on, but I think the biggest thing overall is not making it a bigger deal than it is. Sometimes, you know, the simpler, the better. And so, sure, just say, well, you know, maybe you aren't aware, but, you know, there's been this going on in the industry, and it's just us making sure we have these conversations and, you know, as you would any other time go in, being transparent, being honest, and negotiating your terms with your listing or with your seller for the listing agreement. Yeah. Absolutely. Let's jump right to this to the next one then. So I heard the six percent commission is dead. I don't have to pay buyers' agents anymore. No. No. No. You don't have to. But these are the reasons why you might want to. And then if you keep getting that objection, then, okay. You know, we'll do it for ten days. I've said this before. Do it for ten days. I'll log all the calls and all the places that I said no. No. They're not offering. They're not doing. And in that two week time or ten day time frame, you only have two showings and come back to me and say, why? This is the data that I have to show you. So is it the market that's making that happen, or is it the fact that I'm I've gotten fifty phone calls and only two showings, because I have to say no. Yep. And I think being clear that, well, you know, there never was such a thing as only six percent. That there's never been a standard. There's never been a normal. So kind of honing in on the fact that, you know, it it never has been six percent. In fact, it always has been negotiable and, and not obligated either. And and like Patty said, no. You don't have have to, and you never did. And I think that's where we go sideways sometimes is the is the perception that we had to before, and that's really where the education point comes in And exactly like what she said, but if you do offer a cooperative brokerage compensation, your marketing of your property becomes more attractive to buyers. It'd be you know, it is going to get more, so you really position it in in the benefit of it and then, you know, selling it as a whole package in the marketing that you go about it. Absolutely. You know, and one of the things that, comes to mind when I think about a situation like this where a seller says, you know, hey. I don't have to pay the compensation anymore, you know, for the buyer's side. I think for us as listing agents to take the moment and and to to let the seller know, look. I'm your cooperative guide to make sure we get to where you're going, get to what's most important to you. If it's most important to you that you sell this house in a very, very short amount of time, then let me give you all this information about everything we're gonna need in place to make it move quickly. If you're okay with, you know, it sitting a while and if that buy side compensation is less important to you then or, you know, maybe hanging on to that much money is more important to you than moving quickly. At some point, we also have to look at how much money are you just paying in a mortgage that could've just gone to a commission and save everybody the time. Right? But there's so many other things that we can do now to set ourselves apart from all the other listing agents. You know, we're now gonna see so many listing agents buying for listings and and really trying everything they can to show their value. But how many listing agents will find what down payment assistance programs could help buyers for that home and use that as a marketing tool? You know, what other things can we do, I think, to show the the the seller you know, if you're concerned about not paying that buyer's agent, then let's also look at things that we can do to proactively provide the best foot forward for your property regardless. And I think, to me, when I hear a seller looking at trying to save money, I start immediately trying to think through, okay. If they're trying to save money there, where are they gonna end up spending more money trying to save that and maybe trying to bring a larger conversation to to help them see how expensive saving that little bit of money might be. I don't know. The I I think there's so much value that we can bring to these conversations now. It's it really is just wide open. Kinda going back to the what we were saying earlier about, nothing's changed, and and commissions were always negotiable. And, we could always make more. Yeah. It it's always about selling value. I've known people for years who have had listing presentations that were getting six, seven, eight, nine percent commission, depending on the level of services that they were providing. So, again, all about that that, trying to to bring that value. Okay. So how about this next one? I've spoken to a few other agents, and there seems to be some concern or confusion around what's happening in the industry. Social media is a beast, And there is a lot of misinformation out there. And, you know, and that's that's the opportunity to have the information in front of you, and say, hey. Look. You know, here's the our guidelines. And you don't have to dig in per se. But, you know, here it is in black and white. This is what we know. This is how it's been interpreted interpreted today. That doesn't mean tomorrow, we won't have another interpretation. But for today, this is what it looks like, and this is what the expectations are. I honestly I I know that there is concern and confusion, amongst the agents. I hear it every day. But it's also a matter of what you know, what you bring to the table. Here it is in black and white. You know, this is what it looks like. These are the changes that have happened. MLS changes, BB-eight changes. This is what's happened. Yeah. Yeah. You know? And and I think when, when I've had conversations with consumers in these spaces, right, because everybody's asking questions. And everywhere you go, the minute somebody finds out you're in real estate, this is what they wanna talk about, it seems like. But I think when they're when we're in these spaces and consumers are running into confusion and are seeing so many outlandish, headlines that just are are nonsensical, really, It's our role and our opportunity to come in and speak with not just confidence, but some calming, you know, and bring some kind of diffusing energy to the situation. And for me, part of that has always been, to kinda put it in the context of listen. Yeah. There's a lot of confusion. There's a lot of concern about what's going on, but, ultimately, these lawsuits and the settlement were all around transparency, and they were all around making it a much smoother process for buyer and seller. And so you can rest assured that every step of the way, I'm I'm gonna show you every document that we're gonna have, and and we're gonna achieve the goal of that settlement, which is the transparency where everybody knows what everybody's making and everybody agrees to it, and it's all gonna be there in the paperwork. And, you know, the the weird thing is things still might be changing depending on how long these transactions are going on. Right? I know that I'll throw this bomb out there. Right? The settlement is just a a proposed settlement agreement. Yeah. I think that's gonna be yeah. Signed off in the court system until late November, I think the twenty ninth. And what happens if the court system doesn't sign off? Right. So forward thinking is maybe the DOJ doesn't think we've done enough, and we're gonna have to do more. Right. So there could be changes coming for sure. Yeah. And and I think to be able to, you know, not just guide our clients through why these changes are happening now, but especially if they're long term clients. Hey. It might still be confusing and concerning for several months because this is still and every time you're having those kind of conversations, you're becoming more of an expert to that client. Yep. Any other thoughts before we move on to the the next slide or the next script? No. I mean, I think it's just honesty. I I mean, again again, yes, the settlement is about transparency, but also just being honest yourself. Like, you know, we're not experts. We're not attorneys. Well, some of us might be, but all of us, you know, aren't. And the fact that, you know, we may have to adapt and change, and we're surely gonna have to adapt and change based on the cycle of the market and the type of market that it is. So I think it's kind of being upfront. Like we said, that transparency, that mentality of, you know, I'm here to be a resource. I'm here to provide value. And whether that's actually providing factual information from the website or saying, like, I'm a resource for the resources to get the information, hooking them up with somebody that can really go through a seller net. So it you know, admitting that, sure. I understand it can be confusing for for not only us who this is our industry, but for you as well. But just, you know, being confident, calm, cool, collected, and going in there as their adviser and their resource. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I think that's great. So okay. Last last question here. So if you bring the buyer, I'm still only paying you the selling side commission since the buyer broker commissions went away. So I'm gonna chime in on this one. Go for it. Go for it. Absolutely. Well and what's funny is and I will say this is every state or not every state, but some states have actually prepared for this kind of situation. So once again, it absolutely goes into describing your value. Okay. You know, are you representing the buyer as a customer? Are you how are you bringing them in? Is it somebody nonrepresented and you're just, you know, merely letting them into the house? In in some and I think, some state forms, like I said, are prepared for this, and I think it's kind of getting the mentality for that. There are some states that have the option for the seller to pay one commission that is a shared coop commission. There are some states that do one commission to the listing agent, one commission to the buyer's broker, and they are considering those separate. There are also some states who have taken into fact this language that literally says, for all purposes, a buyer's broker can be you, mister listing agent, as well. And so I I think and I even though that language might not be in all of the contracts, I think that is language you can adopt in putting in a special stipulation or putting in your conversation with your seller the difference between if you are bringing in the buyer, you know, what your representation is of that, what the work is of that. Not only are you explaining a value of a co op brokerage compensate compensation for any buyer agent potential, but if you're bringing in the buyer, you are also doing that work as well. And so I think it's really and then, of course, you want to differentiate the dual agency line. And if your state doesn't allow it and if you're not gonna touch it with a ten foot pole, we get it. And maybe there is room for negotiation on that as well. Is it a customer? Is it, you know, however you're actually representing the buyer per se? But I think positioning is that value. Because like I said, some states preemptively have this language going ahead and saying, like, a buyer's broker, for all intents and purposes, can also be the listing agent. Yeah. That's where I was gonna go with it is that it goes back to your hyperlocal for your state and or for your board depending on who's drafting your your forms. All of my states are a little different. Some have customer transactional brokerage. Some have buyer exclusive, especially on the listing agreement. Some some allow the coop listing to buyer, so you already have the total built in. If you get both sides, some are completely separate. Some have unrepresented buyer spots. What happens if we, you know, if the listing agent takes on an unrepresented buyer spot? So I don't know that this is a like, you can answer this on a national level because I do think that all states are gonna be a a little bit different than what you can offer them. Right. Yeah. And and I can even see with some with some specific Texas situations, I don't know that we would get to this point necessarily. These decisions would have already been made, I think, before we got here, maybe. Right. Most things have been. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So let me share with this real quick. For those of you who heard the kinda teaser in the beginning, let me tell you about creative problem solving in this new landscape. I spoke with an LPT agent here in Texas, and his seller had had decided to list with a five percent commission but was only going to give two percent to the buying agent. And, they'd had the market the house on the market for a number of weeks, and it it really hadn't moved, hadn't had really much action at all. And the seller came to him and said, look. I think I'd like to drop the price, but I think I'd like to drop the price by about fifteen thousand dollars. Our agent said, you know what? I think maybe if you're if you're looking at just getting rid of fifteen thousand dollars from from the get go, maybe there's a better strategy that we can put in place with that same money instead of just dropping the price. What if we were to offer seven thousand dollars in buyer concessions for upgrades? And, you know, what if we renegotiated all of the commission structure, and we're gonna do something really different? So as the listing agent, I would get five percent. We would still be offering three percent to the buyer's agent. So the buyer's agent now gonna make more. This the buyer's gonna get seven grand in concessions, mister seller. What do you think about that? And he sent me a screenshot of the executed document. He went for it. And now they have an executed contract, and the buyer's thrilled. The buyer's agent's thrilled. The seller's thrilled. The listing agent is thrilled. And and that's an eight percent transaction right there, and every party is is happy. I think when we when we have those conversations with our sellers and we realize every transaction, is is very unique. Right? Everything is in a vacuum, or nothing is in a vacuum. Everybody's making these decisions for sellers based on really intricate personal items. And the more we have these questions and explore their real whys, I think we really get to the basis of of of what's the most important thing for those sellers. And and I think when when it really comes down to it, sometimes they don't really dig into the the true why until they're having to look at those numbers and decide what's most important. And and so I think it's it's really important to walk them through all of these different scenarios and and continue to do so. When, you know, when when we have a stale listing that's just not moving or the the seller is bringing up one of these objections, let's look at some different scenarios and break those down so, you know, the numbers really aren't gonna lie. I love it. I just wanted to share that story with y'all. Do Patty, Sarah, do either of you have any parting thoughts on, seller personas and how to deal with these these situations? I mean, it's kinda one again, it's one of those things that I have said in several of these meetings, be kind. Like, meet your sellers, have the conversations, know what their wants and whys are, and it goes the same way for buyers agents. It could or for buyers, it goes the same way for other agents that you're working with in a transaction. We are all dealing with the change and seeing different things come out daily about how we're supposed to handle it and how we're supposed to react. And really just, you know, in the big scheme of it, be kind to each other. Like, we'll figure it out. We're gonna get there. We're gonna do what's in the best interest of our clients. And that's what we're all trying to do. We're trying to, you know, readjust. Some of us have some there was only, what, thirteen states that had had a buyer broker agreement before this. So, you know, just really, like, see where the other person's coming from. And, you know, I know that there are some small and some large brokerages that are not doing what we're doing. They haven't seen this material. They haven't had all these classes. So more than anything, just be kind, at this point. No. We'll get there. Everyone's gonna get there. Yeah. And I I mean, again, I I same thing. I think the the most we can do is just continue to hone in our skills and learn and truly learn what value you do offer and believe in that value. Don't sell yourself short at all. You know, everyone has their own negotiating style, and that's gonna be agents and sellers too. And every seller is gonna have their own motive. Are they are they driven by the the bottom dollar? Are they we have to get out of this house because we're relocating. So you really kinda have to, like we said, meet them where they are. Be willing to go in, and even if you have a game plan, be willing to adjust in a in a you know, go a different direction. So be knowledgeable in different scenarios. Partner with, you know, your resources you have at hand. I know we have a closing attorney here who's putting together a comparison of, of offer sheets. And, like, if we're paying commission or compensation and we're not paying compensation, but we're giving in these, you know, concessions, but then we're also having to pay this, like, they come out to be very similar. So use your resources at hand, find a partner who can help you come up with these assets to provide your value, show your value. You know, could position yourself as kind of like you know, it's it's gonna be a cost benefit analysis. Like, how are you what what are you providing? What benefit? You know, what's avoiding them any costly mistakes? What what are they willing to do to market the property, to avoid it sitting on the market longer? Get in you know, make it more enticing, make it more attractive. So I think it's really being authentic to yourself, knowing the value you can bring to that seller, believing in that, and and positioning it in the way that they're like, yeah. I I if I'm doing this, I'm doing it with you because if I do it this way, it might cost me more money. So I think you really just have to go in. And I know this is a seller class, but they are also offering the free ABR, you know, designation. Learn your value on the buyer side too. And not only that, that's gonna help you position the value of paying a cooperative brokerage compensation if you need to have that conversation as well. Know your state rules about dual agency because I know on that one, if you do a dual agency and your state allows it, you can still sign a buyer brokerage agreement where they're paying your compensation, and the seller's paying your compensation. So there's really so many little nuances that we can sit here and say, do this, don't do that, but that's not allowed, and we're not allowed here and everything. But at the bottom of you know, at the end of the day, it it really is about being transparent, being yourself, and bringing your value to that seller. I know I've heard great tips about, like, you know, letting them know, like, my loyalties to you and don't disclose too much to me because if I know this, you know, my it's confidential information. I could take this and use it against you on a buyer's side. So, I mean, there's so many little tips and tricks that I think if you say these things to sellers, they're like, oh, no one else has said that. And one of my favorite ones was, if people go in and they're like, oh, well, you know, x y z over here said that they're only gonna charge me one percent commission, I put it back on them. Well, how long did it take you to get them to lower that? If you think that's how they negotiated, how you think they're gonna do when they're negotiating for your property. So really just kinda use little tips and tricks that you pick up to sell yourself, you know, and set yourself apart because at the end of the day, it is gonna change. We may hit a seller's market, and and who knows what we're in for at that point? So it's kind of like learn each way you can, buyer side, seller side, blend those together to to be able to position the value either way. Yeah. And that's my soapbox. I love it. I love that soapbox. Alright, folks. Well, any other thoughts? Any other questions before we, we get moving and let these folks get back to their evening? Going once? Going twice? Alright. Y'all have a great night. And, for those of you who will be on later, we'll see you at the the ten o'clock. Let's see. Wait. There was one last question. When submitting an offer, is there a separate form to indicate the commission, or does it go on the contract? You're gonna need to talk to your state broker for that one. Alright. Y'all have a great night. Bye, guys.