[Plinker]

Originally Posted by SoCalGal

Yes. Which is why this new arrangement will barely change anything. No one works for free. If a buyer's agent calls the listing agent and the listing agent says, "The seller won't pay a buy-side commission," the buyer will simply tour other listings that will pay his/her agent.

Why is this? Well, there are very few buyers who will want to deal with multiple listing agents. They want one agent who will assist them with identifying houses they may wish to tour and then make an offer.

BTW, there's already a get-around. The new MLS cannot contain a column for "BAC" [buyer's agent commission], so the listing agent will merely price the listing as (for example) "$150,125 (meaning 1.25% BAC) or $150,250 (meaning, 2.5% BAC) or $150,300 (meaning, 3% BAC). Thus, they're signaling the BAC without the BAC column.

If the new ruling is finalized, would you refuse to accept a listing if the seller offers you 3% and makes it clear they will not pay any buyer agent fees?