For the past 77 years, Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty has been committed to representing buyers and sellers and offering the highest standard of care for its clients in Arizona. But as many brokerages across the country and in Arizona have experienced, there has been a shift in the way buyer-broker commissions are advertised on the Multiple Listing Services following a national class-action lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors (NAR) that occurred in 2019.
That’s when a group of Missouri home sellers filed a suit claiming anti-trust violations and alleging that the association’s practices inflated commissions. Last October, a jury sided with the plaintiffs, awarding a nearly $1.8 billion verdict against the powerful trade group representing about 1.5 million real estate professionals.
To settle that lawsuit, along with several similar suits, NAR denied any wrongdoing but agreed to pay millions in fines, and the group also agreed to two rule changes:
As we continue in this post-NAR settlement era, Arizona’s leading luxury brokerage is committed to complete compliance with the industry’s new regulations. They have developed a strategic plan to implement the best practices for continued success and leadership.
“This has been the most focused and coordinated effort by our Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty leadership, legal, management, training and marketing that I’ve seen from any company in this industry in my 30 years of practice,” says Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty CEO Todd Gillenwater. “We are immensely proud of our Global Real Estate Advisors’ willingness to learn, practice, and implement these significant changes and go forward, helping our clients accomplish their goals and realize their dreams in the real estate arena.”
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To meet the challenges ahead, the luxury brokerage quickly created a series of documents to ensure its Global Real Estate Advisors were fully prepared for the changes and equipped to communicate effectively with their clients. These resources included Buyer and Seller Guides.
Owners, managers, brokers and agents attended several pre-change classes to address questions and provide updates as they became available. Then, following the changes, Arizona’s long-standing brokerage again organized more classes to ensure all agents felt comfortable with the new forms and could address any questions.
“Early on, we realized that we needed to prepare our Global Real Estate Advisors on the changes to our industry well in advance,” says Kevin Gonzales, Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty Chief Operating Officer Managing Broker. “We put together a plan utilizing our excellent team of Managers in cooperation with our Training, Marketing and IT departments to develop the best training opportunities, proprietary online platforms and presentations to help our Advisors transition. It started with understanding the process and the forms that went along with the new regulations.”
The company’s management team continues to meet weekly to discuss the changes and brainstorm the best strategies to ensure its agents continue to succeed.
The luxury brokerage, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, also introduced a company-wide bulletin periodically sent from the brokerage’s Designated Broker, Bret Lamberson, to highlight important information as soon as it’s available, keeping the agents informed. Lamberson initiated a countdown email, providing agents with timely information at the top of their inboxes leading up to the change.
“We are incredibly proud of our family of global real estate advisors. Over the past eight months, our brokerage has taken advantage of every available resource to prepare for our current regulatory landscape,” said Designated Broker Bret Lamberson. “Ownership and management have prioritized collaboration with our Sotheby’s affiliates from around the country and world to establish and reinforce the absolute best practices for our profession.”
After months of training and rehearsal, The Designated Broker took all this to his team.
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“What impresses me the most about our advisors is their amazing engagement level and true passion for enhancing their real estate practices. This has led to our position, and we are the most prepared in the business. With an even higher level of expertise and our foundation of unwavering integrity, we are excited for the next 77 years of leading Arizona real estate,” he adds.
The brokerage has hosted multiple sales meetings and Zoom events post-change, discussing possible scenarios and answering questions about the changes. The brokerage has also continued to feature critical information and reminders at the top of their weekly newsletter, offering another valuable resource for their team agents.
“Anything we could do to empower our Advisors and give them the knowledge and tools to assist their clients, we put at the top of the list of things to accomplish. That work has paid off. It is clear that our Global Real Estate Advisors have the knowledge and skills to confidently serve our clients in this new real estate landscape,” said Gonzales.
Among the new rules, agents who represent buyers will now be required to sign a Buyer Broker Compensation agreement, which states the agreed-upon compensation on an executed contract.
A Buyer-Broker Agreement must state a clearly defined amount of compensation in exchange for specific services. This must be done before touring properties with the desired Buyer’s Agent.
On the flip side — Unrepresented Buyers attending open houses are not required to sign any forms and listing agents of a particular property will still be permitted to show unrepresented Buyers that property. The unrepresented Buyers are not required to sign any Buyer-Broker Agreement or an Unrepresented Buyer Disclosure, as the Listing Agents are performing the service as the exclusive representative of the Seller.
When writing and submitting an offer for a Buyer, the Buyer’s Agents will send a Seller Compensation Addendum stating the total Buyer-Broker compensation requested. This has been established as the quickest and cleanest way to move forward without a Compensation Agreement Between Brokers.
“What we’ve learned from the NAR Settlement and continue to stress is that real estate commissions have and will always be negotiable, and it must be written into the contract. Also, now more than ever, it is important for all of our agents to differentiate themselves and really show clients the incredible value, care, expertise and white glove service that we, as Arizona’s leading luxury brokerage, will continue delivering to all of our buyers and sellers, in every transaction that we are a part of,” said Gillenwater.
For more information or to find the best Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty Agent for your needs, please visit www.russlyon.com.
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