The Aftermath of NAR Rules: Agents' Reactions

James Dwiggins breaks down the real-world fallout from the August 17, 2024 NAR settlement implementation — what agents are doing right, what's getting them sued, and how the compensation decoupling changes buyer and seller conversations. Loan officers will find specific scripts, financing strategies, and a compelling case for why right now is their greatest career opportunity to deepen agent partnerships.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Call every agent you've ever closed a deal with and request a sit-down to walk through exactly how buyer-agent compensation can be structured into offers — concessions, seller-paid fees, or loan structure — so agents have a financing playbook before their next buyer consult.
• Attend buyer consultation appointments alongside your agent partners. Use the meeting to explain the 'team' model: agent handles 150 transaction tasks, you handle 230 loan milestones. Dwiggins says this builds credibility-through-complexity and makes buyers feel supported.
• Create a one-page or short video 'financing flyer' showing buyers their four options for covering agent compensation under the new rules: (1) pay out of pocket, (2) seller pays directly, (3) seller concessions buyer uses to pay agent, (4) structure into loan/price. Bring these to open houses.
• Host a consumer-facing home buyer seminar specifically debunking the mainstream media narrative ('buyers must now pay their agent out of pocket') — Dwiggins says almost no one is doing this yet, making it a wide-open lead generation opportunity. Co-brand it with a listing agent to double the reach.
• When working with listing agents, educate them on Dwiggins's net-proceeds framing: present two hypothetical offers side by side — all-cash at asking with buyer paying their own agent vs. $100K over asking with seller covering agent fee — to show that 'no comp offered' can actually cost the seller money.
• Warn agent partners that creating or signing forms that refuse to show homes without pre-advertised buyer-agent compensation constitutes steering and, if coordinated across brokerages, collusion — both of which plaintiff attorneys Douglas Miller and Michael Ketchmark have publicly stated they will actively pursue.

The playbook

1. Step 1 — Listing agent sets seller expectation: 'What matters most to you?' Answer: net proceeds. Agree that maximizing net is the goal.
2. Step 2 — List the home with language: 'Seller is willing to entertain any and all requests — put it in your offer.' Do not pre-advertise a buyer-agent compensation amount.
3. Step 3 — When buyer's agents call asking 'what are you offering?', respond: 'Seller is willing to entertain any and all requests — put it in your offer.'
4. Step 4 — Collect all offers. Evaluate each on net proceeds to seller, not on whether comp is offered.
5. Step 5 — LO joins the strategy session: structure the winning offer to include concessions or seller-paid fees that cover buyer-agent compensation without reducing seller's net below competing offers.
6. Step 6 — Counter or accept based on highest net, using the two-offer comparison model to show sellers why a higher-gross/comp-paying offer can beat an all-cash/no-comp offer on net.

Worth quoting

“Every house is for sale. I will show it to you. We will write an offer. We will negotiate.”

“For every loan officer listening here, you have the greatest opportunity of your career.”

Best for

LOs who want to become indispensable to agent partners right now by showing up with a compensation strategy, not just a rate sheet.