What Changed After the NAR Settlement — What Triangle Buyers Need to Know

In 2024, the National Association of Realtors reached a landmark settlement that fundamentally changed how buyer agent compensation works in the United States. If you’re buying a home in the Triangle in 2026, understanding what changed — and what it means for you — is essential before you sign anything or tour your first home.

The short version: buyers now have more transparency and more negotiating power than ever before. But they also have more responsibility to understand what they’re agreeing to before they start working with an agent.

Here’s what actually changed and what it means for Triangle buyers specifically.

What was the NAR settlement?

The NAR settlement resolved a series of antitrust lawsuits alleging that the traditional real estate commission structure — where sellers paid both their own agent and the buyer’s agent — was anticompetitive and artificially inflated commissions.

The settlement, which took effect in August 2024, required two significant changes to how real estate transactions work across the country:

1. Buyer agency agreements are now required before showings. Before a buyer’s agent can show you a home, they must have a signed written agreement with you that clearly states how they will be compensated. You must agree to the compensation terms before touring any property.

2. Buyer agent compensation can no longer be advertised on the MLS. Previously, sellers would offer a specific buyer agent commission rate in the MLS listing — effectively setting the market rate for buyer agent compensation. That practice is now prohibited. Compensation is negotiated directly between the buyer and their agent, and separately between the buyer’s agent and the seller.

These two changes together shifted the buyer agent compensation conversation from something that happened in the background to something that buyers are now directly involved in.

What does this mean for buyers in the Triangle?

For most buyers, the practical day-to-day experience of buying a home hasn’t changed dramatically. You still hire a buyer’s agent, you still tour homes, you still make offers and negotiate. The difference is in how your agent gets paid and how transparent that process now is.

You sign a buyer agency agreement before your first showing

Before any agent can show you a home in North Carolina, they must present you with a written buyer agency agreement that clearly states the duration of the agreement, the geographic scope, and how the agent will be compensated and in what amount.

This is actually a protection for you. It means the agent’s compensation terms are documented and agreed upon before you’re emotionally invested in a specific home. You know exactly what you’re committing to before you walk through a single door.

At Sakan Properties, our buyer agency agreements are specific to the property you’re interested in and valid for a defined period — typically two weeks. We don’t ask you to sign a broad exclusive agreement covering every home in the Triangle for six months. Our agreement locks in your rebate amount in writing before we do anything else.

Buyer agent compensation is now negotiable

Because the seller is no longer required to offer a specific buyer agent commission through the MLS, compensation has become more explicitly negotiable. In practice, most sellers and builders in the Triangle are still offering buyer agent compensation — they want buyers to have representation because represented buyers close more smoothly. But the amount varies and it’s no longer automatically disclosed upfront.

This is one of the first questions your buyer’s agent should be finding out when you express interest in a property. At Sakan Properties, we confirm the offered compensation before any agreement is signed so you know exactly what your rebate will be before you commit.

You may be asked to cover buyer agent compensation directly

In some transactions — particularly where a seller offers no buyer agent compensation — a buyer may be asked to pay their agent’s fee directly. This is a new reality post-settlement that buyers need to understand going in.

At Sakan Properties, our flat 1% fee is clearly stated in your agency agreement. If a seller is offering 2.5% buyer agent compensation, you pay nothing and receive a 1.5% rebate. If a seller is offering 2%, you pay nothing and receive a 1% rebate. If a seller is offering 1%, you pay nothing and your rebate is zero — but you still receive full representation at no net cost to you. If a seller offers nothing, we would discuss the situation with you before proceeding.

We don’t surprise our clients with fees they didn’t agree to. Everything is in the agreement before we start.

What hasn’t changed

Despite the headlines, a lot of the fundamentals of buying a home in North Carolina remain the same.

Sellers and builders are still paying buyer agent compensation in most cases. The settlement prohibited advertising that compensation on the MLS — it did not prohibit sellers from offering it. In the Triangle market, the vast majority of sellers and builders are still offering buyer agent compensation because they understand that represented buyers are more likely to close.

Your agent still negotiates on your behalf. Nothing about the settlement changed the fiduciary duty a buyer’s agent owes to their client. A good buyer’s agent is still fighting for your interests — on price, terms, inspection negotiations, and everything else.

The rebate model still works exactly the same way. The settlement actually made buyer rebates more relevant, not less. Because compensation is now more explicitly negotiated, a buyer who knows to ask for a rebate is in a stronger position than ever.

How to protect yourself as a buyer post-settlement

Read your buyer agency agreement carefully before signing. Know exactly how long it lasts, what properties it covers, and how your agent is compensated. Don’t sign an open-ended agreement that locks you in for months before you’ve built any trust with an agent.

Ask about compensation before your first showing. Your agent should be able to tell you exactly how they’re paid and what, if anything, you might be responsible for. If they can’t answer that question clearly, that’s a red flag.

Confirm what the seller is offering before you make an offer. Your buyer’s agent should be finding out the offered compensation on any property you’re seriously considering. This affects your rebate amount and potentially your net cost.

Get everything in writing. The whole point of the new agreement requirement is to document compensation terms before emotions get involved. Use that protection.

What the settlement means for the Sakan Properties model

The NAR settlement is arguably the best thing that could have happened for the buyer rebate model.

Before the settlement, most buyers had no idea their agent was being compensated at all — let alone that they could negotiate that compensation or receive a portion of it back. The settlement brought the entire buyer agent compensation conversation into the open.

Now, every buyer who signs with an agent is explicitly told what that agent is being paid. That conversation creates a natural opening for buyers to ask: is there an agent who would share that commission with me?

The answer is yes. And in the Triangle, that agent is Sakan Properties.

The bottom line

The NAR settlement changed the mechanics of how buyer agent compensation is handled in the United States. For Triangle buyers, the practical impact is straightforward: you sign an agreement before you tour, you know what your agent is paid, and you have more negotiating power than before.

At Sakan Properties, we built our model around exactly the transparency the settlement is now requiring industry-wide. Nothing about how we operate changed in August 2024 — we were already doing what the settlement mandated. The rest of the industry is now catching up.

If you’re buying a home in the Triangle and want to understand exactly how the new rules affect your transaction — and how to use them to your advantage — book a free 15-minute consultation or use our rebate calculator to see what you could get back at closing.