I know you have seen reports on the NAR settlement subject to court approval and may have concerns. Hopefully, Troy Wilson's message yesterday put you at ease but in case you still need comforting, I hope this Broker Bit will help you relax.
 
Changes in our profession are not new, and as Frank mentioned in a previous Broker Bit, if you have been in this business any length of time you have experienced many changes and challenges along the way.
 
Some of these changes may not seem important today, but when they were first implemented, you would have thought the sky was falling just as we all have thought for at least a second since the NAR lawsuit was mentioned. Our profession has experienced change since property rights were born.
 
Before I go into the changes we have seen over the years (which we survived), I want to thank leadership for being proactive with their video within the first 24-hours of hearing this news, followed by a question-and-answer educational piece. Information and perspective are powerful!  
 
There have been changes in real estate since the first day of property rights. I am going to touch on the past 60 years, and it doesn't matter if you were born yet or do not remember, these changes at the time were HUGE changes in our profession and REALTORS® had to adapt their mindset and approach to their business. Change is change; it is how you adapt or not that determines your success. Each one of these changes started with, "the sky is falling" panic mentality until education and adaptability eased the panic and everyone realized that they just needed to adapt and stay focused on their business.
 
Now imagine you were a REALTOR® during these changes related to real estate, keeping in mind that we deal with these today as normal business practices. Any change from the NAR will soon be just that . . . normal business practice until the next change comes.

• When I got my license home inspections barely existed. The inspector was usually someone's bother-in-law who may have replaced a toilet one time. Then along inspection companies . . . WHAT? They are going to kill every deal because they must prove their value by finding issues with the property. Today, a normal business practice.
• Purchase agreements were a couple of pages long and sometimes just one. There is NO way we are going to let the Board of REALTORS® change the way we are doing business by adding more pages to the contract. Our contract is now 13 pages. Normal business practice.
• RECAD – What the heck is this? We know who we are representing so why do we need to explain this and how uncomfortable is that going to be for the selling process? This was a HUGE change in how we did business and a lot of REALTORS® bailed out . . . too much stress. Now, normal business practice.
• NET SHEETS are mandatory – WHAT? I cannot show my buyer what this purchase is going to cost him or her. They will walk away. Now, normal business practice.
• 2007 & 2008 – Global Financial Crisis – "The sky is falling" now for sure!  Nope… we adjusted and learned how to do Short Sales and deal with Foreclosures. A lot of agents increased their business because they adapted.
• COVID – No need to worry about a NAR settlement . . . The country was closed! Guess what? We adapted!

 
I hope you see my point. At the time of each change, the fear of the unknown is real, but education, adaptability and time make change a normal business practice.
 

Relax . . .
education, adaptability and time changes everything.