Power Sessions — Written Agreements: What the NAR Settlement Actually Requires (8/24/2026)

Two years on, most of what agents "know" about the NAR settlement is still wrong. Here's what actually changed, and what has to be in writing before you open a door. Five Star's deal doctors spend half an hour separating the settlement's real requirements from the things that circulated in 2024 and never got checked. Sellers can no longer pay buyer brokers. Buyer agents have to work for free. Cooperation between brokerages is prohibited. Every buyer has to sign a long-term agreement before they can see a single house. All of it went around, none of it holds up, and two of those took months of review with attorneys in and outside Michigan to put to rest. Two things did genuinely change, and the session is built on them: you need something in writing before you show a property, and the terms of your engagement have to be settled with your client, and with the other side, rather than assumed. Most of the running time goes on the difference between a property showing agreement and a buyer agency agreement, which one fits which stage, and why the paperwork has to exist before an offer goes out instead of after. It closes on the questions broker support fields most, including whether you need an agreement to show your own listing. What's covered: • Four things everyone heard about the settlement, and why none of them held • The two changes that actually affect how you work day to day • What a property showing agreement does, and what it deliberately does not • Which form fits the stage where you and a client are still deciding • Why the terms have to be specific and agreed, not left open or left to the other side • Why it all has to be in writing before the offer goes out, not after • Whether you need an agreement to show your own listing, or hold an open house • What to do when an agreement is missing from the closing instructions Chapters: 0:00 What this session covers 0:37 What the settlement actually was 1:44 The four things everyone heard, and got wrong 2:37 What actually changed, in two lines 3:07 Why it came off the MLS 3:35 Showing agreement, or agency agreement? 3:55 What a showing agreement does, and doesn't 4:11 The stage where you're both still deciding 4:43 Is one always required before you show? 4:55 Get it in writing before the offer goes out 5:59 Why the terms have to be specific 6:57 You can't collect more than the agreement says 8:41 Who is actually paying you? 9:07 Through the purchase agreement, or broker to broker 13:39 Duplicates: how agents end up billing twice 15:11 One route or the other, never both 17:31 When the agreement is missing at closing 26:37 Four things the settlement actually says 27:14 Do you need one for your own listing? 27:55 What about an open house? 28:16 Explain the options before you start showing 29:30 Where the contract language lives Questions answered: Q: Do I really need something in writing before I show a house? A: Yes, and a property showing agreement is enough. It's the lighter of the two forms: it lets you open the door without hiring you for a term. A buyer agency agreement does hire you, and it's the one to use once you both know you're working together. Q: I'm showing one of my own listings. Does everyone who walks in need to sign something? A: No. You're working on behalf of your seller, and the point of a listing is to get people through the door. Same answer for an open house you're holding. Q: The offer is already submitted and my terms weren't in it. Can I fix that afterwards? A: Not reliably, and this is the call broker support takes most often. Settle it in writing with your client, and with the other side, before the offer goes out. Afterwards you're negotiating from a much weaker position. Session: Power Sessions, recorded August 24, 2026 Hosted by the Five Star Real Estate broker support team. — Five Star Real Estate: the most supportive brokerage on the planet. Five Star: https://fivestarleaders.com Homebase, agent resources: https://homebase.fivestarleaders.com/ More Power Sessions:    • Power Sessions 2026