A homebuyer’s personal story from the post-Sitzer, post-settlement world

Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of articles that will explore the effects of the landmark Sitzer/Burnett case, which was decided on Oct. 31, 2023, and has since reshaped the business practices for real estate brokerages and agents across the country.

What does a real estate reporter do to mark the one-year anniversary of the Sitzer/Burnett jury verdict? Funny you should ask.

Whether it was fate, God or some confluence of factors created by the universe, I found myself financially ready and emotionally prepared to begin the hunt for my first home this past summer. As a real estate reporter, it was not lost on me that the formal start of my house hunt would coincide almost perfectly with the real estate industry working through the nationwide implementation of the business practice changes outlined in the National Association of Realtors‘ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement.

Although I was certainly nervous about the process, I knew I was far better prepared — and had far more resources and industry experts available for consultation — than most first-time buyers. Also, my journalistic curiosity for experiencing the transaction process I write about so frequently, at a time when the industry was undergoing massive changes, outweighed any trepidation.

Finding an agent

Like 43% of homebuyers, I began my search online, as I worked to get a sense for what the inventory in my preferred areas and in my price range looked like. Much of this work was conducted on large national listing portals, but I also utilized Altos Research market reports to track home-price and inventory trends in my search area of southern New Hampshire.

While I absolutely could have begun my home search with an agent, as a reporter covering the space, I know how busy agents are. I wanted to make sure I was comfortable with what the inventory in my price range might look like before I began taking up an agent’s valuable time.

Having previously written about the Greater Boston housing market a few times for HousingWire, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know some of the area’s top agents and brokers. It was after one such call with Anthony Lamacchia, the broker-owner of Lamacchia Realty, that I reached out and mentioned I was in the market to buy my first home. I asked Anthony if he had any recommendations for agents in my area, which is how I found my wonderful agent, Angela Harkins.

Angela is the 11th-ranked agent in the state by sales volume, closing 38 sides and $29.82 million in volume in 2023, according to RealTrends Verified data.

Angela and I began working together in early August, about a week before the NAR settlement-mandated business practice changes went into effect nationwide. But the New Hampshire Association of Realtors and Prime MLS had already introduced the changes, including mandatory buyer representation agreements and no offers of cooperative compensation on the MLS, about three weeks prior.

Although Angela knew my background in the industry, we both thought it would be beneficial to have her walk me through the process and all the papers I needed to sign before we began working together. During our meeting, Angela talked me through the homebuying process and what her duties and responsibilities would be as my buyer’s agent.

We also discussed her compensation, eventually settling on a percentage that we both felt was fair, and we concluded things by signing the requisite state forms and the recently added buyer representation form. Lamacchia Realty is using its own buyer representation agreements, and I found the form straightforward and easy to understand.

Mortgage butterflies

As confident and comfortable as I was in the home search process and the paperwork involved in signing on with an agent, I was not feeling great about the mortgage preapproval and application process. But in another stroke of luck, I have a cousin who is a loan officer at Guild Mortgage.

Before you scold me, yes, I did shop around for mortgage rates, but that journey ultimately led me back to Guild, where I was ultimately able to secure a fantastic rate through a special New Hampshire Housing mortgage program.

Equipped with my preapproval letter, Angela and I began my house hunt in earnest. Thanks to my religious stalking of listing portals and regular checks of Altos Research data, I was prepared for the fast pace and high intensity of the Southern New Hampshire housing market, especially for homes in my price range,

The market did not disappoint. The homes I toured all went under contract within a week of being listed and, so far, at least two have sold for more than $20,000 over asking price.

Despite the hot market conditions and relatively strong inventory levels, I toured only five homes in total, putting in offers on the second and fourth properties.

Having spent the past several months covering the NAR settlement and the business practice changes outlined within, I was curious about how listing agents and sellers in my market were handling offers of buyer broker compensation.

In what I found to be a pleasant surprise, the sellers of the two homes I put offers in on were offering buyer broker compensation. The listing agents disclosed this to my agent via text or phone call when we inquired. Unfortunately, the offers were less than what Angela and I had agreed on in my buyer representation agreement.

I could have increased my offers. After all, it’s southern New Hampshire, so of course I was already offering more than asking price. This could have gotten the seller the net proceeds they wanted while ideally getting them to cover all of my buyer’s agent’s compensation. But I chose not to take that route, instead opting to cover the leftover compensation out of pocket for both offers.

We have a winner!

Although my offer on property two was rejected, my offer on property four was accepted. In writing both offers, Angela and I made sure to fully disclose how I was expecting her to get paid, as well as all of my requests, including a home inspection contingency clause.

I grew up in an 1850s farmhouse and was not going to skip an inspection or an appraisal contingency. Even with the hot housing market conditions and the fact there were multiple offers on the property, my offer was accepted with the contingencies. And these two contingencies certainly paid off, as I was able to get a credit back from the seller due to some issues in the inspection, along with $30,000 off my price after the property did not appraise and the seller agreed to renegotiate.

Once negotiations were settled and my mortgage was accepted, the final step was to obtain title insurance. For this, I turned to New Hampshire-based Cohen Closing & Title, where another cousin is the director of business development. While I knew I could shop around for title, as I did with my mortgage, I chose to “keep it in the family,” which made my closing even more special by having my cousin as my closing agent. 

My frequent reporting on issues of wire fraud definitely made me wary heading into the closing, and we ultimately decided to use a bank check for my cash to close. Despite not using a wire transfer, I routinely checked (and double- and triple-checked) throughout the purchase process that the email addresses and phone numbers I was corresponding with were accurate, in an attempt to ensure my transaction stayed as secure as possible.

Overall, I found the homebuying process in a post-NAR settlement, post-Sitzer/Burnett world fairly straightforward. It was not all that different from the process I’ve seen my parents go through a few times in recent years. But I’m not naïve. I attribute much of the ease of the transaction to the knowledge I’ve gained covering the housing industry, along with my family connections and my experienced and incredibly knowledgeable agent.

Now that I have successfully closed, the fun part begins — fun, that is, if you like packing and unpacking boxes and home improvement projects. If you’re in the area, feel free to stop by with a paintbrush!