A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens
Adapted by Richard Hellesen Music by David de Berry
Directed by Anthony Powell
Department of Justice Objects to Key Part of the NAR Settlement as Anti-Competitive
When the National Association of Realtors (NAR) agreed on March 15th to a $415-million-dollar settlement with a class of home sellers in Missouri, there were two changes which NAR agreed to make.
The first was to remove from the nation’s MLSs all mention of commissions being shared cooperatively with buyer brokers. The second was that all buyers must sign an agreement with any broker (other than the listing agent) before showing another agent’s listing.
If a buyer were to call one of us to see a listed home, we would want to make sure they were a qualified buyer before taking the time to show them a listing, but few of us would bother with any paperwork unless and until they wanted us to compose an offer to buy that or another listing. And we universally got away with that approach.
Last week, the judge in that case was scheduled to affirm or deny that settlement, and on Sunday, Nov. 30th, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a 5-page “statement of interest” stating that, in the DOJ’s opinion, the latter provision was anti-competitive and should be struck down.
So it was a bit of a pain (and an annoyance to the buyer) when we were told that from now on we had to get any prospective buyer to sign a “showing agreement” or a “buyer agency agreement.”
provision of the settlement. And let it be said that this rule was pretty meaningless in the context of the complaint on which the NAR settlement was based, namely that listing agents shouldn’t be sharing their commission with buyer’s agents.
Regarding the other requirement of the NAR settlement outlawing commission sharing and the publishing of “cooperative” commissions on MLSs, it has had little effect here in Colorado. All that happened was that offers of compensation were rephrased on listing agreements and on contracts to buy real estate.
judge in the settlement case deny that aspect of the agreement, too? Perhaps, but one can always hope!
The Origin of the 2.8% Co-op
At press time for this column, the judge had not yet affirmed the settlement, so maybe this is old news to readers, but I wanted to share it with you in case you haven’t heard about the DOJ filing.
We Realtors had taken a grin-and-bearit attitude toward both rules, and I personally hadn’t considered what the DOJ is now espousing — namely, that when you ask a buyer to sign a representation agreement with one broker just to see a home, no matter how short the term of that agreement, you are limiting the ability of other brokers to compete for that buyer’s business.
Prior to the NAR rule, it was considered proper practice to provide a buyer with whom we interact with a “Brokerage Disclosure to Buyer” stating that they are a “Customer” and not a client, but I don’t know any brokers who actually did that.
Since the NAR settlement didn’t say what kind of agreement that should be, I created a simple “Showing Agreement” which I printed up for our broker associates and gave to them, padded, to keep in their glove compartments. Before entering a listing, they were to fill in the blanks and have the buyer sign it before entering the listing. That copy would be given to the buyer, and I suggested that our broker associates take a picture of it on their smartphone — not to print and file it, but just to keep it on their phone as a record.
The fact remains that there is no one to audit whether this form is completed, although I suppose there could be “secret shoppers” who would test agents to see if they are doing that. But, remember, this is a NAR rule, not a state law, so any audits by the Real Estate Commission would not include verifying that such forms were being completed. For that reason, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of agents who simply ignore that NAR rule.
Regardless, it would be a relief if, following this DOJ filing, the judge in the NAR settlement case were to deny that
Now, the listing agreements still state the same total commission — 5 to 6 percent, or whatever — but instead of saying how much of that commission the listing agent will offer to an agent for the buyer, the listing agreement now says how much the seller will offer to an agent for the buyer and then says that, if that amount is indeed paid to a buyer’s agent, that percentage will be deducted from the commission paid to the listing agent. In other words, no change except in phraseology.
Why the amount the seller is offering can’t be stated on the MLS makes no sense. Would it be too much to have the
Have you ever wondered why 2.8% became the typical or standard commission offered to “cooperating brokers” who represent buyers? Here’s a history lesson. It was explained to me that, before the U.S. Department of Justice said that the Denver Board of Realtors (DBOR) was engaging in price fixing by dictating commission rates, DBOR set the listing commission at 7%, and dictated that 40% of that amount, or 2.8%, was the proper amount to be shared with agents representing buyers.
After price-fixing was outlawed, listing commissions declined, but the 2.8% co-op remained a fixture, so to speak, because sellers and their agents didn’t want buyer agents to avoid their listings in favor of listings still offering 2.8%.
Nowadays, with buyers doing their own searching online (where that co-op commission was hidden from consumers), the reluctance to offer less than 2.8% diminished and now is far less important.
My Feb. 17, 2022, column reported that the percentage of listings offering less than 2.8% had grown from 2% in 2015 to 30%.
Is Your Home Fully Prepared for Winter?
Now that our warm autumn is giving way to the cold spells of winter, have you done everything you should to prepare for cold weather?
Frozen pipes should be your number one concern, given the damage burst pipes can cause. Are your outdoor hose bibs the kind that resist freezing? They’re easy enough to install. They work because the valve itself is deep within the unit so that it benefits from the warmth within your house.
Does the caulking around your windows need refreshing? Leakage around windows is a major source of lost heat.
ommend annual cleaning and servicing of HVAC systems.
If you have a wood-burning fireplace, when was the chimney last cleaned? Chimney fires are all too common.
Tree trimming is expensive, but should be considered, given the increase in hurricane-force winds due to climate change. Is there a tree that could fall on your home? Consider removing it, or at least trimming threatening branches.
This is a good time to test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and maybe install fresh batteries.
$750,000
Condos in this building at 722 Washington Avenue (called Washington Station) are in great demand because of its location right in downtown Golden. This new listing is for Unit 201, which has a great corner location directly above the unit’s deeded parking spot. Moreover, the stairs to the parking garage are right next to the door to this unit. (There’s also an elevator, of course.) This is a mixed use building, with commercial units, including the Golden Bike Shop, on the main ground floor. The unit itself features an open floor plan, with slab granite countertops and cherry cabinets with handles, and an island with breakfast bar to complement the dining area. At left is the view from the 5.5’x11.3’ balcony outside the living room. That view is also from both bedrooms. The bathrooms and kitchen have ceramic tile floors, and the rest of the unit has carpeting in like new condition. There’s a 7’-deep storage room and laundry closet with vinyl flooring. Take a narrated video tour at GoldenCondo.info, then come to the open house this Saturday, 11am to 1pm.
There’s so much to love about this home at 7085 W. 32nd Pl.! For starters, it’s a handyman’s delight with an oversized 2-car garage that is heated and has 200 Amps of power, including two 240-Volt circuits! Also, one of the basement bedrooms has been converted into a sound studio with professional soundproofing such that neighbors and the people upstairs wouldn’t be aware of it! Altogether, including that studio with its ensuite bathroom, this home has five bedrooms and three full bathrooms. And it has a full-size bar with bar stools next to that studio in the basement
Check your dryer vent for built-up lint, a major cause of house fires.
Change the filter in your forced-air furnace to improve its efficiency. I rec-
Clean your gutters so water doesn’t collect, freeze and back up on your roof. We have vendors to recommend for each of these tasks under the “Resources” tab at www.GoldenRealEstate.com
Golden Real Estate’s Broker Associates
David Dlugasch
303-908-4835
Joined us in 2014
Licensed in 2001
Jim Swanson
303-929-2727
Joined us in 2008
Licensed in 2000
Chuck Brown
303-885-7855
Joined us in 2014
$698,000
Licensed in 2000
Greg Kraft
720-353-1922
Joined us in 2022
Licensed in 1982
Kathy Jonke
303-990-7428
Joined us in 2023
Licensed in 2002
Don’t be misled by our name. Our agents have listed homes throughout the Denver Metro area and helped clients buy homes and other real estate all over Colorado!
Big Price Reduction on Brick Ranch in Wheat Ridge
Just Listed: 2-BR Condo in Downtown Golden
By Jason Harris of Foothills Kitchen & Bath
It’s widely accepted in the scientific community that Thag Urk’s greatest invention occurred one million years ago when he rubbed two sticks together to create fire. What’s lesser known is there isn’t consensus on why it’s such a magnificent achievement.
Was it because it produced more heat than sleeping next to curled up bears? Or because food evolved from sushi to flambéed? Sure, all important milestones, but hear me out, because I posit that there is a direct line between fire and indoor lighting. And while we might have more moths now, there are far less stubbed toes.
The most common lighting in our homes is ambient, a word whose Latin origin meant “going round,” though we tend to think of it today as something in the background, such as sound, heat or light. Any fixtures that cast light over the bulk of the room fit this category. Your grandparents’ bulb with a pull string in the middle of the room was ambient; chandeliers, sconces, cans or track lighting are ambient; floor or table lamps also belong.
With endless materials, whether man-made or au natural, lighting fixtures can provide architectural statements that are limited only by the imagination of designers: chandeliers that look like jellyfish, a driftwood table lamp, sconces repurposed from hubcaps. But what if American Express hasn’t been kind enough to add another digit to your credit line, how do you enhance your room without spiking your heart aflutter?
Take advantage of technology, because today‘s LED lighting is amazing and increasingly affordable. LED stands for “Light Emitting Diode”; electricity passes through a microchip and creates light via electrolu-
minescence. With no filaments to break, they, uh, claim to last thousands of hours and not produce heat. I’ll buy the low heat, but apparently my “thousand” is higher than theirs.
In the past, we’d buy bulbs based on wattage, whereas now we have to retrain ourselves with LED‘s to think in Kelvins and lumens. Kelvin refers to the color temperature of light, and runs from red to purple; the lower end is considered warm, while the higher Kelvins are cool. Maybe your preference is daylight — 5000-6000 K — but how bright do you want it? That’s where lumens come in, because as the lumens increase, the light becomes more intense or brighter.
But back to setting the mood. Clients constantly request more fixtures throughout a room, and our weapons of choice are thin profile retrofit LED’s. Initially, they came at specific Kelvins, then they were selectable prior to installation, before finally evolving to being adjustable on your phone. You can choose daylight for cleaning, then scale back to cool colors for entertaining, or party with red and green for Christmas or orange and purple at Halloween.
That’s more fun than one person deserves, so we’ll gloss over accent lighting — those that are directed toward specific architectural elements — to discuss the heavy lifting that gets done. Task lighting illuminates areas where projects are performed, such as over countertops or computers or reading. The most common example would be undercabinet lighting, but pendant lights above an island or directional mini-spots attached to the headboard are others.
We’re a kitchen and bath store, after all, so let’s talk about design ideas for kitchen lighting: Place under-
cabinet lights at the front of the cabinets; this not only directs the lights to the middle of your counters, it also decreases shadowing in your backsplash; that said, for a corner cabinet, place the light more toward the middle or add a second light, else the corner will seem darker. You’ll want either slim profile lights, or you’ll need light rail molding, but be aware light can bleed through the gap between the rail and the frame.
Consider glass shelves with puck lighting for cabinets with glass doors. Install motion detectors that turn on lights when doors or drawers are opened. Toe kick lighting is gorgeous. Tape lighting is less expensive, but projects a dotted reflection on your counters. My friend always referred to hidden wires as proper wire hygiene; with good planning, you can keep the wires behind the drywall before the backsplash is installed.
This isn’t lighting, but have you ever seen a beautiful backsplash that was marred by bad cuts in the tile to make room for electrical outlets? That’s a thing of the past as you can now have custom length, hard-wired power strips installed beneath the back of the cabinets. Dimmer switches are now touch sensitive for boomers; or wireless for millennials and Gen Z.
Whoops, must finish...article...but it’s suddenly... getting dark....daaarrk inside my eyezzzz....
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