Newsletter 3/18: Local Realtors brace for commission shake-up
Plus: Large Catholic middle school to go to single-sex classes; Jeff Jackson replies after being 'roasted' over TikTok vote; Bra-fitter 'Peaches' moves to new job after Ledger profile
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National legal settlement could lower housing prices but also create new challenges for buyers
by Kerry Singe
A national legal settlement is expected to shake up the way real estate agents get paid for buying and selling homes — a shift that could lead to lower housing prices but could also make it harder for some buyers.
The move also has the potential to reduce the number of real estate agents and cut their income.
The National Association of Realtors on Friday announced it would change policies dictating how commissions are paid to real estate agents. Historically, sellers’ and buyers’ agents split between 5%-6% percent of the home sale price, with the home sellers paying the commissions on each side out of the sale proceeds.
Should the proposed changes be approved by a federal court, it is expected to become more common for buyers to be responsible for paying their agents’ fees, which could lead to newer payment arrangements such as flat fees or hourly rates. Agents’ commissions also would no longer be included on multiple listing services, the centralized portals with available properties.
Local real estate agents told The Ledger that they have been watching the issue closely. Some said they were nervous about a potential drop in income. Most declined to speak on the record, saying it was too early to speculate how commissions would change. A spokeswoman for Canopy Realtor Association, the professional trade association group of real estate agents in the three-county area including Mecklenburg, told The Ledger that the organization did not have enough information at this time to comment.
Experts say that starting this summer, changes could lower fees for buyers and sellers and reduce home prices. A potential drawback for homebuyers, however, is they may have to have more cash on hand because there is currently no means for buyers to finance their agents’ commissions.
Jill Miller, who has worked in residential real estate for 20 years, said buyers’ agents should clearly communicate the value they bring to their clients. She says she has already been having conversations about the potential changes with home buyers who have been following the news.
“We need to be upfront when we talk with our buyers and be able to define our worth as buyers’ agents,” said Miller, with the Miller Baskerville Team of Helen Adams Realty. “I think ultimately it’s going to be good for buyers because they’ll truly understand our value proposition and the representation they are paying for.”
“It’s important to have good representation when you are spending this much money,” she said. “Negotiating price and terms, evaluating inspections and how they affect the home’s livability and value, and protecting our buyers’ interests is where an expert can make the difference between buying a dream home and ending up with a lemon. It’s your home. It’s where you make pancakes on a Saturday morning.”
The proposed changes stem from class-action lawsuits filed against the Realtors’ association and other large residential brokerages by home sellers in Missouri and Illinois. In October, a Missouri jury found that the brokerages conspired to keep commissions artificially high and awarded home sellers $1.8B in damages. The Illinois case was moving toward a trial. The settlement would end the lawsuits. The Realtors’ association also said it would pay $418M to settle several cases. The association denies wrongdoing.
More competition ahead: Critics have argued for years that policies set by the Realtors’ association and other brokerage groups reduced competition, boosted commissions and kept home prices artificially high, because they incentivized agents on both sides to favor higher-priced properties.
Yongqiang Chu, a professor of real estate, urban economics and finance at UNC Charlotte, says the changes will create needed competition.
Homebuyers, particularly first-time homebuyers, may struggle to find the money to pay commission fees along with down payments, but the impact could be dampened by falling home prices, he says.
The biggest change Chu would like to see is buyers’ agents pursuing new incentives when working with clients.
“Instead of paying a fixed percentage of price, do something related to how much you can negotiate the price down relative to listing price,” says Chu, Director of UNC Charlotte’s Childress Klein Center for Real Estate. “Get the incentives more in line so the buyer agent really works for the buyers. That’s the hope I have.”
Fewer real estate agents? Chu and other housing experts say it is possible the number of real estate agents working in the industry could drop as competition separates the more successful agents from the less successful ones. Those who remain in the industry should expect to see fees become more closely aligned to the services provided, something that could help those working with lower-priced homes.
For example, Chu says, the work involved in buying or selling a $100,000 home is often the same, if not more, than the work required to buy or sell a $300,000 property.
“The good agents will make money and remain in the market,” he says.
Miller with Helen Adams Realty said she feels confident her industry will sort through the changes, noting it has weathered challenges in the past, including the pandemic and rising mortgage rates.
“We will move forward on different and strong footing,” she said. “As an industry, we’ve had to pivot a number of times and in a number of ways. We’ll do so again this time. And we’ll do it well.”
Kerry Singe is an award-winning former Charlotte Observer business reporter. In addition to writing for various publications, she helps her clients tell their stories and manage content across multiple media platforms.
Related Ledger article:
“Local real estate agents weigh in on big court case that could lead to overhaul of commissions on home sales” (Nov. 8, 2023)
—
‘For sale’ listings of houses boomed in February, data shows
Signs are beginning to emerge that the local housing market is springing back to life.
The number of new listings of homes in Mecklenburg County rose 17% in February, compared with a year earlier — the first double-digit year-over-year increase in listings since April 2021, according to data from the Canopy Realtor Association.
That follows a January in which the number of homes sold in Mecklenburg fell by a mere 6% after 22 straight months of double-digit year-over-year declines. The number of closings in February was down just 3% compared with February 2023.
Local real estate agents have expressed hope that lower mortgage rates will spur more homeowners to sell and alleviate some of the tight supply of houses for sale. —TM
Today’s supporting sponsor is Landon A. Dunn, attorney-at-law in Matthews:
Catholic middle school to launch single-sex classes; parents split over changes at Holy Trinity
Holy Trinity Catholic Middle School, one of Charlotte’s largest private schools, plans to separate boys and girls into single-sex classes to offer “a more tailored educational experience,” the school’s leadership said in a letter to parents on Friday.
The move would make Holy Trinity, which is part of the Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools, one of only a small number of schools in North Carolina offering a significant number of classes divided by sex. Holy Trinity is the 10th-largest private school in the Charlotte area, with an enrollment of about 1,000 students, according to the Charlotte Business Journal’s Book of Lists.
In interviews with The Ledger on Friday and Saturday, Holy Trinity parents appear to be split on the issue, which has sometimes sparked debate elsewhere. Backers have said dividing classes by sex can help students learn by acknowledging different learning styles and providing environments with fewer distractions, while opponents have said it undermines gender equality and promotes stereotyping.
At Holy Trinity, boys and girls would be divided for core classes, the school said, but would continue to participate in co-ed electives, extracurricular activities and social events. The school will start phasing in single-sex classes this fall, and they will be fully implemented starting in the fall of 2026, when the school will be renamed “Holy Trinity Catholic Academy.”
The school said on its website that similar changes are “not contemplated” for other local Catholic schools and that Holy Trinity is “uniquely positioned for blended single-sex and co-ed classes because of its size, parental interest and middle schoolers’ stage of development.”
The letter to parents cast the change as part of a larger effort to “reimagine how we prepare students to face today’s challenges — with character, confidence and Catholic values.” Other parts of the $4M plan include adding an unspecified number of classrooms, teachers and administrators.
The letter said: “This new model recognizes the different learning styles and developmental needs of middle school girls and boys. ... When delivered well, single-sex instruction can improve student achievement, instill confidence and better equip students to navigate social pressures.”
Lisa and Stephen Rice, parents of a 6th-grader at Holy Trinity, said they’re excited by the change to single-sex core classes and were considering sending their son to an all-boys school before they read Friday’s announcement.
Stephen Rice said he attended an all-boys boarding school in high school in Asheville and found it to be “an amazing experience” that instilled confidence, discouraged mockery and took into account the physicality of boys.
Lisa Rice, a former teacher, said, “It’s just nice that the school is recognizing that there are stylistic differences in how boys and girls learn … and is working to provide some sort of differentiation. Girls can soar and advance and have room to breathe without worrying about coming off as too masculine or pushy or having to look pretty every single day, and the boys can maybe not have to worry about looking tough … They can just be themselves.”
Other parents, though, said they disagreed with the plan to separate boys and girls in the classroom, though there was some relief the changes won’t take effect immediately. Current 6th-graders will have graduated from middle school when the plan fully takes effect. Parents with concerns said they did not want to be named publicly because they didn’t want to be viewed as criticizing school leadership.
A parent of a 6th-grader said she found the announcement “puzzling” because she said parents weren’t made aware that school leaders were considering the change.
“They seem to have sprung it on parents without any kind of discussion,” she said. “Nobody opted into a single-sex school, and there wasn’t even a forum putting it out there before the decision was made, which feels off.”
Tuition at Holy Trinity is about $9,600 a year for “participating Catholics” and nearly $15,000 a year for non-Catholics.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools tested some single-sex classes in the last couple of decades. District officials told the school board in 2015 that it was considering single-gender schools as a magnet program, The Charlotte Observer reported at the time. There has been no discussion of that topic lately.
In December, a state panel rejected an application to start a charter school in Mecklenburg called the Myrtis Simpson Walker Academy for Boys. It proposed to open in 2025 with 300 K-5 students, but officials worried the all-boys school wouldn’t meet enrollment projections. The same month, officials ordered the closure of the School of the Arts for Boys Academy in Chatham County because of low enrollment. —TM, CB
Checking in with Charlotte’s ‘doctor of bras’: After big response from Ledger readers, ‘Peaches’ Rich moves to new job at Dillards
After The Ledger published an article in January about legendary Charlotte bra fit specialist Julia “Peaches” Rich, she said online bookings and walk-in customers flooded Nordstrom at SouthPark Mall where she worked.
“It got really, really crazy,” Peaches said, describing the busy scene in Nordstrom’s second-floor lingerie department. “We were trying to get people to make appointments. Instead, I had a lot of walk-ups; readers who read the story and decided to come and bring their mothers or sisters.”
Luckily for Peaches and her quick talent of guessing a woman’s bra size just by looking at her, she said she was able to make sure everyone walked out feeling supported.
A new chapter: Peaches says she retired from Nordstrom last month after more than 20 years of working for the company. But on Feb. 28, Dillard’s at SouthPark Mall approached her with “an offer I couldn’t refuse” as a fit specialist in their lingerie department.
“I’m just starting a new chapter of my life, a cool new chapter, and I'm excited about it,” Peaches said. “Everybody that I help — they all are blessings, and I really cherish that.”
Julia “Peaches” Rich is known for her special skill of being able to fit a woman for lingerie without having to measure. (Ledger file photo)
Peaches called the new opportunity with Dillard’s “a blessing.”
She hasn’t started her new job yet (she's waiting for some paperwork to process), but she says she will start within the next week or two. —LB
If you want to make an appointment with Peaches, she said you can do so on the Dillard’s website.
Related Ledger article:
“Charlotte’s ‘doctor of bras’ is in” (Jan. 8)
Jeff Jackson apologizes for his explanation of TikTok vote; ‘I have been completely roasted on this app’
U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson of Charlotte apologized on social media on Saturday for his explanation of his vote supporting the ban or sale of TikTok, following two days of being “roasted” by TikTok users who called him a hypocrite.
Jackson — known nationally for his social media posts, which helped land him a recent appearance on “The Daily Show” — has lost about 200,000 of his 2.5 million TikTok followers since the middle of last week, when he voted along with a bipartisan House majority to force a sale or shut down the Chinese-owned social media app.
TikTok users created videos mocking him and his vote and his initial explanation, which Jackson posted to TikTok and later deleted as the criticisms rained down. One TikTok personality with nearly 9 million followers accused Jackson of “using TikTok to get a vote and turning his back on TikTok creators the first second he got a chance to.”
In a new, two-minute TikTok video posted Saturday, Jackson said: “I apologize. I did not handle this situation well from top to bottom, and that is why I have been completely roasted on this app over the last 48 hours.”
He said he understood the frustration of TikTok users: “If I were in your shoes, I would probably feel the same way. I would see someone who used this app to build a following and then appears to have voted against it.” He said he likes using TikTok and hopes it is sold and not shut down, and that he had received private briefings about the app that are “genuinely alarming.”
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Jackson, a Democrat, is running for N.C. attorney general this year against Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop. Bishop voted against TikTok’s ban or sale. —TM
You might be interested in these Charlotte events: Charity NCAA bracket challenge, History museum preview, Park and Rec advocacy meeting
Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:
NOW: Hoops for Camp NCAA Bracket Challenge, virtual event. Join Camp Blue Skies’ 2024 Hoops for Camp NCAA Bracket Challenge. Make picks in both the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Tournament Pools and help change the lives of adults with developmental disabilities. Get in the game and sign up today. $30.
FRIDAY: Exhibit Preview for “Open Wide the Door: The Story of Mary Cardwell Dawson and the National Negro Opera Company”, 6-8 p.m., Charlotte Museum of History. Join us for an exclusive opening event for the museum's newest exhibition "Open Wide the Door: The Story of Mary Cardwell Dawson and the National Negro Opera Company." This exhibition explores access, representation, and the power of music. Free for museum members.
MARCH 28: Sustain Charlotte Social: Park and Recreation Advocacy, 6-8 p.m., Town Brewing Co. Join us at Town Brewing Co. to learn about new parks, greenways, nature preserves, and recreation centers coming to your neighborhood! This is also your opportunity to hear directly from Park & Recreation staff. $10.
◼️ Check out the full Ledger events board.
➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.
In brief:
Bodies of mother and 2 children found: Police in California arrested a man in connection with the deaths of a Charlotte woman and her two young children, whose bodies were discovered Friday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said. Authorities found the bodies of Markayla Johnson, 22, and her 4-year-old and 7-month-old in an apartment off North Tryon Street near University City Boulevard. (WSOC)
New details on cracked support beam: The support beam of Carowinds’ Fury 325 roller coaster that cracked last summer was supposed to last for more than 50 years but lasted only eight, because of a crack that started on the weld of the beam’s joint, according to N.C. Department of Labor documents obtained by WSOC and The Charlotte Observer.
Former Panthers coach sells house: Former Carolina Panthers coach Frank Reich sold his 5,255 s.f. Foxcroft home for $3.55M last week, $100,000 more than he paid for it. (Biz Journal, subscriber-only)
Taking stock
Unless you are a day trader, checking your stocks daily is unhealthy. So how about weekly? How local stocks of note fared last week (through Friday’s close), and year to date:
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Business manager: Brie Chrisman, BC Creative