A few months following the rule changes for agents, the initial findings are:

1. Not much has changed in most markets: While the settlement may have increased awareness of commission negotiations, commissions have always been negotiable. Now, there may be more back-and-forth between the buyer and seller to determine who pays for what. However, the dynamics are still largely free-market-driven—shaped by whether it’s a seller’s or buyer’s market.
2. Working with an agent is still worth it: The value of agents lies in their network, expertise, and resources. Agents can provide insights about a property, identify potential issues that could lead to costly repairs, and guide clients through complex negotiations and compliance requirements.
3. Clarity in compensation agreements: The NAR settlement has made the terms of service and compensation more transparent for agents and buyers at the beginning of their relationship

However, consumer psychological barriers—like the fear of making costly mistakes—and a lack of knowledge about real estate dynamics (legal, structural, and financial) continue to make agents indispensable for most transactions.

Interestingly, I spoke with the founder of a pre-seed DIY AI agent platform last week, who admitted that many early customers have canceled their service to instead hire a traditional agent pointing to their underestimation of the complexity of the process. While DIY AI platforms have a place, their most likely audience is experienced, tech-savvy real estate investors.

IMO, there are still several industry and social shifts that need to occur before an AI real estate agent can become mass market.

there's a big consumer psychological barrier to making the largest financial decision most consumers will make in their life without assistance. there have been flat fee and low cost brokerages for decades with limited market share. Zillow's estimates are state of the art but still not good enough to transact on. ibuyers have struggled with this as a result as well - even in appreciating markets. all that said there's definitely opportunity for AI to make agents more efficient and consumers more confident. AI is already being used at scale on the compliance side of real estate transactions.

A big question for me is whether the NAR settlement provides an inflection point that leaves room for new entrants, or if Zillow, etc will just build in the missing pieces to their existing platforms.

LOL. I have had numerous people tell me that Real Estate Agents will be replaced by AI soon. But these people don't understand the legal requirements to process RealEstate or the ability of non-illlegal fraud to occur when not using a human agent. If everyone was honest about what their real estate was worth. Then a.i. could easily replace humans