Bankrate journalist Jeff Ostrowski breaks down the real estate commission lawsuit, what changes starting July 2025, and what it all means for homebuyers, agents, and the future of U.S. housing.
👤 Guest Bio:
Jeff Ostrowski is a senior journalist at Bankrate with over 20 years of experience covering real estate, business, and the economy. He serves on the board of the National Association of Real Estate Editors and is widely recognized for his clear-eyed reporting on housing trends, policy, and industry dynamics.
📌 Topics Discussed:
- Overview of the real estate commission lawsuit and settlement
- Key changes to buyer agent commissions starting July 2025
- Impact on home prices, buyer behavior, and agent income
- Potential winners and losers: consumers, agents, brokerages, attorneys
- Industry overreaction, media narratives, and long-term uncertainty
- The value (and decline) of buyer agents in the Zillow era
- VA loan challenges, possible financing of commissions
- Institutional buyers and the myth of "cheaper home prices"
- Whether real estate needs structural reform
- The role of hobbyist agents and the real barriers to entry
💬 Top 3 Quotes:
- “If you start going to an attorney to save money, that tells you just how strange this system is.”
- “I don’t think anyone really knows how this will play out—dramatic predictions are probably the most likely to be wrong.”
- “This 100-year-old commission structure wasn’t designed for the digital world—it’s been patched, not rebuilt.”
🎙 The Pod is hosted by Jesse Wright
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