NAR has developed a new guide on written buyer agreements to support members as they prepare for and adapt to the upcoming practice changes following NAR's settlement agreement. Beginning Aug. 17, a buyer representative working with a buyer will be required to enter into a written agreement with the buyer prior to touring a home, including both in-person and live virtual tours. The guide for developing these agreements is available at facts.realtor.

Listing brokers should inform their clients that offers of compensation will no longer be an option on an MLS. This change will not prevent offers of cooperative compensation off an MLS, and it will not prevent sellers from offering buyer concessions on an MLS (i.e. concessions for buyer closing costs). Compensation would continue to be negotiable and should always be negotiated between agents and the consumers they serve. Get more facts about NAR's proposed settlement agreement at facts.realtor.

Ads next to risky news articles perform similarly to those placed near safe news topics, such as ads next to articles related to the Middle East conflict driving 65% purchase intent among Generation Z readers, compared to a 69% rate next to sports stories, per a new study by Stagwell. "Simply put, Americans can tell the difference between the content and the ad," says Dritan Nesho, CEO of Stagwell's HarrisX, noting that as 25% of Americans are self-described "news junkies," advertisers shouldn't shy away from high-quality news channels.

This style is a combo of dark color palettes with vintage Western and Americana motifs. See how it's being used.

A $2 million renovation over 10 years transformed a historic post office and custom house into an upscale home. The owner, who bought the property in 2013, transformed it into a three-bedroom, five-bathroom residence and sold it for $1.25 million to a New York couple just four days after listing it. "I had a lot of sad people calling me, just devastated," said listing agent Sherri Dunbar of Tim Dunham Realty. "It really is a once-in-a-lifetime home."

Passive stack ventilation, light-colored exteriors, window shading and strategic landscaping are among methods available for leveraging natural processes and thoughtful design to mitigate heat.

A national weeklong call for REALTORS® to give back to their communities is now underway. REALTOR® Volunteer Days, which runs through Sunday, is your chance to make a difference for the people you serve. Get ideas for how you can make an impact through volunteering this week; associations can use this toolkit to promote their volunteer activities.

In Ivins, Utah, where the median home price is significantly higher than what the median family income can afford, there has been little urgency to address affordable housing until now. With the upcoming $2 billion Black Desert mega-resort expected to hire over 2,500 workers, the city has reactivated its Affordable Housing Committee to explore solutions, focusing on building starter homes.

Interest rates should remain on hold for an extended time, said Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari. "Right now, my best guess is we would leave [rates] here for an extended period of time until we get a lot more data to convince us, one way or the other, is underlying inflation really on its way down," Kashkari said. He added that "many people are deeply unhappy about the status of the economy. ... I think it's because of the high inflation that they've experienced."

Large banks' total exposure to commercial real estate loans is higher than regulators think, researchers say, noting that such liabilities grow 40% when also considering indirect lending to real estate investment trusts as a factor. "Everyone is focusing on on-balance sheet loans by banks. We should not get caught in a blind spot that large banks have relatively less exposure than smaller banks," says New York University economics professor Viral Acharya.