Where We Start
The National Association of Realtors settlement that took effect on August 17, 2024, introduced significant changes to how real estate agents work with buyers. Among the most consequential: agents who are MLS participants and who are “working with” a buyer must enter into a written agreement with that buyer before touring a home — whether in person or via a live virtual showing.
This was a meaningful shift. For buyers and agents alike, it created a new procedural requirement at precisely the most delicate moment in the relationship — the very first property tour, often before any real trust has been established. The settlement did not dictate the form that agreement had to take, nor did it require an agency relationship. What it required was clarity: written, specific, and agreed upon before the showing begins.
Factour was built to operate squarely within that framework. Here is our interpretation of what the settlement requires, and how our platform is designed to address each of those requirements.
What the Settlement Actually Requires
Based on NAR's published guidance, the four core requirements for a compliant written buyer agreement are:
Requirement 01
Written Agreement Before Touring
A signed, written agreement between the agent and the buyer must exist before any in-person or live virtual home tour takes place.
Requirement 02
Specific, Disclosed Compensation
The agreement must clearly state the amount or rate of compensation the agent will receive — and that amount must be objectively ascertainable. It cannot be open-ended (e.g., "whatever the seller offers").
Requirement 03
No Representation of Free Services
Agents cannot represent their services as free or at no cost unless they will genuinely receive zero financial compensation from any source.
Requirement 04
Commissions Are Negotiable
The agreement must conspicuously state that broker fees and commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable between the parties.
It is also worth noting what the settlement does not require: it does not mandate a long-term exclusive buyer's agency relationship. NAR has confirmed that agreements can be scoped to a single property, a specific timeframe, or a limited geographic area. The settlement also does not apply to open houses, where agents may interact with unrepresented buyers without a prior written agreement.
How Factour Addresses Each Requirement
Factour is a marketplace, not a brokerage. We do not represent buyers, nor are we an MLS participant. The written agreement that the NAR settlement requires is formed directly between the consumer and the agent — and the Factour platform is designed to facilitate exactly that, transaction by transaction, tour by tour.
Written Agreement Before Touring
Under our Terms of Service, when a consumer accepts an agent's proposal — or an agent accepts a consumer's direct proposal — a binding Appointment is formed between those two parties in writing, through the Factour platform, before any tour takes place. When the agent then confirms the property is available, that Appointment becomes a Confirmed Appointment: a written contract for Agent Services, directly between the consumer and the agent, agreed upon prior to the tour. No tour proceeds without this written confirmation.
Specific, Disclosed Compensation
Every proposal on Factour states a specific dollar amount or rate for the tour. There are no open-ended fees, no "whatever the seller offers," and no ambiguity. Agents set their exact tour fee when submitting a proposal; consumers see that exact number before accepting. The agent's fee, the Consumer Tour Request Fee (10%), and the total amount to be charged are all disclosed to the consumer before they confirm. Nothing is hidden and nothing is left open.
No Representation of Free Services
Factour's fee structure makes agent compensation transparent and explicit by design. Agent fees are disclosed before any agreement is confirmed. Our Terms of Service prohibit agents from misrepresenting the terms of their services. Agents on the Factour platform are not providing free tours — they are providing a paid, professional service at a disclosed price, consistent with the settlement's prohibition on misrepresenting services as free.
Commissions Are Negotiable
The Factour marketplace is built on negotiability. Agents set their own tour fees. Consumers choose among competing proposals. There is no standard or floor price set by Factour. Every tour price is the result of the agent's individual pricing decision and the consumer's choice to accept or decline it. The Terms of Service, which govern every transaction on the platform, affirm that fees are disclosed, negotiated, and agreed upon by the parties — not dictated by Factour or anyone else.
The settlement envisioned that written agreements could be scoped narrowly — to a single property, a single day, or a specific timeframe. Factour's tour-by-tour structure reflects exactly that flexibility, applied practically to every booking on the platform.
One Tour. One Agreement. No Ambiguity.
One of the settlement's key clarifications — confirmed in NAR's own FAQ — is that written agreements can be scoped as narrowly as a single property or a single day. Factour's model operationalizes that flexibility directly. Every booking is, in effect, a limited-scope written agreement for a specific tour, at a specific price, with a specific agent, for a specific property. The consumer is not committing to ongoing representation. The agent is not committing to a long-term relationship. Both parties know exactly what they agreed to, for how much, and for how long.
This is not a workaround. It is the structure the settlement described as permissible. Factour simply built a marketplace around it.
A note on state law: The NAR settlement sets a floor for MLS participants, but individual states may impose additional requirements. Indiana, for example, codified written buyer agreement requirements into state law effective July 1, 2024 — before the NAR settlement took effect nationally. Agents operating on the Factour platform are responsible for understanding and complying with all applicable state licensing laws, disclosure requirements, and agency relationship statutes in the jurisdictions where they provide services. Factour's Terms of Service make this obligation explicit. As always, agents with questions about their specific compliance obligations should consult a licensed real estate attorney in their state.
What This Means for Buyers and Agents
For buyers, the Factour experience is designed to be straightforward: post a tour request, review proposals from licensed local agents with their fees stated clearly, accept the one that works for you, and tour the property. The written agreement is formed through the platform. The fee is known before you confirm. Nothing is owed until the tour is complete.
For agents, Factour provides an inbound channel for tour clients without the friction of asking a new prospect to sign an open-ended representation agreement before any relationship exists. The written agreement the settlement requires is satisfied through the Factour booking process — scoped to the tour, at the agent's chosen price, documented through the platform.
The NAR settlement changed the real estate industry's first conversation. Factour is designed to make that conversation — clear, written, and fair for everyone involved — as simple as possible.
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