What the August 2024 practice changes did to buyer-side marketing
Before August 17, 2024, buyer-side marketing could promise a showing tomorrow and sort out representation later. The practice changes that came out of NAR’s settlement reversed that order, and most agent websites still read as if they had not.
The agreement comes first. NAR’s homebuyer guide says a buyer will sign a written agreement with an agent before touring a home, and that this applies to live virtual tours as well as in-person ones. The agreement has to state the amount or rate of compensation in a specific and conspicuous way, in objective terms (a flat fee, a percentage, an hourly rate or zero), bar the agent from receiving more than that from any source, and say conspicuously that broker fees and commissions are fully negotiable and not set by law.
Offers of compensation left the MLS. A seller may still agree to pay the buyer’s agent, but that offer cannot be shared on a multiple listing service. MLSs that opted in had until September 16, 2024 to make the change, and the court gave the settlement final approval on November 26, 2024, with NAR paying $418 million over about four years.
What that means for marketing:
- A buyer lead now leads to a consult. The landing page behind a buyer ad should explain what the agreement covers, how you are paid and what the buyer gets, and offer a short call. A button that says “book a showing” sets up an awkward first meeting.
- “Free to buyers” is a claim you have to stand behind. If your agreement names a fee the buyer could owe, an ad saying otherwise conflicts with the paperwork the buyer will sign before the first tour.
- Open houses gained weight. NAR’s guide says no agreement is needed just to talk with an agent at an open house or ask about services. It is the one place a buyer can size you up without a form, so sign-in and follow-up deserve a real process.
- Explaining value became marketing. A buyer who must sign before seeing a house wants to know what representation includes. A plain page on how you negotiate, what you check in disclosures and how the agreement works answers that before the call.
None of this changes the seller side as much, but sellers read the news too. Listing presentations that explain how buyer-agent compensation is handled now, in your market, tend to go better than ones that avoid it.
Fair housing reaches the audience, not just the words
The Fair Housing Act rule on advertising, 24 CFR 100.75, covers more than wording: it treats choosing media in a way that keeps protected groups from seeing housing information as discrimination. The platforms built that into their tools. Google’s personalized advertising policy bars ZIP code and demographic targeting for housing ads, and Meta’s Housing special ad category removes age, gender, ZIP code and lookalike audiences. States can add protected groups of their own; California’s list runs to sixteen characteristics, including source of income, as our California real estate agent page sets out.
Where the brokerage name, the license number and the phone go
Every state we have read wants the firm on the ad. The details are what differ:
- Texas wants the broker’s name at least half the size of the largest agent or team contact details, and allows a linked profile page for social posts (22 TAC 535.155).
- California wants your eight-digit license number and the responsible broker’s licensed name on first-contact material, in type no smaller than the smallest on the piece (10 CCR 2773).
- Florida wants the brokerage name beside your contact information (61J2-10.025).
- North Carolina wants the firm named in every ad, with the broker-in-charge’s consent, and a phone number or web address alone does not count (21 NCAC 58A .0105). More on our North Carolina page.
- Oklahoma wants the broker’s name at least 50% the size of your name or your team’s, and counts social networking as advertising (OREC Code and Rules Book). More on our Oklahoma page.
- Tennessee wants the firm name and firm phone, as filed with the Commission, on every ad, with the firm name at least as large as any agent or team name (TREC rule 1260-02-.12). More on our Tennessee page.
Set the rule once in every bio, template and IDX page, and new posts inherit it.
Referral money and prospecting texts
RESPA Section 8 bars any fee or thing of value for referring settlement services on a federally related mortgage, which is why a lender paying part of your marketing deserves a call to your broker first. Prospecting texts have their own clocks: North Carolina’s telephone solicitation law keeps them between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., and Oklahoma exempts licensees from its 2022 Telephone Solicitation Act but not from the state no-call registry.
Those are our notes on the rules as they stood in October 2026, and they are not legal advice; confirm with your broker and counsel before an ad, a co-marketing deal or a texting campaign goes out.
