Idaho guide

NAR Settlement Compensation Rules in Idaho: MLS Offers, Seller Concessions, and Antitrust Compliance

The 2024 NAR settlement changed how buyer-agent pay works in Idaho — listings on the MLS no longer advertise a fee promised to your agent.

Reading as buyer.

TL;DR

The 2024 settlement changed how buyer-agent pay works in Idaho — listings on the no longer advertise a fee promised to your agent. You'll sign a written agreement with your buyer's agent up front spelling out their pay, and you can ask the seller to cover it as a concession in your RE-21 purchase offer. Either way the cost is real money — either out of pocket or rolled into the price — so it's worth negotiating.

Before you start — 7 things to know

  • As of August 2024, Idaho listings can no longer show what a seller will pay your buyer's agent — that data field has been removed from the .

  • Before touring homes you must sign a written buyer-representation agreement with your agent that spells out exactly how your agent gets paid.

  • Your buyer's agent can be paid by you, by the seller as a concession written into the RE-21 purchase contract, or by a mix of both — there is no single default anymore.

  • If you want the seller to cover your agent's fee in Idaho, that request must go into your RE-21 purchase offer — it can no longer be arranged through the .

  • Even when the seller 'pays' your buyer's agent through a concession, that money usually gets baked into the price you finance, so the buyer ends up funding it indirectly.

  • Idaho agents must honestly disclose where their pay is coming from when a buyer asks; hiding or misrepresenting the source can be grounds for discipline under Idaho Code §54-2059.

  • Competing agents in Idaho cannot agree, coordinate, or signal what buyers should be charged — that is a Sherman Act antitrust violation entirely separate from the new rules.

The timeline — step by step

  1. Step 1 — Before any home tours, sign a written buyer-representation agreement with your Idaho agent stating the fee amount and how it can be paid.

  2. Step 2 — Shop homes knowing the won't show buyer-agent pay; your agent learns about any seller concession from the listing agent off-.

  3. Step 3 — When you pick a home, write your offer on the Idaho RE-21 purchase agreement and include any seller concession needed to cover your agent's fee.

  4. Step 4 — Negotiate the concession with the seller like any other contract term; the seller can accept, counter, or refuse it.

  5. Step 5 — At closing, any agreed seller concession is paid from the seller's proceeds to your brokerage; any gap between the concession and your agent's contracted fee is paid by you.

Common questions

Why doesn't the Idaho listing tell me what my buyer's agent will be paid?
After the settlement took effect in August 2024, Idaho platforms can no longer publish any buyer-agent compensation offer — you and your agent set those terms in a written representation agreement instead.
Do I have to pay my buyer's agent out of pocket?
Not necessarily — you can ask the seller in your RE-21 offer to cover your agent's fee as a concession, but the seller can accept, counter, or refuse just like any other term.
Is using a buyer's agent now 'free' in Idaho?
No — even when a seller covers the fee, that money usually shows up in a higher accepted offer price you end up financing, so an honest agent will tell you that you ultimately fund their pay one way or another.
What if an Idaho agent won't put their fee in writing before showings?
Walk away — a written buyer-representation agreement spelling out the fee is required up front under the settlement, and refusing to disclose compensation can also be a licensing problem under Idaho Code §54-2059.
Can Idaho agents agree on a 'standard' buyer-side rate?
No — coordinating commission rates among competing brokerages is a Sherman Act antitrust violation, which is why every buyer-agent fee in Idaho is negotiated one transaction at a time.

Glossary

2 terms
NAR — National Association of Realtors
The national trade group for real-estate agents. The 2024 NAR settlement is the legal deal that changed how buyer's agents get paid.
MLS — Multiple Listing Service
The shared database agents use to list and find homes for sale. Most homes you'll see online started here.

Sources

  1. [1]
  2. [2]

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