The useful question is whether the NAR settlement changed how agents actually get paid, and so far the change has been gradual. A Federal Reserve analysis found the new compensation rules having little measurable near-term impact, with compensation still paid at broadly similar levels to before. Markets this large turn slowly, and that explains the pattern better than evasion does. What genuinely changed is transparency and process. Buyer-agent compensation is now negotiated and put in writing between the buyer and their agent up front, and in some states it has to be documented and submitted with the offer rather than assumed in the background. The theory behind the settlement was that buyers often did not realize buyer-agent compensation was effectively built into the transaction. Making it explicit lets people actually negotiate it. An overnight collapse to rock-bottom fees was never likely, because there are few agents willing to do the full job for a token amount, and service and price tend to move together. The practical takeaway is simple. Compensation is negotiable and now spelled out in writing, so ask what you are paying for and compare agents on the whole package rather than assuming the old defaults still apply automatically.