Our honest take: it is an adjustment, and in the short run it can raise costs for some buyers, but it does not break the process. The change itself is straightforward. Before touring homes with an agent, you now sign a buyer-representation agreement that spells out that agent's fee up front, and the fee is negotiable. You can agree to it, negotiate it down, or hire someone else. Who pays is negotiable too. The seller may still choose to offer compensation to your agent, you may cover it directly, or it can be split. What disappeared is the old assumption that representation costs the buyer nothing because the seller always pays. Removing that assumption is precisely what the settlement did, and the fee is a real negotiation now. The buyers most exposed are first-timers who are tight on cash. If a seller will not contribute and you lack the funds to pay an agent directly, that fee competes with your down payment. Raise the question with your agent before you start touring, and get the fee and who pays it in writing early so nothing surprises you at the closing table. One regional wrinkle: in California, agent compensation can no longer be posted on the MLS at all, only a checkbox noting the seller may offer concessions. We expect all of this to settle as sellers keep discovering that offering compensation still helps move a listing.