Housing Bubble 2: Return of the Ugly

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/21327175

Nothing is requiring employees to be in the office five days a week

CEO Carl Pei says remote work “is not compatible” with the company.

‘interference with a fiduciary relationship,’ or ‘group boycott.’ If antiquated licensing law says it’s OK to share your commission with a buyer broker, that does not mean you can do it and be exonerated from violations of common law or federal antitrust law. That’s really poor advice. 

“In fact, I’m currently researching how exclusive commission split offers to buyer brokers function as a group boycott against lawyers who want to enter the field. Again, the solution is so simple. Stop offering money to buyer brokers. It will encourage competition.” 

CAARE recently published advice for sellers and buyers, urging sellers not to work with real estate agents that say other agents won’t show their homes unless they offer compensation up front and urging buyers not to work with agents who encourage them to skip homes that don’t make such offers. 

“Why in the world should sellers put all their cards on the table about compensation or seller credits?” Gilch said. 

“If sellers offer nothing, it forces buyers to make the first move to ask for a credit instead. And that leads to competition on buyer broker fees. That credit is going to be smaller if buyers negotiate a good deal with their agents. 

“If the listing broker offers fixed amounts to all buyer brokers, the benefit of negotiating the buyer rep fee deteriorates. Plus, it creates the false impression to many buyers that the credit is meant for the buyer agent, not the buyer. We’re back to the same problem that existed prior to the lawsuits.” 

Source: CAARE 

CAARE referred to the previous system as “socialized real estate commissions.” 

“It’s not about whether or not a buyer can afford a buyer agent or not,” Miller said. 

“Instead, it is about whether or not a buyer gets to negotiate the fee of their own buyer agent. The current system allows buyer agents all to get paid the same regardless of their experience or skill. 

“We call that socialized real estate commissions and we believe that’s wrong and harmful to consumers and causes fees to be set without the benefit of competition. That’s why buyer broker fees are nearly all the same in many parts of the country.” 

CAARE is advising buyers to ask for a seller credit in the form of a flat fee, rather than a percentage of the purchase price, if they can’t afford their own agent. 

“If you negotiate a fee of around 1 percent, you’ll likely save the seller about 2 percent in commissions,” CAARE said. “Plus, if your offer only includes a 1 perent seller credit and a competing buyer asks for 3 percent, your offer becomes more attractive, increasing your chances of acceptance.” 

“It’s a far simpler solution that injects market forces into the fee negotiations,” Miller added. “This is the way it should have been for decades.”

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/12565981

Starbucks' new CEO will supercommute 1,000 miles from California to Seattle office instead of relocating

Starbucks says Niccol can live in his home in Newport Beach, California and commute to Starbucks' head office 1,000 miles away on a corporate jet

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18855233

Disney gives up on trying to use Disney Plus excuse to settle a wrongful death lawsuit

Disney tried to force the case into arbitration by citing the agreement on the widower’s Disney Plus trial account.

Disney has now agreed that a wrongful death lawsuit should be decided in court following backlash for initially arguing the case belonged in arbitration because the grieving widower had once signed up for a Disney Plus trial.

“With such unique circumstances as the ones in this case, we believe this situation warrants a sensitive approach to expedite a resolution for the family who have experienced such a painful loss,” chairman of Disney experiences Josh D’Amaro said in a statement to The Verge. “As such, we’ve decided to waive our right to arbitration and have the matter proceed in court.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18845392

Alex Jones and his fans are intrigued by Putin offer of sanctuary to conservatives

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/12509233

I'm tired, boss

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18844195

Harris proposes raising the corporate tax rate to 28%, rolling back a Trump law

The vice president is rolling out her first revenue-raising policy proposal as the Democratic presidential nominee and drawing a contrast with GOP opponent Donald Trump.

Vice President Kamala Harris is calling for raising the corporate tax rate to 28%, her first major proposal to raise revenues and finance expensive plans she wants to pursue as president.

Harris campaign spokesman James Singer told NBC News that she would push for a 28% corporate tax rate, calling it “a fiscally responsible way to put money back in the pockets of working people and ensure billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share.”

…

If enacted, the policy would raise hundreds of billions of dollars, as the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has projected that 1 percentage point increases in the corporate rate corresponds to about $100 billion over a decade. It would also roll back a big part of former President Donald Trump’s signature legislation in 2017 as president, which slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.

Trump, meanwhile, recently said he would cut taxes even further if elected president, including on businesses.