Each week on The Download, Inman’s Christy Murdock takes a deeper look at the top-read stories of the week to give you what you’ll need to meet Monday head-on. This week: Everything you know about commissions is poised to change as NAR reaches a massive $418 million settlement.

Well folks, if you thought you were going to slide on into the weekend without the commission question rearing its ugly head, you were sadly mistaken. Everyone, from agents to consumers to the stock market, is buzzing from the news that NAR has agreed to a settlement in Sitzer | Burnett and the host of so-called copycat seller commission lawsuits that followed its Halloween verdict.

NEW INTEL RESULTS: ARE YOU CONSIDERING AREA?

In addition to the cash layout of $418 million over the next four years, NAR has agreed to new rules around offers of compensation which are poised to take effect in mid-July.

In a move that promises to change nearly everything about the way agents operate, and the way clients buy and sell homes, The National Association of Realtors has agreed to settle the deluge of commission lawsuits.

NAR is set to pay $418 million in damages over the next four years and has agreed to multiple reforms as part of the settlement, the group said Friday. Among these, NAR said it would agree not to create rules that allow listing agents to set compensation for buyer brokers. In addition, offers of compensation would no longer be displayed in the multiple listing services.

27% of agents are now considering joining trade group AREA: Intel

Ahead of the National Association of Realtors’ commission settlements Friday, some agents are reevaluating their memberships and considering the American Real Estate Association instead.