When you start looking to buy a house, you’ll want to work with a real estate agent. Buying a home is a huge life decision, and getting the right advice from the right people is going to be key for you not only financially, but for your quality of life. You need to trust your agent to lead you to a home that will be good for your budget and good for your family. And that’s why you need an exclusive buyer broker.
An exclusive buyers agent is someone who is only working to help the buyer-they are not allowed to be a seller’s agent, so there’s never any conflict of interest when they show you a house. They’re not incentivized to try to sell you a house of one of their other selling clients-they just work for you.
You’re going to want to get this agreement in writing, and that’s where the exclusive buyers agency contract comes in.
What Does the Home Buyer Agree To?
As the home buyer, you will only be working through your agent to find you the best home. This means that, if you come across a For Sale By Owner home and you make an offer on it without involving your buyer agent, then you would be in breach of the agreement.
This is all for your benefit: your buyer only real estate agent will spend lots of time researching and pounding the pavement for you, and they only get paid if you decide to buy a house. So making this buyer broker agreement with them means that you commit to only working with the agent, as the agent works only for you.
What Does the Buyer’s Agent Agree To?
The buyers agent is agreeing to only represent the buyer and their interests, and never to represent a seller and the seller’s interests. The agent also agrees that they will work to get you all the information you need to make wise decisions and to negotiate hard before you sign a contract to purchase a home. They are there to help you and be the buyers representation.
Some Things To Know About the Exclusive Agreement
Exclusivity
This part of the agreement determines whether you’ll be able to work with other buyers agents. With exclusivity, you commit to only working with this one agent and no others.
Dual Agency
Dual agency is when an agent represents both buyers and sellers. So, when you sign a buyer agent agreement, they are contractually bound to only represent you and never a seller. In some states, being a dual agent is illegal. But that’s not true everywhere, which is why this part of the agreement is so important.
Duration
The duration part of the agreement determines how long the agreement is in effect. This will indicate when you are allowed to walk away from the agreement, and when the buyer agent is allowed to break ties.
Compensation
This determines part of the closing costs of purchasing a home, and how much will go to the agent.
Terms
The terms of the agreement generally describe what type of home you’re trying to buy, what area you’re looking in, and the general budget for the home. This means that you can actually have multiple exclusive buyer agency agreements with more than one buyer agent, if they are working in different towns or areas.