When Are You Committed to a Real Estate Agent?

Mission Realty Real Estate Podcast with Clayton Gits

When are you committed to a real estate agent? Today, I’ll answer three common questions about agent exclusivity for homebuyers.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation

As a homebuyer, when are you actually committed to a real estate agent? There are three key points to consider.

1. Why do agents demand exclusivity when representing you on the buy side?

I have eight buyer’s agent that work in our real estate company. They work really hard. Finding you a home means they are working seven days a week. They are passionate about serving you as homebuyers.

When buyers show you houses, they use their years of expertise to find you a home. Some agents may show 20 or 30 houses to potential clients before they find one they want to make an offer on. That’s why agents have the agreement in place; they want to make sure they get paid.

That said, the buyer’s agent does technically work for you for free. The seller actually pays their commission. The buyer’s agent just wants to get paid for their hard work.

In our market, you typically agree to work with an agent for six months.

2. Did you already sign a buyer’s agent agreement? What does that mean if you did?

Typically in our market, when you agree to work with a buyer’s agent, you will work with them for a period up to six months to find the home of your dreams.

3. How can you terminate the agreement if you aren’t happy with the buyer’s agent’s services?

In most cases, you can simply say, “I’m just not happy. It’s nothing personal, this is a business relationship. I would like to walk away.”

For the most part, no Realtor wants to work with someone who is unhappy with services. Sometimes it can get ugly if the agent is not willing to terminate that agreement. In that case, you can go over the agent’s head to their broker.

Again, that rarely happens. In most cases, you’re going to meet your buyer’s agent and have some sort of relationship before you work out the exclusivity agreement.

Those are just a few things you should keep in mind when working with a buyer’s agent. If you have any other questions about hiring an agent or buying a home, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you.