If you want a real estate agent to show you homes, yes, you generally have to sign a contract with them first. As a buyer, a written agreement with a realtor has been required since August 17, 2024, when a nationwide settlement involving the National Association of Realtors took effect. Any agent who uses a Multiple Listing Service must have a signed buyer agreement in place before touring a property with you, in person or on a live virtual walkthrough.1National Association of REALTORS®. What the NAR Settlement Means for Home Buyers and Sellers Since nearly every agent uses the MLS, the rule reaches almost every buyer working with one.
When You Actually Have to Sign
The trigger is touring a home with an agent. Before that first showing, the paperwork has to be signed. You do not need an agreement to interview agents, to talk about your search, or to visit an open house on your own. The agent hosting an open house works for the seller’s listing broker and is not required to have you sign anything just to walk through.2National Association of REALTORS®. Consumer Guide to Open Houses and Written Agreements
That leaves room to browse open houses freely while you decide who to work with. Just remember the agent at the door represents the seller, so what you share about your budget or timeline can be passed along.
What You’re Agreeing To
A buyer representation agreement is a contract between you and the brokerage, not just the individual agent. Signing it turns you from a customer into a client. As a client, your agent owes you fiduciary duties: loyalty, confidentiality, full disclosure of material facts, and the obligation to pursue the best deal on your behalf. Without a signed agreement, an agent showing you homes may technically owe loyalty to the seller.
Under the settlement rules, the agreement must state a specific, objective compensation figure for your agent. That means an exact dollar amount, a flat fee, a percentage, or an hourly rate. It cannot be open-ended or vague, like “whatever the seller offers.”3National Association of REALTORS®. Homebuyers: Here’s What the NAR Settlement Means for You The requirement exists so you know what you’re on the hook for before the search starts.
Exclusive or Non-Exclusive
There are two main versions, and the difference matters.
Exclusive Right-to-Represent
This is the more common one. You commit to a single agent and brokerage for a set period. If you buy any home during that window, your agent earns the agreed compensation, even a property you found yourself on Zillow at 2 a.m. The tradeoff is real investment from the agent in exchange for your commitment.
Non-Exclusive Right-to-Represent
A non-exclusive agreement lets you work with more than one agent at a time. Only the agent who actually helps you buy gets paid. Many agents resist these arrangements because their time isn’t protected, so you may find they invest less heavily in your search.
Terms Worth Negotiating Before You Sign
Everything in a buyer representation agreement is negotiable. Agents may present the contract as a standard form, and it is a standard form, but standard does not mean take it or leave it.
Duration
The term sets how long you’re bound. Most run from three months to a year.4National Association of REALTORS®. Consumer Guide to Written Buyer Agreements Shorter is better with a new agent. A 90-day term gives both sides enough runway to see whether the relationship works, and you can always extend if it does.
Compensation and Who Actually Pays
Buyer-agent commissions nationwide average around 2.82% of the sale price, with rates roughly between 1% and 4% depending on the market and services included. Interviewing more than one agent before signing gives you leverage. Ask what each agent includes at their rate and whether they offer reduced-fee options for buyers willing to do more of the work.
How the money moves in practice is the part buyers often misunderstand. Your agreement fixes what you owe your agent. But sellers can still offer concessions that cover that fee, and those concessions can be communicated outside the MLS.5National Association of REALTORS®. Compensation, Commission and Concessions In many deals, the seller’s concession effectively pays your agent. If the seller offers nothing, or less than your agent’s agreed fee, you owe the difference. Understand that gap before you sign.
Termination
Look for a clear way out. Ending the relationship generally requires written notice to the brokerage.6University at Buffalo School of Law. Commentary on Sample Buyer Representation Agreement Some contracts let either side walk with written notice and no penalty. Others impose conditions or restrict cancellation. Push for language that lets you end the agreement without needing the agent’s consent.
The Protection Period
Also called a holdover or extender clause, this gives your agent the right to a commission for a set period after the agreement ends, typically 30 to 90 days, but only on properties the agent introduced to you during the contract term.6University at Buffalo School of Law. Commentary on Sample Buyer Representation Agreement The logic is fair: an agent who spent weeks showing you homes shouldn’t lose their fee because you waited a day past expiration to make an offer. A clause that runs too long or reads too broadly, though, can leave you owing a commission months later. Read it carefully and negotiate the window down if it looks excessive.
If You Break an Exclusive Agreement
Sign an exclusive agreement, then buy through a different agent or on your own, and your original brokerage has grounds to pursue the commission you agreed to pay. The brokerage might enforce the contract directly or take the “procuring cause” question to arbitration. There is no single penalty that applies everywhere; consequences depend on the language in your contract and your state’s laws. Treat an exclusive agreement as a binding financial commitment, not a formality. Negotiating a short initial term and a workable termination clause up front is much easier than fighting your way out later.
Buying Without an Agent at All
Nothing in the settlement or in state law requires you to hire an agent to buy a home. About 11% of buyers handle the process themselves. That means researching properties, negotiating with the seller or listing agent, reviewing contracts without agent guidance, and running the logistics through closing.
You save the commission, particularly when the seller isn’t offering concessions, and you give up the fiduciary protection, market knowledge, and negotiating experience a good agent provides. Buyers who go this route often hire a real estate attorney to review the purchase agreement and closing documents.
The Sub-Agency Trap
If you work with an agent without a buyer agreement in place, that agent may legally function as a sub-agent of the seller. Sub-agency means the agent’s loyalty runs to the seller, not to you, even though the agent is the one driving you to showings and answering your questions.7National Association of REALTORS®. Vocabulary: Agency and Agency Relationships Tell that agent your maximum price or your rush to close, and the information can go straight to the seller’s side. This is why the written agreement requirement, even as an added step, works in a buyer’s favor: it forces both sides to define the relationship before confidential information changes hands.
A Note on Dual Agency
Dual agency is when the same agent or brokerage represents both you and the seller in one transaction. Some states ban it; in the rest, it’s legal with informed written consent from both parties. On paper it sounds efficient. In practice, one agent cannot negotiate the lowest price for you while pursuing the highest for the seller, and they cannot share either side’s confidential information with the other. They become a neutral facilitator rather than your advocate. If your agent hands you a dual-agency disclosure form, know that you’re giving up much of the representation you signed the buyer agreement to get.