How to Fill Out an Exclusive Buyer Agency Agreement

To fill out an exclusive buyer agency agreement, enter your full legal names exactly as they appear on your ID, the brokerage’s legal name along with your agent’s name and license number, a clear property type and geographic search area, a specific start and end date, and a specific compensation figure stated as a flat fee, a percentage, or an hourly rate. Every blank gets filled in — write “N/A” where a section doesn’t apply — and every term in the contract is open to negotiation before you sign.

Since August 17, 2024, agents who participate in MLS systems must have a written buyer agreement in place before they can show you a home, including live virtual tours.¹ That means the form is now the first thing you fill out, not the last, and your agent cannot receive more than what you write into it, regardless of what a seller might offer.²

What to Have Ready Before You Start

Gather these before you sit down with the form so you’re not guessing in the blanks:

Your legal name or names, spelled exactly as they appear on government-issued ID. Co-buyers both go on the agreement.
The brokerage firm’s full legal name, your agent’s name, and their license number. The agreement binds you to the brokerage, not just the individual agent.³
The property type you’re after: single-family home, condo, multi-unit, vacant land.
The specific neighborhoods, cities, counties, or zip codes where you want to search. The agreement only covers the area you define.
Your approximate price range.

Know That Everything Is Negotiable

Commissions are not set by law, and NAR does not dictate them.⁴ Every term — compensation, duration, services, geographic scope — is open to negotiation.⁵ The agreement itself must include a conspicuous statement reminding you that broker fees and commissions are fully negotiable.² If an agent hands you the form as take-it-or-leave-it, that’s a signal to slow down.

Filling Out Each Section

Parties

In the buyer section, write your full legal name or names, spelled exactly as on your ID. In the broker section, record the brokerage firm’s legal name, the agent’s printed name, and their license number.³ A misspelled legal name causes headaches at closing.

Property Description and Search Area

Specify the property type (“residential single-family home,” “condominium”) and write the geographic search area clearly. “Any property within a 15-mile radius of [City, State]” works, and so does listing specific zip codes or neighborhoods. Keep the scope tight. The narrower the geographic language, the easier it is to work with a different agent in a different area if you later broaden your search. Fill in your approximate price range in the same section.

Term

Enter a specific start date and a specific end date. After the end date, you’re free to work with anyone. Durations typically range from 30 days up to several months. Sixty to 90 days is a reasonable starting point with an agent you haven’t worked with before; you can extend it if things are going well. There is no reason to sign a year-long exclusive with someone new.

Compensation

This is the section that has changed the most. The agreement must state a specific compensation amount — not a range, not an open figure. Acceptable formats are a flat dollar amount (for example, “$7,500”), a percentage of the purchase price (for example, “2.5%”), or an hourly rate.⁶ Some forms allow “$0” if you’re negotiating an arrangement where the seller covers your agent’s fee entirely.

The agreement must also prohibit your agent from receiving compensation from any source in excess of the amount you wrote in.² If you agree to 2.5% and a seller offers your agent 3%, your agent can only collect the 2.5% in your contract.

Sellers can still offer to cover your agent’s compensation, and you can negotiate that as part of your purchase offer.⁷ Seller concessions can be used toward your agent’s fee and can still be communicated on the MLS; the MLS prohibition applies only to direct offers of buyer-agent compensation. Seller concessions cannot be conditioned on or tied to payment of your agent.⁴ If the seller won’t contribute, you owe the amount in your agreement. Understand that obligation before signing.

Dual Agency

Dual agency is when the same agent or brokerage represents both you and the seller in the same transaction. The form will ask whether you consent to it if the situation comes up. About eight states ban the practice outright; in states that permit it, the form typically has a checkbox to accept or decline. If you decline, your agent would need to refer one side of any conflicting transaction to another agent. It’s rare for the only home you want to be one your agent also listed, so declining costs you less than it might seem.

Additional Provisions

Most forms include a blank section for custom terms. Use it. Language worth considering:

A mutual termination clause that lets either party end the agreement with written notice after a set number of days.
Specific services you expect — attendance at all inspections, written market analyses for each property, direct handling of negotiations.
A dispute resolution clause requiring mediation or arbitration before litigation.

Fill every blank. Where a field doesn’t apply, write “N/A” or “None.” A blank space in a signed contract invites arguments about intent.

Watch the Protection Period

Most buyer agency agreements include a protection period, sometimes called a tail clause, that gives your agent the right to a commission if you buy a property they showed you during the term, even after the term ends. Typical windows run 30 to 90 days past the end date; some are longer.

Read the language carefully. Does it cover any property the agent showed you, or only properties where the agent was the “procuring cause” — meaning the agent’s efforts led you to the home? Narrower is better for you. When the agreement ends, ask for a written list of the specific properties the protection period covers. That list prevents disputes later if you make an offer on a home you barely remember touring.

Exclusive vs. Non-Exclusive

An exclusive agreement means you work with only that agent in the geographic area named in the contract. If you buy any property in that area during the term, your agent earns their compensation — even if you found the home yourself on a listing site or at an open house. That’s the trade for dedicated service.

Non-exclusive agreements let you work with more than one agent. You get flexibility, but agents may put in less effort, and if two agents both show you homes and you buy one, you can face competing commission claims.

If you go exclusive, keep the geographic scope and the term tight. Giving one agent exclusive rights to an entire metro area for six months is more than most buyers need to commit.

Reviewing and Signing

Read every line before signing. Agents often present the form on a tablet before a showing, and the pressure to sign quickly is real. Take the document home if you want to. Come back with questions and proposed edits.

Once every term reads the way you want, all parties sign and date — you and any co-buyers, the agent, and typically a representative of the brokerage.³ Get a fully executed copy immediately. Don’t accept “we’ll send it later.” A contract you can’t reference is a contract you can’t enforce.

Ending the Agreement Early

Signing exclusively doesn’t lock you in permanently. Look at the termination clause for the required notice method (email, certified mail, or written notice to the brokerage), any termination fee, and the protection period that survives cancellation. Send your notice to the brokerage, not just to your individual agent, and request a signed mutual release. If the brokerage stalls, escalate to the managing broker. Some jurisdictions offer a short rescission period after signing during which you can cancel at no cost; this varies.

One trap: if you start touring homes with a new agent before formally ending your existing agreement, both agents can claim they earned the commission. Terminate first, get the release in writing, then move on.

1
National Association of REALTORS®. Written Buyer Agreements 101
2
National Association of REALTORS®. Summary of 2024 MLS Changes
3
Consumer Federation of America. Buyer-Broker Representation Agreement Form
4
National Association of REALTORS®. Compensation, Commission and Concessions
5
National Association of REALTORS®. Consumer Guide to Negotiating Written Buyer Agreements
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National Association of REALTORS®. Consumer Guide to Written Buyer Agreements
7
National Association of REALTORS®. NAR Settlement FAQs