Can I work with more than one Realtor when buying a house?

If you’re shopping for a home or even just looking around and getting your feet wet, you may have wondered whether or not you can work with more than one Realtor at the same time. There are times when that would certainly be expected and other times when you might just be shooting yourself in the foot. 

If you’re looking in two or more different regions or states, you will obviously need and want a Realtor for each of those areas. 

If you’re focused more so within one particular region, such as the Charlotte NC area with 8-9 different counties, and the one Realtor you're communicating with only works certain parts of the region or certain suburbs but not others you’re considering, then you might need to have someone else lined up for any other areas. In a case like this, you would want to be upfront with each Realtor and also have it spelled out in the NC Buyer Agency Agreement that they’re only representing you in certain areas.

You may also feel the need to have more than one Realtor if you have a need for someone that specializes in a certain type of market such as rentals, investment properties, finding a lot, or Charlotte luxury homes, for instance, and the Realtor you’re speaking with doesn’t already serve that niche or specialty.

Now, if you’re looking around in the same general area, and your whole purpose is to have multiple Realtors working for you to see who can get you into a home the fastest, or just because you don’t want to commit to one, then you’re really just shooting yourself in the foot. No experienced Realtor is going to want to spend too much time with you without some reassurance that you’re interested in working with them and being represented by them (Realtors don’t get paid simply for showing homes). Also, if you are not committed to a specific Realtor, and have at least a verbal buyer agency agreement in place, then they cannot legally do much more for you than simply opening doors and this doesn’t even scratch the surface of what they’re capable of doing for you. Not to mention, you surely won’t get their full loyalty, attention, and eagerness to help you. 

If you’re serious about buying a home, and you find a Realtor that serves the area(s) you’re searching in, and you’ve researched them and you feel comfortable with them, then it’s best to go ahead and get a Buyer Agency Agreement in place with them. With a buyer agency agreement in place your “buyer’s agent” now has certain legal, ethical, and moral obligations to you that they didn’t have before. Don’t be afraid to take this important step. Find a top-notch Realtor, commit to them once you feel comfortable, and trust the process.

If you’d like to speak with us about your home-buying needs or have any questions or thoughts about this article, please feel free to use the contact form below and we’ll get back to you quickly. We’d love to help you in any way that we can.