What is a buyer agency agreement?

A buyer agency agreement is a contract between you and a real estate firm in which you are agreeing to be their client and they are agreeing to represent you and your best interests. This contract will spell out certain things such as the duration of the agreement, their responsibilities to you, your responsibilities to them, what commission or fee they expect to receive in return, and other details and legal jargon. 

Signing a contract of any type can sometimes feel intimidating for some because of the legalities involved, the commitment factor, and wondering if the other party will or won’t perform as expected. However, signing a contract with a great real estate company and their designated agent can actually open you up for a wonderful experience and give the green light for them to perform FOR you in a way that they could not have purely if you were just a customer. Once you become a client of their firm, they then owe you all types of responsibilities, fairness, attention, privacy, etc. 

In North Carolina, Buyer Agency Agreements can actually be verbal up until the time that an Offer to Purchase actually needs to be written up. At that point, the Buyer Agency Agreement would need to be in writing. So if you’re hesitant about committing to a realtor, you should at least consider some type of verbal commitment for a specified period of time if the Realtor agrees to that. Either way, it’s good to have one in place so that you can better ensure a fruitful experience.

With that being said, I would not encourage you to sign a buyer agency agreement without first taking the time to learn more about that Realtor (via a great conversation with them at the least) and their experiences, setting expectations, and reading their past customer reviews. Once you feel confident that they will take care of you and you can get along with them, I would suggest that you go ahead and get a Buyer Agency Agreement in place sooner than later and start moving towards a solid home-buying experience.

If you’d like to speak with us, find out more about how we work with buyers, or simply ask us some questions about the area or the homebuying process in general, we are here for you. Please fill out the form below and will get back to you quickly.