How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

It seems that every buyers agent we've met with has said that they require an exclusivity contract signed with them before proceeding. I get that it's protection for them, and its not like we'd go off on our own anyway, but for some reason it just bothers me.

Curious to see how many of you did sign one, or if anyone balked at doing it and then found a realtor who didn't require it.

We live in the DC area, not in NY, so perhaps it's a thing here and not elsewhere.

TIA.

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

don't do it!!!

i am a seller and had the WORST experience with a buyers agent. she was a lying swindler. i felt awful for the buyers (which are still buying my house), however, her realty (C21) had to drop their commission and apparently may be getting sued by the couple.

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

We didn't use a buyers' agent at all. Any house we wanted to see, I called the representing real estate directly and requested a showing. I like to do things on my own schedule and not have to wait on someone else to make the appts and be free to go with us.

Also, we were selling at the same time and our contract with our selling agent was such that we paid a lower percentage fee if the sale did not include a buyers' agent (i.e. someone with whom he would have to split the commission). Because of that, we would have accepted slightly lower from a non-buyers' agent buyer than one that had one.

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

this contract ensures they get paid a certain percentage...that is what I gathered when i signed my contract. If someone doesn't want to work with you, tell them to go fly a kite...

chances are, if you call a listing agent, see the house, it doesn't work out, they will ask you what are you needs and send you stuff. unless its a diamond in the ruff, you do all the searching your self and then tell them what you see so they are not really doing much for you

we signed this and it was the worse thing i ever did..we got out of it but we needed our lawyer to help.

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

We had a fantastic experience with our buyers' agent. Maybe it differs from state to state (we also did not buy in NY) or person to person, or what your expectations and needs are.

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

We went through 6 realtors who wanted this, but I refused. Then we found a realtor that didn't push it on us-she was the best!!!!

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

Our realtor did not require this and I am glad. To be honest, I feel like he does not do too much for us and we may either look for someone new or just go looking by ourselves. I feel bad since he has shown us like 12 homes, but he really does not add anything to the showing.

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

I live in Northern VA and we didn't have to sign one, he never even asked....

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

We were given a contract the first time we met our realtor, but then we forgot to bring it the next time, and really it was only a month before we found our house (a month to find, six months to close!), and we just never got around to signing anything with the realtor! It wasn't something we even really discussed, it just never happened.

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

i picked other......

we used an agent in my husbands networking group, she said ordinarily she does ask all clients to sign an agreement but she knew we were working with her to help build a mutually beneficial arrangement....

that said i would have no problem signing an agreement like that with her bc she was awesome....she was a shark for us and handled everything, also very professional to work with

i think its a good idea to have an agent on your side bc the sellers have one on theirs....

good luck

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

I picked other as well.

Our agent asked us and we signed for our own security. He would've still worked for us even if we didn't sign.
It gave us more piece of mind that he was working for US and ONLY US.
Without a contract, there are always possibilities that they look out for themselves ($ wise/commission) and not give you their honest opinions/suggestions on offers or what not
Also, he went completely out of his way for us all of the time, and I'm sure there are agents out there that if you don't have a signed contract they won't bust their butt as hard as they could!

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

We didn't use a buyers agent. We looked on our own and made an offer directly to the listing agent of the home we wanted to buy. It worked for us because since she was getting both sides of the commission, she really wanted the deal to go through.

There was one agent I met at an open house, who I adored, and if we kept looking, I might have considered signing with her. And in the future, if we sell, I'd definitely list with her.

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

we did

our agent is in florida

she has gone to see houses for us - she has brought my parents out to see places for us and she has gone herself and taken picturse and emails them to us and she gives us her opinions on places...she's been out with us a lot so we trust her opinion - she knows what we like and don't like and what we are looking for...

last week she checked out a bank owned property for us - she took pictures of it for us but she told me that the backyard view s-u-c-k-e-d, it looked like there may have been some structural damage and that she didn't think it would be a wise buy - now this girl has been working for us for 6 months and she is probably dying to get rid of us but she's still honest - she isn't pushy and isn't trying to force us into anything just to make the sale, get her comission and be done with us...so i truly believe she is looking out for us - and i like that....

i do a lot of work myself though - i stalk the mls and find properties for her to see, i look up the records to see how much the previous person bought for - what their mortgage is, what taxes are, i can find all the property records and i know how to figure out what comps have sold at and ii'm getting really good at figuring out current market values - she laughs b/c she knows that i'm crazy and that i figured out how to find out everything i can about a place hahahah...i'm actually thinking about getting into real estate when we move down - but she is still good to have around - she is our eyes down there!

Message edited 6/19/2009 2:19:13 PM.

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

I would not sign anything exclusive and in this market NEVER.

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

We signed with a buyers agent but never felt pressured to. I would definitely not go with a seller's agent which is what happens when you call and inquire about a house that you want to see. The seller's agent exclusively looks out for his/her client and the goal is the highest selling price. A buyers agent however looks our for your best interest and gives you any info that might be helpful to you - they are not in any way obligated to the seller.

I have nothing but good things to say about our buyers agent (we are scheduled to close tomorrow). We met him at an open house months before we really started looking and he took us seriously from the beginning (not always the case since we both look really young - i'm 32 and was carded to play lotto).

Re: How many of you signed an exclusivity contract with a buyers agent?

we signed one. it was our choice and after thinking about it, we decided to go for it. we werent seeing any other agents, we liked the person we were working with and it was of no cost to us.