You want to buy a home and you contact a REALTOR®. Should you sign a Buyer Agency agreement? Let me explain to you a little about the Agency relationship so you can see the ways a Buyer Agent can benefit you.
You can work with a REALTOR® as a customer and he or she will treat you fairly and honestly and abide by the Code of Ethics because that is what all REALTORS® have pledged to do simply by the fact they are a REALTOR®!
The difference between your REALTOR® representing you as a Buyer Agent or working with you as a customer lies in the fiduciary duties they are bound by once you sign a Buyer Agency agreement.
These duties, which apply to a Buyer Agent or Seller Agent, include the following:
- Loyalty: Your REALTOR® must at all times act in your best interest and put your interests above all else, even their own.
- Obedience: Your REALTOR® will promptly obey all instructions you give them, providing those instructions are lawful. (REALTORS® are not bound to follow any instructions that are unlawful!)
- Disclosure: Your REALTOR® will disclose to you all known relevant facts.
- Confidentiality: Your REALTOR® will safeguard all information you deem secret, providing it does not violate disclosure requirements about the property.
- Reasonable care and diligence: You can count on your REALTOR® to use their professional skills and knowledge at all times when handling your affairs.
- Accounting: All funds will be accounted for and properly entrusted on your behalf by your REALTOR®.
States can vary in their laws concerning Buyer Agency but these basic principles apply in most cases. While working with you as a customer, your REALTOR® can still treat you in these same ways but he or she is not legally bound by these requirements.
