Are you looking to move but every place you go try to see won’t deal with you? Maybe you need a Realtor! This video is a quick educational (and hopefully entertaining) explanation of what a Buyers Representation Agreement (Buyers Rep) is, and how it helps you rent or buy a house. Or apartment, or condo, or modular home…
Transcript:
So you’re finally ready to either buy or rent a home! You found a beautiful one you called your realtor and they said sign a buyers representation agreement (Buyers Rep) and you’re like but why I just I just want to see a house can you just take me to see the house?
First things first! This is what you need to know! In the state of Texas, anytime that a real estate agent opens the door for you to view a house, they are working for the owner of the property! That’s right! They’re not working for you! Even though they open the door for you, they are not working for you! They are legally obligated to work for the seller of the home, meaning they are representing the best interest for the seller of the home. That means anything that you tell me I’ve got to tell them! If you say “hey, I really like this house I would pay full price for it” I have to tell them. I can’t keep that secret! So how do we get around that we get around that? With one simple piece of paper the paper I asked you to sign. Something called a buyer’s representation agreement. AKA a Buyers rep. That is a promulgated form.
Promulgated just simply means that it was created by a bunch of lawyers. So we have a promulgated form, meaning that it is airtight and we can’t really mess with it. It is a fill-in-the blank form that allows us to work for you. A Buyer’s representation agreement is not a contract between between me and the home seller, it is a contract between me you – your realtor.
You the client it is an obligation for me to work for you an employment agreement between me and you not me and the home seller nothing else so what does that mean well in the Form you’ll see a bunch of things that say where I’m allowed to work, how much money I’m asking for, and what the terms are. So there should be a term beginning date and a term ending date, as well as some information about how much it cost for me to work for you. That being said, if you don’t get a home if I don’t get you a home I don’t get paid so although it can be very scary to sign the buyer rep and if you’re not working with me I would definitely ask whoever you are working with what happens if I find a place and they won’t work with a buyer’s rep.
In my case if I find you a beautiful home and you love it and the seller simply says nope I’m not going to pay a buyer’s agent -which would be me -so if the seller says they’re not going to pay my commission, then I’m not a jerk. I’m simply going to let you go and walk into that transaction by yourself. Now, I am going to suggest very heavily that you do your due diligence!
Which means you just look into everything. Get inspections make sure that the the seller has a survey, hire a real estate lawyer, because they can help you in these types of situations. So it’s still going to cost you a little bit of money out of pocket. However, if you found a place that you love and the seller just simply won’t work with a real estate agent I would not hold your feet to the fire. However some agents may, so please be careful when you do sign these representation agreements that you get written notice that they will not you know hold the contract as binding. In case of you finding a place that simply won’t work with a buyer’s rep. or a buyer’s agent rather but in the case that you do I would absolutely sign the thing.
All it is doing is saying that I, or your real estate agent, are able to do the things for you. That includes holding some information private as long as it’s you know nothing crazy! Don’t tell me you murdered someone cuz then I’m going to tell on you!
So I hope that this helps I know it is very scary to sign paperwork especially when you’re like hey I just want to see this house but it does a couple of things it protects you from being unrepresented when purchasing or renting a home. As well as it protects the real estate agent too, because it shows us that you are a serious buyer or renter so I hope this video helps I hope it wasn’t too long and I hope you’ll sign the agreement.