I’m from Michigan and found this site while researching “Buyer’s Agreements”. An agent working with me has now insisted on my signing one after having shown me about 12-15 places over four Saturdays but I am reluctant to sign. In my search, I did not find any MI law that requires a buyer of a house in MI to sign such an agreement. Would you tell me if there is there such a law in MI?

And in response to post #7. Stefan Scholl, I am leery of any agreement that says to me, “I want some security that I will be the one who benefits from your purchase if you make one. Without MY security, I will not work with you.” Why should buyer agents expect that kind of security? Car dealerships and other businesses that depend on sales don’t have such security as far as I know. If one is in sales, the risk of not benefiting from a purchase even after spending lots of time with a client is just part of sales. The trade-off is the potential reward of receiving a fairly sizable amount of money for, sometimes, relatively little work. Even if the agent only spends a day with a new prospective buyer, they would not receive less money if a buyer only needed one day to find a property. At least as far as I know. I don’t see why real estate sales should be any different than any other high risk/reward enterprise. “Have their cake and eat it too comes to mind.” (I.e. Lessor risk/same reward.)

Karl

Am I answering regarding the Seattle Market, or the picture you presented which may be somewhere else?

I have taken it.

We are currently selling for the 2nd time. The agent we are using is one who doesn’t use BAAs.

When are most agents going to realize that developing trusting relationships, and not fear of losing a one time commission is what is going to earn them more $ in the long run.

Ardell – Yes, I do disclose. This is all covered in the initial buyer consultation. When I refer, I continue to monitor the transaction to ensure my clients are being treated very well.

Russ – Not sure how to take your post. If I do not have a buyer sign a buyer agency agreement (which can be broken at any time) I am not professional? There are many more substantial ways to convey professionalism as an agent than having a potential client sign a BAA. I present a description of services document. No signature, but an outline of exactly what my responsibilities are.

Lauree doesn’t know it, but seems to illustrates my point clearly…

“I request my clients to sign Buyers Agency Agreements, because my time is valuable and my paying clients, understand our professional relationship, and appreciate that I focus on their needs. Inundating myself with pro-grata does not serve them. I am very clear with them, they can fire me at any time for any reason.”

And the point of the agreement?

You are missing two key points. One, the “payment” in a buyer agency agreement is redundant at least 95% of the time. Two, I will not allow a commission issue to stand in the way of a buyer getting the best house for them. So getting a contract that could in any way cause their primary purpose to fail, is against their best interest, and conflicts with my standard policy of practice.

But to your question. Can I get a “professional” to work for me without signing an agreement? The answer is yes. Would the “professional” prefer to simply have the receptionist hand me a stack of papers to sign in advance, agreeing to the terms of the “professional” that is boilerplate for anyone who walks in the door? Of course he would. Do most people sign all that stuff, yes. Does ARDELL sign all that stuff? No.

I recently hired a dentist to do over $10,000 worth of work. The minute I walked in the door, the receptionist handed me a stack of papers on a clipboard to “fill out” and sign. I handed it back to her and said I will look at that after I meet with and interview the Dentist. Were they stunned initially? Yes. Did they comply with my terms? Yes. I came to an arrangement with the dentist, including negotiating fees. I trust him to put his hands in my mouth, I trust him to charge me the agreed upon discounted rate, and he trusts me to pay him. Those are my terms.

I completed what he needed, that being the legally required forms ONLY, including a signed medical history, emergency info in case I need a ride home, etc…

So what does an Agent legally need to proceed and what does a buyer consumer need to protect themselves? It depends on the State. When I worked in a State where the default position was sub-agency, and lacking a signed buyer agency agreement from the buyer I would be representing the seller…yes, absolutely, get a buyer agency agreement to protect the buyer’s rights.

Any agent in any State that reverts to sub-agency for the seller if the buyer does not sign a contract, should indeed sign a buyer agency agreement.

In the State of Washington the buyer has much more to lose than they have to gain, given buyers are offered representation by the laws of this State. That being said, I certainly offer a written agreement to a buyer as an option, especially when I agree to a lesser commission that that stated in the mls. Then it is their choice. For some reason they would rather trust that I will charge the lower fee, rather than sign a contract. That is their right, and I have no problem with that. They have nothing to gain by having a written agreement, unless they don’t trust me to honor my word. I do try to confirm the negotiated fee in an email, for future reference and their protection.

When the whole Country gets into the discussion, a generic answer is formed that isn’t locally relevant. In this State, at this time, buyers do not need to sign buyer agency agreements to receive representation. Any agent who wants a buyer agency agreement signed, should also be willing to negotiate fees, particularly with regard to bonus commissions. If the agent is not willing to forfeit bonus commissions, then the agent should not be asking a buyer to sign an agreement.

No consumer should sign a contract with a professional without fully understanding what they have to gain by doing so, and what they stand to lose, if anything, if they don’t sign it.

Just because a “professional”, even ALL “professionals” WANT you to sign something for THEIR purposes, doesn’t mean you should. So Russ, maybe every professional IN HINDSIGHT has been able to shove papers in front of people and get them to sign those papers. But this is Seattle…and most of the people here are too bright to not consider the pros and cons of doing so.

Now Russ, what exactly does a buyer GET, HERE in the State of Washington, by signing one that they DO NOT get by not signing one? And don’t give me some generic “services and metres” answer. Can an agent offer an opionion with one that they can’t offer without one? Will the contract miraculously help them form an intelligent opinion that they would not otherwise have had?

Is it the policy of any Company, in your experience, HERE in the Seattle Area, for a company to instruct their agents to ONLY give advices if the buyer has signed a contract, and NOT when representing them under the laws of this State? Does any company instruct their agents to “hold back” without a buyer agency agreement and “only do your work to the best of your ability” if the buyer is willing to sign a buyer agency agreement?

I certainly hope not.

If that is truly the definition of “professional”, then agents would fall into the same category as other traditional professional service providers like doctors, lawyers and accountants. Every good doctor, lawyer or accountant that I have ever dealt with always had some form of written engagement letter or agreement that the client signed. Why are buyer agents so different?

I will still give Ardell room to throw in any other “professional” to the list and the question remains, who doesn’t get something signed by the client to memorialize the relationship including (but certainly not only) with regard to payment????????

Russ