# What use are real estate agents these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-use-are-real-estate-agents-these-days/624467 "2012-06-08T03:38:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-use-are-real-estate-agents-these-days/624467/81 "2012-06-21T12:33:51Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > For an agent to legally assist a buyer or a seller, he has to have an agency agreement. This can be executed at any time – like before starting a search. In my state, such an agreement must be signed BEFORE negotiation begins, usually defined at the time an offer is written or the terms of an offer discussed. Sorry… I’m not making myself clear. In the scenario I’m wondering about the buyer has an agent and wants to look at a house with a “For Sale by Owner” sign in the front yard. What does the agent do then? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-use-are-real-estate-agents-these-days/624467/82 "2012-06-21T14:08:28Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Sorry… I’m not making myself clear. In the scenario I’m wondering about the buyer has an agent and wants to look at a house with a “For Sale by Owner” sign in the front yard. What does the agent do then? > [@Musicat](#): > > [If] The buyer already has a Buyer Agency Agreement with the agent, [he] is ultimately responsible for a commission according to the terms of the Agreement. > [@Musicat](#): > > I have an agreement with a buyer right now that says he will pay my commission under some circumstances, like if I find a property for him that is not already on the market or FSBO and doesn’t already have an MLS offer of compensation. > > The same agreement says that if the MLS compensation is very low, the buyer will make up the difference between that and an agreed-upon value. In this case, both buyer and seller would be contributing to _one_ agent’s commission, but not the other. Does that answer your question? If not, I’ll elaborate…An agent can become a Buyer’s Agent upon executing an agreement. This document can include or exclude properties by price, geography, type (residential/commercial/land) or any other criterion you can define. It also has an effective date and an expiration date. If the Buyer is just beginning a search, we usually write the agreement to be quite broad. Unless specifically excluded, ALL properties found by agent _or_ Buyer are included. So if the Buyer sees a FSBO, he will notify me and I’ll take it from there. Same way if I find someone ready to sell who isn’t already listed somewhere and introduce him to my Buyer. In case you’re wondering, if the Buyer doesn’t notify me and purchases the property outside of our agreement, either he pays the commission anyway, or he is likely to get sued for breach of contract, so this would be quite foolish. Any other agent who knowingly represented him would be committing fraud and would get no commission at all (or would have to give it up if it went to court). ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-use-are-real-estate-agents-these-days/624467/83 "2012-06-22T14:08:02Z")
Yep…sorry I missed it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-use-are-real-estate-agents-these-days/624467.md?page=4)