Buyers who last bought a house years ago are surprised by this one, and some are annoyed by it. They call an agent to see a single house, and before the door opens they are handed a document to sign. It is a fair reaction. It is also the most useful piece of paper in the early part of a search, if you read it.
The short answer
Since August 17, 2024, the agent you tour with will ask you to sign a written buyer agreement before touring a home with them, in person or virtually. The agreement has to state the agent's compensation as a defined amount, not an open range, and every part of it is negotiable.
When you do not need one
Walking into an open house on your own does not require one. Neither does asking an agent what they do and how they work. The agreement comes into it when an agent is going to take you into a home as your agent.
What it has to say
The compensation has to be clearly defined: a flat fee, a percentage, an hourly rate, or zero. It cannot be open ended. NAR's own consumer guide says compensation between a buyer and an agent is negotiable and not set by law.
What you can negotiate
- The services you actually want, which may be the whole search or one house
- The length of the agreement, which can be short
- The compensation, if any
- Whether you will ask the seller to pay some or all of it, which you can still request and negotiate for in an offer
A buyer relocating for a job, touring several towns in one weekend, often wants something different from a buyer who has lived down the road for twenty years. The agreement can reflect that.
The uncomfortable part
The agreement is where you find out how an agent thinks about their own work. An agent who explains every line and will shorten the term if you ask is telling you something. An agent who slides it across the table and says it is just a formality is telling you something too. Read it before you sign it, and ask about the parts you do not understand, because that conversation is the cheapest one you will have in the whole purchase.
The part I will not answer
What the agreement obligates you to if you end it early, or buy a house you found yourself, is a question about the contract, and an attorney can read it for you before you sign. How a buyer compensation figure fits into your loan belongs to your lender, and the answer depends on the loan program.
The buyers page sets out how a search runs from the first conversation, and the executive relocation page covers how it works when the search starts from another state.
Source: National Association of REALTORS, consumer guide to written buyer agreements. Read at source, September 2026.
This note is general. It is not legal advice, and what a specific agreement obligates you to depends on its terms, which an attorney can assess.