Buyer Representation Agreements: The Questions Buyers Actually Ask Me

Yes, in Texas you have to sign a written agreement before I can show you a home. As of January 1, 2026, Section 1101.563 of the Texas Occupations Code requires it, and the national rule that came out of the NAR settlement has required a written agreement before touring since August 17, 2024. So this is not me being difficult. It is the law and the rules of my association, both pointing the same direction.

Sounds like a big commitment right. Sign something before you have even walked through a single house? I get why that feels backwards. But here is the thing. The agreement is not a marriage. It is more like a job description, and you get to negotiate almost every line of it. These are the questions buyers actually ask me when the form lands in front of them, answered straight.

If you want the full legal breakdown of when the agreement is required and what has to be in it, I wrote a longer piece on Texas buyer representation agreements in 2026. This post is the plain-English version, the stuff people ask me across the kitchen table.

Do I have to sign this before you even show me a house?

For any home listed on the MLS, yes. Under the NAR practice changes, an agent working with a buyer has to have a written agreement in place before touring a property, in person or on a live video walkthrough (NAR). Texas law layered its own version on top of that starting in 2026, so in this state you are getting the requirement from two directions.

Now, there is one narrow exception, and I will cover it below (the short-term showing agreement). But the honest answer for 99% of buyers is this. If you want me to walk you through a house and tell you what I actually think, we sign first. The moment I say anything past “it has four bedrooms,” I am representing you, and the law wants that in writing before it happens.

Am I locked in? Can I fire you?

You are not locked in the way people fear. Every buyer representation agreement has a termination date, and the length is negotiable. You can ask for two weeks. You can ask for a single day. You do not have to sign a six-month exclusive just because someone hands you one.

And if things go sideways, most agreements include a way to end them early. Ask for that language before you sign. I would rather have a buyer who wants to work with me than one who feels trapped, so I have no problem putting a clean exit in writing. The reality is, an agent who fights you on a reasonable termination clause is telling you something about how the rest of the relationship is going to go.

One thing to watch for is the protection period (sometimes called a protection or override clause). It says that if you go buy a house I showed you during our agreement, but you wait until after the agreement ends to do it, I may still be owed compensation. That is fair, it stops people from firing their agent the day before closing to dodge the fee. But you want to know it is in there and how long it runs.

What does it actually cost me?

Whatever you and I agree to, because compensation is fully negotiable and always has been. There is no standard rate set by law, and the agreement has to say that in plain language (NAR). So the number in that blank is a conversation, not a fixed price.

Here is the part that confuses everybody since the rules changed. Historically the seller paid the buyer’s agent out of the listing. That still happens a lot. Sellers can and often do offer to cover the buyer’s agent fee as a concession, because it helps them sell the house. What changed is that it is no longer advertised on the MLS and no longer guaranteed.

So what if the seller offers less than the rate you and I agreed to? Then we have options. We can ask the seller to cover the gap as part of the offer. We can negotiate the price down to offset it. Or in some cases you cover the difference yourself. The point is we figure that out together, before you write an offer, so nothing surprises you at the closing table. I walk every buyer through those exact scenarios before they sign anything.

Can I sign with more than one agent?

You can, but you probably should not, and here is why. Most buyer representation agreements are exclusive, which means you agree to work only with that agent for the term and the area described. If you sign exclusive agreements with two different agents covering the same thing, you have just set up a situation where you could owe two commissions on one house. That is not a hypothetical, that is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

If you genuinely want to keep your options open, you have two honest paths. Sign a non-exclusive agreement, which lets you work with other agents too, or keep the term short and the scope narrow so you are not overcommitting. But signing two exclusives and hoping it works out is the one move I would tell you to never make. Pick your agent, or keep it non-exclusive on purpose. Do not fake it.

If you are still figuring out who to work with, I put together a guide to choosing a real estate agent in Austin that walks through what to actually look for.

What if I find the house myself, or it is new construction or a FSBO?

The agreement still applies, and this is the question that trips up the most people. If you sign an exclusive buyer representation agreement, it usually covers you buying a home during the term regardless of how you found it. Zillow at midnight, a sign in a yard, your cousin’s neighbor selling privately. If it falls inside the scope and term you agreed to, your agent is still your agent.

New construction is the big one. A lot of buyers think they should walk into the builder’s model home alone to “save the commission.” That is backwards. The builder has a sales rep, and that rep works for the builder, not for you. When you bring me in, I represent your interests on upgrades, timelines, contract terms, and the stuff builders bury in the fine print, and the builder’s marketing budget typically pays my fee anyway. So read your agreement’s scope. If it covers new construction, loop me in before you register at the builder, because a lot of builders will not pay a buyer’s agent who was not there at the first visit.

FSBO (for sale by owner) works the same way. Your agreement travels with you. Just know that an unrepresented seller may not offer to pay your agent, so that goes back to the compensation conversation we already had. First-time buyers get surprised by this stuff constantly, which is part of why I wrote the first-time homebuyer guide for Austin.

Is there a short version if I just want to look?

There is, and it is the narrow exception I promised you earlier. Texas allows a short-term, showing-only agreement (a non-representation agreement) that lets an agent give you access to a property without full representation. Texas caps it at 14 days, and the limits are strict. No advice, no opinions, no negotiating on your behalf. Just the keys and a walkthrough.

I broke down exactly how that works in my post on the Texas 14-day non-representation agreement. It is a real tool for a real situation, like an out-of-town buyer who wants to see one house before deciding whether to commit. But I will be straight with you. It is a look, not a relationship. The value I bring is in the advice and the advocating, and a showing-only agreement specifically strips all of that out. Most people, once they understand the difference, just want representation. That is where the actual help lives.

What should I negotiate before I sign?

Four things, and none of them are awkward to ask about. A good agent expects these questions.

• Term length. How long does this run? Shorter is friendlier to you. You can always extend it if we are working well together.
• Geographic and property scope. What areas and what kind of property does this cover? Keep it tight to what you are actually shopping for.
• Compensation. What is the rate, how is it calculated, and what happens if the seller covers less than that? Get the answer before you sign, not at closing.
• Termination rights. How do you end this early if it is not working, and how long is the protection period after it ends?

Ask all four. Any agent worth signing with will answer them without flinching, because we deal with these every day. If someone gets cagey when you ask how to fire them or what they cost, that is your answer right there.

So what is this agreement really?

It is clarity, in writing, before the work starts. That is the whole thing. It says what I am going to do for you, what it costs, how long it lasts, and how you get out. Ten years ago all of that lived in a handshake and a vague understanding, and vague understandings are exactly how people end up feeling burned. The Go-Giver has this line about how the value you give is what people remember, and honestly a clear agreement is me giving you the terms up front instead of hoping you just trust me. The paperwork feels new, but what it is really doing is writing down the deal we should have been clear about all along.

And look, I will admit the first few times I had to hand a buyer a form before a showing, I fumbled it. I over-explained, I made it weird, I probably talked myself into sounding like a lawyer instead of their agent. I have gotten a lot better at it since (mostly by talking less). The form is not the hard part. Being clear and human about it is, and that part is on me, not you.

Still have questions? Lets talk before you sign anything

Here is my actual promise. Before any buyer I work with signs a representation agreement, I walk them through it line by line. Every blank, every clause, what it means and why it is there. No signing something in the front seat of my car on the way to a showing, and no surprises at the closing table.

If you are about to start looking and someone has put one of these forms in front of you, or you just want to understand what you are signing before you sign it, reach out to me. I am happy to walk you through it, no pressure either way. Getting this part right is how the whole rest of the process stays calm.