Under the new rules for commission, when a buyer wants to go look at property, or receive listing information being sent by an agent, they will now be required to sign a form called the Buyer Representation and Broker Compensation Agreement. They will have to agree to work with a particular agent before the agent is allowed to take them to view the property. If the buyer isn’t satisfied with the job being done by that agent, there is also a form to cancel the agreement. The duration of the agreement is a maximum of 3 months.
As always is the case, the commission paid, which is the responsibility of the buyer to pay, is a negotiable amount. The commission to be paid by the buyer may be an expense that the buyer could ask the seller to cover as part of the Residential Purchase Agreement, similar to asking the seller to give a credit for other items, like Buyer Closing Costs.
An additional form that buyers will be seeing is called the Open House Visitor Non-Agency Disclosure and Sign-In. With this form, if the buyer provides their information, the agent at the Open House can answer questions for the buyer. If they choose to not provide the information, they can still enter the house and look around, however, the agent running the Open House can not answer any questions about the property and should most likely advise the individual to consult the agent that they’re working with.