Esquire Realty Ciaramella & Co.

This morning, someone contacted me confused because she found a house online, asked to see it, and was then sent an exclusive buyer agency agreement to sign for several months. She wasn’t looking for a buyer’s agent. She thought she was contacting “the agent for the house”.

𝗦𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻- 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗭𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗮 𝗯𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝘁. 𝗔𝗻 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Somewhere in the listing information IS the name and number for the actual listing agent, but you may also see a much more prominent button to request a tour or connect with an agent- an agent that pays to receive buyer leads through that website. That agent may work for a completely different company and have no connection to the listing at all. And you, just a regular consumer who doesn’t do this for a living, really have no idea about any of it.

𝗦𝗼 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆, 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁. You can contact that agent directly as an unrepresented buyer. That agent represents the seller, not you, and you’ll sign no agreements regarding buyer’s agent compensation.

𝗡𝗼𝘄, 𝗶𝗳 𝗮 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁- 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹. In fact, there can be tremendous value in having someone exclusively representing your interests. But that’s a relationship you should understand before you enter into it.

The point isn’t that one way is better than the other. The point is to know who you’re calling. Remember that the biggest button on the page isn’t necessarily the listing agent.

𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸, 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻, 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼, 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼.