Paperwork · Massachusetts
The Massachusetts buyer representation agreement, explained
Since August 2024 you sign an agreement with an agent before they take you into a home. It is a short document that decides three consequential things — who represents you, for how long, and what you owe them — and most buyers sign it in a hallway without reading it. This is what is actually in it.
Ask Devarshi about your situationWhat the agreement is, and why it now exists.
A buyer representation agreement is a written contract between you and a brokerage setting out that they represent you, for how long, in what area, and how they get paid. Since 17 August 2024, an MLS-affiliated agent must have one signed before touring a home with you.
Before the National Association of Realtors settlement, buyer-agent compensation was published in the MLS and paid out of the seller's proceeds. Most buyers never signed anything and never saw a number. The settlement removed compensation from the MLS and required the written agreement, which moved both the representation question and the money question to the beginning of the relationship.
The intent was to stop steering — agents quietly favouring listings that paid them more. The practical effect for you is that you now have a document to negotiate at a moment when you have the most leverage you will ever have with that agent: before you have invested any time in them.
It is a contract. It is negotiable. Almost nobody negotiates it.
The four terms worth reading before you sign.
Length, exclusivity, geography and compensation. Everything else in the form is boilerplate; those four decide what happens if the relationship stops working or if you find a house on your own.
Length. A first agreement does not need to run for six months. Short touring agreements exist specifically so a buyer can see homes with an agent before committing to them, and asking for one is a normal request rather than an insult. If the answer is that only a long exclusive term is available, that is a brokerage's negotiating position, not a legal requirement.
Exclusivity. An exclusive agreement means that agent is your representative for any purchase in scope during the term, including a home you find yourself at an open house on a Sunday. That may well be fine — it is what you are hiring them for — but you should know it rather than discover it.
Geography. Some agreements are written broadly enough to cover the entire state. If you are looking in Cambridge and Somerville there is no particular reason for the agreement to bind you in Worcester.
Compensation. The number, and what happens if the seller contributes less than it. See below — it is the term that most often surprises people.
What you owe if the seller contributes nothing.
The agreement states what your agent is paid. A seller may offer to contribute and many still do, but it is no longer automatic, and if the offer is less than your agreement specifies, the difference is generally yours to cover.
This is the mechanic that catches people, because the old arrangement was invisible and this one is not. Your agreement says your agent receives some amount. Separately, a seller may offer to contribute toward buyer-side compensation. If that contribution matches or exceeds your agreed figure, you may owe nothing directly. If it falls short, the shortfall is typically yours.
So the useful question at signing is not "what is your rate". It is: on a home at my price range where the seller contributes nothing, what do I write a cheque for at closing, and can that be rolled into financing? The answer to the second half is often no, which makes it a cash-at-closing question sitting alongside your down payment and closing costs.
There is no standard rate and there has not been one since the settlement. Anyone quoting a customary figure is describing a market that no longer formally exists.
How to end one that is not working.
Read the termination clause before you sign, not when you want to leave. Most agreements can be released by the broker, and most brokers will release a client who asks — but the document, not goodwill, is what governs.
Termination provisions vary. Some agreements end on written notice, some require the broker's agreement, and many carry a protection period: if you buy a home the agent introduced you to within some window after the agreement ends, compensation is still owed. That clause is reasonable in principle and worth reading in particular.
In practice most brokerages will release a buyer who is clearly unhappy, because an unwilling client is not a productive one. But if you are the kind of person who wants to know the answer before you need it, the answer is in the paragraph you are about to sign.
Ask for a copy at the interview rather than at the first showing. An agent who will not send the form in advance is telling you something useful, and an agent who will is giving you an evening to read it.
Common questions about the agreement.
Do I have to sign one to see a house in Massachusetts?
To tour a home with an MLS-affiliated agent, yes — a written agreement has been required since 17 August 2024. You can still attend a public open house without one, and you can view a listing with the seller's own agent, though in that case that agent represents the seller, not you.
How long should the first agreement run?
There is no legally required term. Short agreements covering a single day or a handful of showings exist precisely for a first outing, and lengthening it later is easy once you know you want to work with someone. Signing a long exclusive term with an agent you met an hour ago is the more unusual choice, even though it is the common one.
Is the agreement negotiable?
Yes. It is a contract between two parties, and the length, scope, exclusivity and compensation are all terms rather than fixed law. Brokerages use standard forms, which makes the document feel official, but a standard form is still a starting position.
Can I sign with more than one agent?
Only if the agreements are non-exclusive, and most are not. Signing two exclusive agreements covering the same area and period is how buyers end up owing two commissions on one purchase. If you want to try two agents, say so and ask for non-exclusive terms.
What if I find the house myself?
Under an exclusive agreement, compensation is generally still owed — that is what exclusivity means. Some buyers negotiate a carve-out for specific properties they already know about before signing. If you have been watching a particular building for a year, name it in the agreement rather than assume it is outside the scope.
So who actually pays my agent now?
You do, under the agreement — with the seller frequently contributing toward it. The contribution is negotiated as part of your offer rather than published in advance, which means the total you owe is only settled when the deal is. Budget as though the contribution might be zero and treat anything else as an improvement.
Should an attorney review it?
You will be engaging a Massachusetts attorney for the closing anyway — the state closes through attorneys rather than escrow companies, commonly at a flat fee in the region of $750 to $1,250. Engaging one early enough to read a representation agreement is unusual but entirely reasonable, particularly on a first purchase.
Does it consent to dual agency?
Sometimes, in a clause you would not notice. Massachusetts requires informed written consent for dual agency, and some representation agreements include a consent provision covering the possibility in advance. Whether you want to give that consent is a real decision, and it should not be made by initialling a paragraph you did not read.
Sources
Every figure on this page is reproduced from the source listed against it, for orientation rather than as advice. Massachusetts fiscal years roll on 1 July and municipalities republish on their own schedules, so confirm anything you plan to rely on before you rely on it.
- National Association of Realtors settlement terms
- Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- Corroborated across multiple Massachusetts brokerages
Last verified .
Been handed an agreement to sign?
Send it over with your questions. Devarshi will tell you what the terms mean in plain language, including where he would push back if he were the one signing.