Buyer Representation – 2027 Naples Buyer’s Guide

Overview

This guide has covered a lot of ground to this point: Naples itself, its areas and destinations, its communities and homes, the risks of owning here, what it costs, and how buying works. Now it is time to discuss the person who should be standing beside you through all of it, your real estate agent: what buyer representation is, and what you really need to know about working with a real estate agent.

Hiring a buyer’s representative is one of the first important decisions you must make. Before an agent who belongs to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) can take you to see a home, they must have you sign a written agreement naming them as your representative, outlining what they will do for you, and what you will pay them should they not be paid in another manner. This requirement did not exist here before August 17, 2024. It now applies to MLS agents nationwide, and it reorders everything that follows. Your agent is no longer someone you drift into working with. They are a hire, and you will serve your own best interests if you make the hire early on.

In this chapter, arguably the most important in the guide, I clarify the industry changes of 2024 and their impact on buying (and selling) real estate, and discuss the role of real estate agents who represent buyers. In my experience as a real estate professional, buyers and sellers have not been as educated as they should be concerning representation. And recent changes to industry practices, arguably favoring sellers over buyers, have made buying more challenging. My aim is to tell you what you should know, so you can make the very best decisions for you and yours.

Should you decide to buy in the Naples area, you will have many decisions to make, and they can be complicated and highly impactful: who you hire to represent you, how you are legally represented, the purchase agreement and addenda used, the specific details of any offer you make, how an agreement is negotiated, what happens during the due diligence period, and much more.

This chapter gives facts about buyer representation along with my opinions and perspectives on it. My opinions are my own, not those of my brokerage, Premiere Plus Realty, Co., or the Naples Area Board of REALTORS®. I am not an attorney, and nothing in this chapter is legal advice.

Please read this chapter in full before you hire anyone.

The August 2024 Changes

On August 17, 2024, changes to the practices governing residential buyers and their representation by real estate agents took effect. While many changes were made, there are two you need to be aware of as a potential buyer:

Buyers and real estate agents must enter into a written representation agreement establishing their relationship and defining its terms.
The compensation a seller or listing brokerage offers a buyer’s agent can no longer be advertised on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

Neither change is a Florida law. They are rules for agents who belong to an MLS, and the agreement is required before the agent tours a home with you, in person or by live video. Visiting an open house on your own, or asking an agent about their services, requires no agreement. And a seller can still offer to pay a buyer’s agent; the offer is simply made outside the MLS.

In my own transactions to date, no buyer has paid my brokerage out of pocket. More on that under Agent Compensation.

These changes were made in large part to formalize buyer representation, clearly defining and separating it from seller representation, and so reducing the opportunity for antitrust violations and other legal issues. It was thought that they would also usher in a more competitive representation landscape for both buyers and sellers.

Real Estate Is Local

Real estate is literally local. The term refers to land and the improvements on it, the buildings. The business of real estate is local too. It is governed by state, county and city statutes and ordinances. The office of your agent’s brokerage is also local, and it will have policies and procedures that must be followed when transacting through it.

If you are buying Florida real estate for the first time, know that the business of real estate in Florida may differ significantly from the state you live in now. The business of real estate in Collier County, where Naples is located, is also unique among Florida’s counties. The purchase agreements typically used to buy and sell Naples real estate differ considerably from those used in each of the five counties that surround it.

Everyone involved in a real estate transaction must follow federal law and national business practices, and must also take local statutes and norms into account. Together, these determine a great deal in my profession. What follows in this chapter is specific to real estate here.

What Is Buyer Representation?

A Buyer’s Representative (also called a Buyer’s Agent) is hired by a potential homebuyer to help them navigate the financial, technical and community complexities of buying real estate.

Representing buyers is much different than listing properties for sellers. Buyer’s Agents and Seller’s Agents are both schooled in the legal aspects of representation, process and procedure, but past the fundamentals there are very clear differences between the roles.

Seller’s Agents must have a firm understanding of community-specific market dynamics to help a seller price their real estate “correctly” at the time they list it. They should know how to market real estate effectively and possess solid negotiation acumen from the seller’s side of the table. A typical seller cares about two things alone: getting their property sold and netting the most money.

In contrast, a buyer’s agent must have broad local market expertise. They need to know all the areas and communities they serve, and know them well. They must understand the many area, community and property considerations a buyer must examine, and the many financial aspects of buying and owning local real estate. They should know how to determine the current fair market value of a property at the time an offer is made. (Please, never rely on the estimates that national sites display. These estimates are marketing tools, not professional valuations.) They should be expert negotiators from the buyer’s side of the table, if a buyer hopes to purchase at the best price possible. And they must know every aspect of the due diligence period and how to guide a buyer correctly through it. A Buyer’s Agent must be able to work with a buyer, over time, in a manner the buyer is comfortable with and has confidence in, and that ultimately results in the buyer fully realizing their purchase goals. A typical buyer needs much more from their agent than a typical seller does. Price is almost always at the top of a buyer’s priorities, but there are many other important considerations and decisions to satisfy a buyer’s interests and needs.

In Naples specifically, the most used Buyer Broker agreement lists the following duties of a Buyer’s Agent:

Consult with Buyer to discuss property requirements, financing alternatives, possession time schedules, financial capabilities, and acquisition and negotiation strategies
Assist in obtaining available information of material nature relative to desired properties
Make best efforts to identify and locate properties suitable to purchase
Assist Buyer in presenting and negotiating contract offers
Monitor contract and closing deadlines

This list exists to establish a legal agreement between a homebuyer and an agent’s brokerage. The services a Buyer’s Agent actually provides will vary with the legal relationship you choose to have with them, the services you agree on, and more. Most importantly, a Buyer’s Agent provides expert guidance and advice throughout the buying process. A great Buyer’s Agent will help a buyer find and purchase a home that meets their interests, needs and price as closely as possible, while keeping them unscathed along the way.

Individual agents and brokerages differ widely in the services they offer, so the definition of a buyer’s agent can vary. There are limited-service agents and brokerages, as well as those that offer more service and commitment than a typical agent. Identifying your own representation needs is the first step in identifying what you require of an agent.

It is also important to recognize that each agent fulfills their duties in their own way, and some are considerably more competent than others. (The low bar to entry into real estate is problematic, in my view.) Ultimately, the role a Buyer’s Agent plays for you must be what you want and need it to be. You need trust and confidence in your agent’s ability to help you in the way you have chosen, through the legal relationship you have agreed to and the Buyer Broker agreement you have signed.

Your Legal Brokerage Relationship

There are three types of legal relationship you can have with a brokerage and its agent in Florida. Below are the duties owed to you under each. (They are defined in Florida Statutes, Chapter 475.)

Transaction Broker

A transaction broker provides a limited form of representation to a buyer, a seller, or both in a real estate transaction but does not represent either in a fiduciary capacity or as a single agent. The duties of the real estate licensee in this limited form of representation include the following:

Dealing honestly and fairly;
Accounting for all funds;
Using skill, care and diligence in the transaction;
Disclosing all known facts that materially affect the value of residential real property and are not readily observable to the buyer;
Presenting all offers and counteroffers in a timely manner, unless a party has previously directed the licensee otherwise in writing;
Limited confidentiality, unless waived in writing by a party. This limited confidentiality will prevent disclosure that the seller will accept a price less than the asking or listed price, that the buyer will pay a price greater than the price submitted in a written offer, of the motivation of any party for selling or buying property, that a seller or buyer will agree to financing terms other than those offered, or of any other information requested by a party to remain confidential; and
Any additional duties that are mutually agreed to with a party.

Transaction Broker relationships are the default in Florida. A licensed Florida real estate agent acts as a Transaction Broker unless a different relationship is established in writing.

A transaction broker owes you no written notice of the relationship. A single agent must give you a written notice of the relationship by the time you sign an agreement with them, and an agent with no brokerage relationship before touring a home with you.

Single Agent

The duties of a real estate licensee owed to a buyer or seller who engages the real estate licensee as a single agent include the following:

Dealing honestly and fairly;
Loyalty;
Confidentiality;
Obedience;
Full Disclosure;
Accounting for all funds;
Skill, care and diligence in the transaction;
Presenting all offers and counteroffers in a timely manner, unless a party has previously directed the licensee otherwise in writing; and
Disclosing all known facts that materially affect the value of residential real property and are not readily observable.

Many brokerages and agents will not engage in a single agent relationship due to liability concerns.

No Brokerage Relationship

The duties of a real estate licensee owed to a buyer or seller who engages the real estate licensee under No Brokerage Relationship include the following:

Dealing honestly and fairly;
Disclosing all known facts that materially affect the value of the residential real property which are not readily observable to the buyer; and
Accounting for all funds entrusted to the licensee.

An agent working with a buyer under No Brokerage Relationship does not have to apply skill, care or diligence. This relationship therefore carries very high risk for a buyer. For the buyer who wants an agent only to write an offer on a home, completing the paperwork alone, it could be a satisfactory option. But it is not advised.

Other Broker Relationships and Need to Know

Beyond Florida’s three legal brokerage relationships, there are two others you should be aware of.

Dual Agency

Dual Agency is when a brokerage represents both the buyer and the seller while owing fiduciary duties to each.

By definition, an agent or brokerage cannot be a fiduciary for two competing parties. It is not possible, given the legal duties of a fiduciary. Some states agree and have made Dual Agency illegal, and Florida is one of them. I mention it here because it may exist where you live now.

Dual Agents

Dual Agents is not a legal brokerage relationship, but I want to make clear what it means and how it could affect you as a homebuyer. Simply, there are two agents in a transaction, one working with or representing the seller, the other the buyer. Two scenarios are important to understand.

When Seller & Buyer Use the Same Brokerage

When the seller and buyer use agents with the same brokerage, Florida does not allow that brokerage to be a single agent for both. The agents act as Transaction Brokers, or one side has no brokerage relationship at all. Even so, there is a substantial and important difference between a buyer using the seller’s agent and a buyer using their own agent from the same brokerage. Should a buyer use the seller’s agent, they do not gain the vast benefits of their own trusted agent. They are the third party in an established relationship between the seller and the seller’s agent, and it is highly likely that the seller’s agent has committed to getting the seller top dollar for their home.

When Seller & Buyer Use Different Brokerages

Buyers and sellers using agents from different brokerages is what occurs in most real estate transactions in and around Naples. In this scenario, one agent can be operating as a Single Agent while the other acts as a Transaction Broker.

The difference is real, and it is written into the statute: a single agent owes the buyer or seller they represent loyalty, obedience and full disclosure, and a transaction broker does not. What a transaction broker does owe is the list above: honesty, skill, care and diligence, every offer presented promptly, limited confidentiality, and any further duties the two of you agree to. If it matters to you, ask which relationship the seller’s agent has with the seller.

I work with buyers as a transaction broker. As a REALTOR®, I also owe my buyers the duties of the Code of Ethics that follows, and they apply in a transaction broker relationship just as they do in agency.

The REALTOR® Code of Ethics & Standards of Practice

Whichever legal relationship your agreement sets up, if you hire a REALTOR® you also have the Code of Ethics of the National Association of REALTORS®. Not every licensed agent is a REALTOR®, and the ones who are have taken on obligations the license alone does not impose. As a REALTOR®, toward a buyer I represent I must:

Put your interests first. Article 1 makes protecting and promoting your interests my primary obligation, while I still treat every other party honestly. Standard of Practice 1-2 applies the Code’s duties to a transaction broker relationship too, apart from any duty the law places on agents alone. Where the Code asks more than the law, the Code is the bar I answer to.
Tell you six things before you sign a representation agreement (Standard of Practice 1-13): my company’s policies on cooperating with other brokerages; that broker compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable; the compensation you will pay, if any; any additional or offsetting compensation I might receive from other brokers, the seller or anyone else; any potential to act as a disclosed dual agent, which Florida does not allow; and that a seller or the seller’s representative may not treat the existence, terms or conditions of your offer as confidential.
Keep your confidences, during and after. Under Standard of Practice 1-9, confidential information stays confidential when our relationship ends. The exceptions are narrow, and a latent material defect in a property is never confidential.
Disclose what I know about a property. Article 2 prohibits exaggeration, misrepresentation and concealing pertinent facts. Its limit matters: Standard of Practice 2-1 confines the duty to problems reasonably apparent to someone with a real estate license’s expertise, not an inspector’s or an engineer’s. It is one of several reasons to have your own inspections.
Support any opinion of value I give you. If I prepare one for you for any purpose other than shaping an offer, Standard of Practice 11-1 requires it to identify the property, carry a date, name the data it rests on, say whether I saw the inside and the outside, state plainly that it is not an appraisal, and disclose any conflict of interest.
Serve you equally, never steer you, and not practice law. Article 10 requires equal service and prohibits discrimination and steering, which is why I will not volunteer the racial, religious or ethnic makeup of a neighborhood (Standard of Practice 10-1). Article 13 forbids me to practice law and requires me to recommend an attorney when your interests call for one.

The Code is not a statute. The Naples Area Board of REALTORS® enforces it through its professional standards process, and a buyer who believes a REALTOR® has breached it can file an ethics complaint there. The remedy is discipline, not money. That route is separate from a license-law complaint, which is filed with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and decided by the Florida Real Estate Commission, and separate again from a lawsuit.

Before You Start Looking

Open Houses

If you have no agent, walking into an open house on your own and talking with the seller’s agent, or any other agent of the listing brokerage, about basic property details does not require a Buyer Broker agreement. In this instance the agent represents the seller alone. They are trying to sell you the home.

(Agents are not always the ones running open houses. Unlicensed people are often hired to do so, and the information they can give any visitor is very limited.)

Direct Seller’s Agent/Brokerage Contact

Contacting the seller’s agent, or any other agent of the seller’s brokerage, by phone, video, email, text or otherwise, while you have no agent and are seeking basic property details, does not require a Buyer Broker agreement. Here too the agent represents the seller alone. They are trying to sell you the home.

Procuring Cause

Going to an open house, or speaking with the seller’s agent or brokerage about a home you like, without an agent of your own has one highly significant, potentially negative consequence. It is related to “procuring cause.”

Procuring cause is the term the industry uses to determine which agent is entitled to compensation when a property sells. It refers to the actions that directly lead to a sale.

If a buyer tours a property without an agent (at an open house, for example), or contacts the seller’s agent or brokerage directly, and then decides they want their own agent to buy it, any compensation on offer from the seller or the seller’s brokerage might not go to the buyer’s agent. Buyers are now responsible for paying their agent, and that money would have offset or covered it in full, so procuring cause could mean a significant loss for a buyer.

Open houses can be fun to roam on your own, but unless you are 100% confident you will use the seller’s agent to buy a home you like, it behooves you to be with an agent of your choosing whenever you visit a home for sale, at an open house or otherwise. Do not contact seller’s agents or brokerages directly either. If you intend to use your own agent, be with your own agent at every step. If you are not, it could cost you substantially.

Advice

If you do not have a buyer’s agent, however you begin discussing a listing with a seller’s agent or brokerage, everything changes as soon as you want to discuss a real possibility of purchase: a Buyer Broker agreement will need to be signed. Keep in mind that the seller chose the seller’s agent, and there is a relationship between them. Whatever the requirements and limits of a Transaction Broker, you need to be strategic in how you work with the seller’s agent. They cannot put your best interests ahead of their seller’s. In this scenario, only you can do so. Do not tip your hand.

New Construction and Builder Registration

Before anything else, a belief worth taking apart, because it is the reason many buyers walk into a sales center without a real estate agent. It is the idea that there is no point using an agent to buy new construction, and that going without will likely save you money. Both are demonstrably false, and it is the builders themselves who provide proof.

Ask any sales center whether the price changes if you bring your own agent. Most builders will tell you plainly that it does not. The price of the home is the price of the home. Follow that through and the arithmetic is simple: if the cost to you is identical either way, going without representation does not save you a dollar. It hands the value of that representation back to the builder and buys you nothing in return.

The second belief, that there is nothing for an agent to do because the home is new and the price is what it is, misreads things entirely. A good agent knows which deal terms are in fact negotiable and how to obtain favorable terms for you. In my experience everything can move, if you know how to move it: the base price, homesite premium, structural options, design center allowances, closing cost contributions, rate buy-downs and incentives are all candidates.

You are also not signing the purchase agreement used on a resale. You are signing the builder’s own contract, drafted by the builder’s lawyers for the builder’s benefit. Inspection rights, deposit terms and when they become non-refundable, delay and completion language, change-order pricing, dispute resolution and the warranty are all defined in it, and none of them read the way a resale contract reads. Knowing which of those terms a particular builder will amend, and which they never will, is not something a price list tells you.

And there is the decision a buyer makes almost blind. Standing at a design center choosing from a list of options, you are making resale decisions without resale information: some of those choices hold their value when you sell and a good many do not. Knowing which is which in that community, from what has actually sold there, is worth more than the options themselves cost.

One more thing the sales center will not do for you: quality assurance. A builder’s sales representative is not a neutral guide to the community, and unlike a listing agent they are usually an employee of the builder rather than an independent contractor. They represent the builder’s interests. They sell one inventory. They will not lead the charge in getting the builder to remedy issues with build quality or anything else. (Build quality is an issue with some builders in the area.)

Much of what is stated here is the general case. Here is strictly my own: I have represented a great many new construction buyers in this market, and there has not been one who did not save money. And there have been countless build issues I have helped buyers remedy.

Builder Registration

The builder decides who represents you at the sales center door or online, usually before you have realized a decision is being made.

Walking into a sales center on your own and giving your name and contact details, or registering online on a new community’s website, defines you as a customer of the builder.

If you later decide you want your own agent to help negotiate the purchase agreement or otherwise, the builder may decline to recognize them. The consequence is the one described under procuring cause, and it is more absolute here, because the builder writes the rules.

If you want to explore new construction in the area, it serves your best interests to hire a real estate agent with considerable new construction experience before visiting any sales center or registering on any builder’s website.

Buyer Broker Agreements

Most truly successful relationships, personal or business, rely on commitment. Each party is committed to the other to make the relationship fruitful. One-sided relationships are doomed to fail. This brings us to Buyer Broker agreements.

Buyer Broker agreements are to buyers what listing agreements are to sellers. Before August 17, 2024, they were not widely used in Naples, though in some parts of the country they had been standard practice for many years. Since then, an agent who belongs to the MLS must have one signed with a buyer they are “working with” before touring a home with them, and it could be well before that. So, what exactly is a Buyer Broker agreement?

Buyer Broker agreements are legally binding contracts between potential buyers of real estate and their chosen agent and brokerage.

The rules require every agreement to state the compensation, as an amount or rate that can be worked out (never open-ended); to say conspicuously that broker fees are not set by law and are fully negotiable; and to bar the agent from receiving more than that amount from any source.

The agreement used here also sets out:

The legal brokerage relationship between buyer and brokerage
The specific services the buyer’s agent will perform for the buyer
The specific duties and obligations of the buyer
The compensation owed to the brokerage for its services
The term of the agreement
Other agreed terms and conditions

A Buyer Broker agreement is required whether you are represented by a Single Agent, by an agent of your choosing who represents you alone as a Transaction Broker, or alongside the seller by the agent the seller chose. In every scenario, an agreement setting out the services owed and the compensation due is required.

Buyer’s Agent Services

While the agreement must define how a buyer is legally represented, the services an agent offers can range widely. There are basic expectations of what a licensed agent will do, but there are also full-service and limited-service agents. Services can cover every aspect of finding and purchasing real estate, or be tailored narrowly to a buyer’s specific needs. Each agent decides what they offer.

Most agents use a standard boilerplate Buyer Broker agreement alone. It frames the services of the typical agent, but it may or may not describe, in enough detail for you, the services your agent has told you they will perform. I offer a range of services to suit different types of buyers. Many agents do not. It is up to you to ask for more clarity if the paperwork you are asked to sign does not satisfy you.

There are many types of Buyer Broker agreements. The two most used follow.

Buyer Broker Exclusive Agreement

The Buyer Broker Exclusive Agreement is the most common Buyer Broker agreement in Naples, and most agents will require it. As its name says, it is exclusive: the buyer commits to using the brokerage exclusively for the term of the agreement. A buyer who uses another agent or brokerage will be in breach of contract and can be sued for the money owed.

Unless a buyer agrees to pay an agent an upfront, non-refundable retainer or the like, the agent is paid only if a purchase is made. If an agent is to help a buyer, the agent needs to know the buyer will continue to use their services through closing, when payment is made. These agreements are much like the exclusive listing agreements most often used to sell a home. Nobody wants to work for free. Commitment is key.

Property-specific Buyer Broker Agreement

The Property-specific Buyer Broker Agreement establishes a representation agreement between a buyer and a brokerage for one or more specific listings. It sets out the services the agent will perform, the compensation owed and the other terms any Buyer Broker agreement requires, and lists the properties it covers. It is listing-specific, not broad in range.

Do not take any Buyer Broker agreement lightly. It legally ties you to a brokerage. You are signing a binding contract for professional representation by a licensed real estate agent, and it commits you to paying that agent. Please know what you are getting yourself into before signing anything with anyone.

What You Are Committing To

Most of this chapter is about what your agent owes you. The agreement runs both ways. Under the exclusive agreement you agree, for the term, to five things:

Work with your broker and no one else. The form says you will “work exclusively with BROKER and be available to evaluate and/or view properties exclusively with BROKER and not any other broker, licensee, owner, builder, etc.” Owner and builder are both named. That covers a for-sale-by-owner you drive past and a sales center you walk into.
Send every inquiry through them. You agree to refer to your broker “all inquiries in any form from any source” about any property. A listing agent who calls you back, a neighbor who mentions a home coming up, a link a friend sends: all of it goes to your agent.
Give them reliable information, including financial information. The agreement makes this a term, not a courtesy. An agent cannot position an offer without knowing what stands behind it.
Tell them what you are actually looking for: location, price range, amenities, and whatever else helps identify the right homes.
Tell other people the agreement exists. “On all occasions,” you agree to notify other brokers and third parties that you are under an exclusive agreement and who it is with. This is the term that protects you at a sales center door, and it is the one buyers most often do not know they signed.

None of it is unreasonable, and all of it is the other half of an agent working for months with no retainer and no guarantee. But it is a contract, and you should read your own side of it before you sign.

What Is Negotiable in the Agreement

The agreement you will likely be asked to sign is a standard form provided by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS®. Nearly everything that matters in it is a blank that someone must fill in. Here is what those blanks do, and what they become if they are left empty, which is the part worth knowing.

The term, and what it becomes if left blank. Paragraph 4 asks for a Commencement Date and a Termination Date. Leave the Commencement Date empty and it is the day you sign. Leave the Termination Date empty and the agreement runs 180 calendar days, six months. On the property-specific form it is 90 days.
The tail, which is the term most buyers never notice. The same paragraph says that if you go under contract within a stated number of days after the Termination Date, on any property toured during the term, you still owe the compensation. Left blank, that is 90 days, 45 on the property-specific form.
The scope is counties, not neighborhoods. The Scope clause limits the agreement to residential property “in the following counties in Florida,” and if that blank is empty, it is Collier, Lee and Charlotte, the better part of Southwest Florida. If you are only buying in Collier, Collier should be written. There is no line on the form for a price range or a property type, so narrowing it further is something you would add under Other Terms and Conditions.
What you pay, and the part that is not obvious. Paragraph 5 sets the Compensation as a percentage, a flat fee, or both. Three things follow from it. You are responsible for it; your broker is authorized to negotiate for the seller or the listing broker to pay it instead. If a Seller Concession is offered and the listing side is paying your broker nothing, or less than your number, the concession goes to your broker’s compensation first, not to your closing costs. And if the listing side plus the concession still falls short, you pay the difference at closing. That single sentence is what decides whether “the seller pays” is true in your transaction.
The cap, and the disclosure that comes with it. Your broker may not receive more than the agreed Compensation from any source and must tell you what the listing side actually paid them. If the seller side offers more than your number, the excess is not your agent’s to keep.
Compensation is earned whether your agent found the home or not. Paragraph 5 says it is earned on any property you buy during the term “irrespective of whether BROKER actually showed, located, introduced or wrote any offer.” Under an exclusive agreement the home you spot yourself on a Sunday drive is covered. That is what exclusive means. (And it is the trade for an agent who works without a retainer.)
What happens if you walk away from a contract. The Default clause provides that a buyer default does not end the agreement, and that unpaid compensation can be secured by a lien on the property, foreclosable like a mortgage and surviving termination. The property-specific form carries no lien clause.

What Else the Agreement Says

Three things sit on this form that have nothing to do with representation and catch people anyway.

A box you tick that limits what you will be shown. Under Fair Housing, the form states that your broker will show you properties regardless of whether a Seller Concession is offered, and then asks you to elect or decline to be shown properties where no concession is on offer. Tick “decline” and you have narrowed your own inventory, in a market where the seller’s position often changes once an offer is in front of them. Understand which box you are ticking and why.

You are probably being recorded. The agreement states plainly that “video and/or audio surveillance with recording capability may be in use on any property viewed by BUYER, therefore conversations at property viewings should not be considered private.” Doorbell cameras, interior cameras, and a phone left running on a counter are all common. Say nothing in a home you would not say across the negotiating table: not what you would really pay, not how much you love it, not when you need to move.

Wire fraud. The form carries a full paragraph in capitals about it, because it happens: criminals intercept email between buyers, agents, title companies and lenders and send altered wire instructions that look entirely legitimate, and money sent to them is generally gone. The form asks you never to send bank account numbers or other non-public information by ordinary email. And by signing, you agree to hold the escrow agent, the closing agent and every broker harmless for losses from wire instructions, so the risk is yours. How to confirm instructions before you send money is in Chapter 8.

Ending the Agreement

You have signed, and it is not working. It happens, and the agreement anticipates it, but not in the way most people assume.

You cannot end it on your own. The agreement “cannot be terminated prior to its expiration, or modified in any manner, except by an agreement in writing, signed by BUYER and BROKER.” Both signatures. There is a NABOR form for it, NAB124, Termination of Buyer Broker Agreement, and it does exactly one thing: records that both parties agreed to end it as of a stated date.

Ending it does not end everything. That same termination form states that Paragraph 4 survives. Paragraph 4 is the term, and the term is where the clause lives that says you still owe compensation if you buy a property you toured during the agreement, within the window that follows it. So a mutual termination closes the relationship and leaves the tail running.

Three things worth knowing before you get there. Your agreement is with the brokerage, not the individual, so ask first whether you can simply move to a different agent within the same firm, which needs no termination at all. An agreement can be amended rather than ended; NABOR form NAB110 exists for that, and it is the ordinary way a term, a scope or a compensation figure gets changed. And if the broker will not agree to terminate, the agreement runs to its Termination Date, which is the practical reason the length of that term matters so much on the day you sign it.

Ask how a brokerage handles an early exit before you sign. The answer tells you a great deal about how they will treat you if things go wrong.

If You Have Already Signed With Someone Else

If you are already under an exclusive agreement with another brokerage, say so at the start of any conversation with another agent. Before a REALTOR® enters a representation agreement, the Code of Ethics requires them to make reasonable efforts to find out whether you already have one (Standard of Practice 16-9), and it bars them from acting against another REALTOR®’s exclusive agreement (Article 16). So no REALTOR®, me included, can represent you until your current agreement ends: at its Termination Date, or earlier if your broker agrees in writing. And the tail goes with you. If you buy a home you toured under the old agreement within the window that follows, you can still owe that broker compensation.

Agent Compensation

What real estate agents charge buyers and sellers, and who pays them, is likely the most misunderstood and inaccurately reported part of the August 2024 changes. This section clears it up, so you know what has changed and how your agent might be paid.

Commissions Are Not Set By Law and Are Fully Negotiable

“Commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable” is a statement of fact that is likely to appear on more than one document you sign along your journey to buy real estate. Making this explicitly clear to buyers and sellers is a requirement, and you will need to acknowledge in writing that you understand it.

What exactly does it mean? There is no set or standard commission, fee or rate dictated by federal, state or local law, real estate associations, brokerages or agents. It does not mean that an agent must negotiate their stated commission, fee or rate to represent a buyer or seller. Agents are free to offer services and set compensation requirements of their own, and buyers and sellers are free to find agents that meet their interests, needs and budgets.

Who Pays for Buyer Representation?

Contractually

The Buyer Broker agreement defines this. You are responsible for the compensation; your broker (via your agent) is authorized to negotiate for the seller or the listing broker to pay it. Whatever the listing side pays goes toward it. If a Seller Concession is offered and the listing side is paying nothing, or less than the agreed compensation, the concession is applied to your broker’s compensation before it is applied to your closing costs. Only if the listing side and the concession together still fall short do you pay the difference, at closing. And your broker cannot take more than the agreed amount from any source and must disclose to you what the listing side paid.

Reality: What Has Actually Happened

What follows is what has happened in my transactions, and I am speaking only for my own.

No buyer I have represented has paid my brokerage out of pocket. In every case the seller or their brokerage has covered payment.

What typically happens here starts before you make an offer. The listing agent tells your agent what the seller is prepared to pay toward buyer representation, so you know that number while you are still deciding what to offer. If it is less than the figure you and your brokerage agreed to in your Buyer Broker agreement, and your agent agrees to accept less, once the purchase agreement is fully executed the Buyer Broker agreement is amended to match what the seller has agreed to pay.

I do not offer any of this as a guarantee about your purchase, and you should be wary of anyone who does. There is no market-wide figure to cite: offers of compensation came off the MLS in August 2024, so no one can produce a reliable number for Naples as a whole. What I can tell you is what has happened across my own closings, which is that the thing buyers were most afraid of in 2024, writing a check to their own agent, has not so far met reality.

When the Seller Is Not Offering Enough

If you know the seller of a home you like is not offering to compensate your agent adequately, or to provide a concession toward your closing costs, you have options for getting your agent paid through your offer:

Agent compensation requirement. Your offer stipulates that the seller pays your agent’s compensation in full.
Seller Concession requirement. Your offer stipulates that the seller provides a concession covering your closing costs, or a portion of them, as a specific amount or a percentage of the price. Your agent’s compensation is a closing cost.
A reflective purchase price. You lower your offer to reflect paying your agent directly: the price you would otherwise offer, less the money needed to pay your agent.
Adding value. This is not payment to your agent, but an offset to the total cost of buying and then using the property. For example, if a home is listed unfurnished and you like the furniture and have none of your own, you can ask for it to be included. The money you set aside for furniture can then pay your agent.

Using the Seller’s Agent to Buy

Paying for representation out of pocket is not typical when I represent buyers, but it is possible: if the money is not found elsewhere, a buyer might have to pay for representation in part or in whole. That raises one of the biggest questions some buyers now have. Will a buyer pay less in total by skipping their own buyer’s agent and using the seller’s agent to buy?

To use the seller’s agent, a buyer must not need the full services of a buyer’s agent. They need no help identifying the right area, community and home; they know the specific home they want. So the fair comparison is between the seller’s agent and a limited-service buyer’s agent.
The buyer will still need to sign a Buyer Broker agreement with the seller’s agent, setting out their services and what they charge. The seller’s agent is not likely to represent a buyer for free; there is plenty of work still to be done for the buyer. A typical seller’s agent might very well charge what a typical limited-service buyer’s agent charges.
Payment for buyer representation, in part or whole, may already be agreed in the listing agreement, whether the seller’s agent or a buyer’s agent represents the buyer. A buyer who goes to the seller’s agent might have had exactly the same payment coverage using their own trusted agent.
If the seller’s agent works with the buyer too, they cannot be a single agent for both: they will act as a Transaction Broker, or have no brokerage relationship with the buyer at all. A buyer’s own agent from another brokerage can be either a Transaction Broker or a Single Agent. The services, and the commitment to the buyer, can vary considerably.
Between a seller’s agent and a limited-service buyer’s agent, both acting as Transaction Brokers, trust decides it for many buyers. Is the buyer comfortable using the agent hired to sell the home? Will the seller’s agent be fair in negotiations? Will they help the buyer through the due diligence period, including inspections and any right to have defects remedied? Or is the buyer more comfortable with an agent they hired, who works only for them?
The cost of representation is only one cost. If a buyer lowers what they pay for representation by using the seller’s agent, what does that cost them overall? Purchase price and closing costs matter a great deal, but so do the many contractual and other details that protect a buyer’s interests. If a buyer has to pay for representation, in part or in whole, the best representation might very well be worth the cost.

The fact of the matter is that a buyer will never really know whether they saved money using the seller’s agent rather than their own, or at what cost if they did. Using a seller’s agent to buy a home takes a leap of faith. It only makes sense if a buyer truly believes they will save considerable money without any other cost, financial or otherwise.

Keep in mind that procuring cause can undermine a buyer’s effort to save. A buyer who approaches the seller’s agent without representation, to find out whether they might save money, may lose the compensation on offer to a buyer’s agent if they then decide they want their own, and pay significantly more for representation.

If you are seriously considering buying without your own buyer’s agent to save money, my advice is to first consider a limited-service buyer’s agent of your own choosing. Some offer services much like a seller’s agent would, at likely similar rates. You might be much better off, financially and otherwise, with your own agent. One of my limited-service offerings is aimed specifically at buyers who would otherwise use a seller’s agent to buy. If you would like to hear more about it, please contact me.

Hiring a Buyer’s Representative

Before Buyer Broker agreements were required, many buyers had a somewhat nonchalant approach to buyer’s agents and tours. Unfortunately, many thought their choice of agent was inconsequential. (I can assure you it never was.) However you have felt about agents in the past, your choice is now more consequential than ever. The days of picking an agent willy-nilly have come to an end. You now commit to an agent through a legally binding agreement that may tie you to them exclusively and obligates you to compensate them. If you have read this chapter from the start, you know you have some very important decisions to make about how you will buy Naples real estate. Finding and hiring a highly capable and trustworthy agent is of paramount importance. If you hope to find and buy the very best home for you, one that meets your interests, needs and price as closely as possible, while being left unscathed along the way, the first thing to do is hire a great agent to help you and you alone.

How do you find a great real estate agent? You likely know I have a strong recommendation for you, but before we discuss it, please consider what follows.

Agent Credentials

Real estate agents are state-licensed professionals. REALTORS® take basic state licensing up a few notches through the requirements of National Association of REALTORS® membership: an orientation in its Code of Ethics, Code of Ethics and fair housing training every three years, strict adherence to the Code, and more. I take things further by earning and keeping the C2EX endorsement and the Accredited Buyer’s Representative designation.

Not all agents are REALTORS®, and many agents have no endorsements or specialty accreditations. These tiers of distinction let buyers and sellers alike recognize agents who are demonstrably dedicated to their profession. They are worth considering for any buyer hiring a buyer’s representative.

Agents also establish credibility and trust through the business they have done and the reputations they have earned. Agents often use ratings and testimonials to show both. (Please be aware that fake “likes” and testimonials are easy to come by.) My aim is to provide exemplary service that produces exceptional results. If you would like to read what some of the buyers and sellers I have worked with say about me, please see my testimonials.

Industry Focus

Much of the residential real estate industry is geared toward sellers, not buyers. When I took the courses required for the real estate license exam, years back, it was made clear that “if you list, you last.” There was some negativity about working with buyers, and “buyers are liars” is what many agents say to this day. Silly sayings aside, most agents prefer working with sellers. Listing properties is typically “easier,” and there is the potential for more business and a higher return working with sellers. An agent can have many listings at once, but can only work with one buyer at any given moment. Time is money, and buyers might not buy; a seller typically will sell. Because of all this, there is a dearth of truly expert buyer’s agents.

Real estate websites are almost exclusively focused on selling property. Most are designed to advertise listings for sellers and their agents, not to help buyers. The large national sites that do have features useful to buyers are really aimed at attracting buyers so that agents, lenders, title companies and others will pay for access to them, through advertising programs offered to every kind of company that can make money in a transaction. In my view, these are really business-to-business sites. This site is different. It is business-to-consumer, and much of what it offers will not readily be found elsewhere online. This site, like my business as a whole, is aimed squarely at helping Naples homebuyers.

Naples Buyer’s Agents

Everyone knows a real estate agent in Naples, FL. In fact, they probably know many. The Naples Area Board of REALTORS® alone has over 8,000 members, and there are other local boards. For the size of Naples, that is a very large number indeed. If you own property here, your mailbox will see many postcards, newsletters and magazines advertising “your local area expert” or “top producer,” aiming to sell your home at top dollar. Finding a Naples real estate agent is very easy. Finding a great one, not so much.

In my view, the vast majority of local agents are not very experienced or dedicated to the profession. Many are part-time, retired, or not serious. I do not subscribe to the idea that transaction or sales volume makes a great agent. Some agents are very good at getting business and very poor at representing their buyers and sellers. Some do little business but are exceptional at what they do. The stories I could tell of agents doing the wrong thing could fill volumes. But I am also happy to report that there are some truly exceptional agents in the area. All said, please understand that it is much easier to find a lackluster agent than an exemplary one.

Understand buyer representation, and take your time choosing an agent to represent you. Showing up in Naples in the midst of season and hoping to find a great agent with time to spend with you is not the best option. That is rolling the dice. Before signing a Buyer Broker agreement you need to know what you are getting into and with whom. Your agent should be vetted. Discuss the services on offer, compensation and much more with an agent before you are committed to them contractually.

In Closing

I know the buying experiences customers have had with me directly, and many of their earlier experiences, which they have shared with me. I have firsthand knowledge of the other side’s experience in many transactions I have been part of. And I know of many more deals through local agents and the brokerages I have hung my license with over the years. What has become abundantly clear is that the experiences customers have with real estate agents, and the outcomes those agents largely produce, run the gamut from extremely positive to downright awful.

A real estate agent is a professional services provider. To ensure the very best experience buying real estate, the services an agent provides must be understood and agreed to. Here lies one of the many issues that used to plague the industry: the role of the buyer’s agent was unclear or misunderstood, or there was no formal agreement between buyer and agent at all. Making matters worse, many believed their choice of agent was inconsequential. Bad experiences and outcomes were inevitable. But that was then and this is now. As of August 17, 2024, we are living in a new residential real estate world.

In my view, the changes covered throughout this chapter are, overall, very positive for buyers and the agents they hire. If nothing more, we now have clarity and commitment. A buyer and a buyer’s agent must talk about the services on offer, and agree on what the agent will do in support of the buyer’s goals. Buyers sign Buyer Broker agreements, committing themselves to the agent who helps them. Buyers know what their agent will do; buyer’s agents know they have a committed buyer. These are welcome developments. With the good comes the bad, though: buying real estate is more complicated than ever. There are many turns that require careful navigation, and buyers need to understand their options and the potential consequences of every decision.

I have tried to give you the basics of what you need to know about buyer representation today, in a way that is useful to you. There is much more to know about buying real estate, but one thing you should know at this stage is that so very much depends on you. You, the buyer, call the shots. How you are legally represented is your decision, and so is whether you hire your own agent to represent you alone. You have more responsibility than ever for seeing your real estate dreams realized and protecting your own best interests. All said, a great real estate agent will provide the advice and guidance you need to best ensure your success.