One Buyer's Experience With a Tricky Broker

The Contract at the Front Door

A recent article from Moneywise, drawing on Business Insider's reporting, describes exactly this scenario. Since the National Association of Realtors settlement took effect in August 2024, agents are required to have a written agreement with a buyer before touring a home. That rule was meant to protect buyers by making costs and services transparent. But in practice, some buyers are being handed surprise contracts on the doorstep of the very first house they visit — and some of those contracts contain terms no one explained.

One buyer profiled in the story signed an agreement at her first showing. When she later tried to switch agents, she learned she couldn't: the contract locked her into that agent exclusively for a full year. It got worse. If her family decided to rent instead of buy during that year, the agreement obligated her to pay the brokerage a month's rent plus nearly a thousand dollars in fees. A real estate attorney quoted in the piece called the practice of springing these contracts on buyers at the threshold "amazingly unfair and dishonest."

He's right. And if you're shopping for a home in California, here's what you need to know.

The Rule Is Real. The Pressure Tactics Are Not Required.

Yes, an agent generally needs a written agreement with you before touring a home. What the rules do not require is that the agreement be exclusive, long-term, or signed under pressure at the front door with no time to read it.

There's a wide spectrum of agreements that satisfy the requirement:

• A single-property showing agreement — covers one house, one visit. That's it.
• A short-term, non-exclusive agreement — you can tour with this agent and still work with anyone else you choose.
• A full exclusive buyer representation agreement — appropriate after you've met an agent, evaluated their service, and decided you want to work together.

Even Zillow — whose "click to tour" buttons start many of these encounters — created its own non-exclusive touring agreement precisely because, in the company's own view, demanding a long-term exclusive commitment from a buyer before they've even met the agent is premature. When the largest real estate portal in the country says you shouldn't have to sign an exclusive contract just to see a house, believe it.

California Buyers Have Extra Protection

Here's something the national coverage often misses: the year-long lockup described in that story couldn't legally happen to an individual buyer in California today.

Under Assembly Bill 2992, which took effect January 1, 2025, a buyer-broker representation agreement with an individual buyer in California:

• Cannot last longer than three months. Period. (The exception is for corporate and LLC buyers.)
• Cannot renew automatically. Any renewal must be a new writing, dated and signed by everyone — and it's also capped at three months.
• Must spell out the essentials in plain terms: how the broker is compensated and by whom, what services you're getting, when compensation is due, and how the agreement can be terminated.

Five Things to Do Before You Sign Anything

1. Ask for the agreement in advance. Any legitimate agent will email it to you before the showing. Read it at your kitchen table, not on a doorstep.
2. Look for the word "exclusive." Exclusivity means that agent may be owed compensation on a home you buy even if someone else finds it for you.
3. Check the term and the territory. How long does it last? Does it cover one property, one neighborhood, or every home in the county?
4. Find the compensation clause. How much, paid by whom, and under what conditions? Everything here is negotiable — the law requires it to be spelled out, not that you accept whatever's printed.
5. Find the exit. How do you terminate if it's not a fit? If there's no clear answer, don't sign.

Want to See a Home Without Getting Locked In? Call Me.

I've been a licensed California real estate broker for more than 35 years. Here's how I handle this: if you want to see a property, I'll show it to you under a simple, short-term, non-exclusive agreement — the minimum the rules require, in plain English, sent to you before we meet so you can read every word. No year-long commitments. No surprise fees. No contract ambush at the front door.

If we work well together, we can talk about a fuller relationship — after you've had a chance to evaluate what I bring to the table, not before. That's how it should work.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice. Agreement requirements vary by state and change over time; consult a professional about your specific situation.