Questions to Ask a Buyer's Agent Before You Sign Anything
Questions to Ask a Buyer's Agent Before You Sign Anything
11 Questions to Ask a Buyer's Agent in Rochester, MI Before You Sign
Since 17 August 2024, buyers sign a written agreement with their own agent before touring a home. A handshake became a contract, and most buyers meet it on the day they want to see a house.
These are eleven questions to ask a buyer's agent before you sign anything in Rochester, Michigan, what a strong answer sounds like, and the answer that should slow you down.
The eleven questions, in short:
What the written agreement commits you to
Which areas and homes it covers
Term length and how to exit
How the agent gets paid
Percentage, flat fee, or capped
Homes you find on your own
New construction and builder registration
Dual agency under Michigan law
How many buyers they carry now
Their read on the local market
The plan after a lost bidding war
1. What exactly does this buyer's agreement commit me to?
A buyer's agreement is a contract between a buyer and a brokerage, not a formality at the front door. Since 17 August 2024, buyers sign one before touring a home. It sets out what the agent will do, how long that lasts, and what fee is owed from the first signature.
A strong answer walks through the document before a pen comes out and points to the compensation paragraph unprompted. Rochester realtors who do this often will hand over a copy to read at home first.
An agent who waves it off as standard paperwork, or asks for a signature in a driveway on the way into a showing, is rushing a contract. Anything unclear deserves an attorney's read first.
2. Which areas and which kinds of homes does the agreement cover?
A buyer's agreement names the area and the property types it applies to, and that scope decides where a buyer is committed. Oakland County holds more than sixty communities, so a county wide agreement covers far more ground than one written for Rochester and Rochester Hills alone.
A strong answer shows the scope on the page and explains why it is drawn that way. The Rochester Community Schools boundary crosses Rochester, Rochester Hills and Oakland Township, so a scope drawn to one city can miss part of a search.
Blank scope lines, or wording as broad as all of southeast Michigan, should get a question. Wide scope is not automatically a problem, but the reason should survive being written down.
3. How long does this agreement run, and how do I end it early?
The term and the exit are separate terms, and both are negotiable. A buyer's agreement can run for a single showing, for thirty days, or for a year, and the printed number is a starting point rather than a rule. The exit clause says who cancels and what is owed.
A strong answer offers a short term to start and explains the holdover clause. Holdover is the window after an agreement ends when a fee can still be owed on homes the agent showed. Ask for those addresses in writing.
A twelve month term presented as standard, with no willingness to shorten it, is a negotiating position rather than a rule. So is an agent who cannot say what happens in week three.
4. How do you get paid, and what happens if the seller offers nothing?
Offers of buyer agent compensation cannot be published on the MLS, so the fee written into a buyer's agreement is what governs. A seller can still offer to cover some or all of it, negotiated inside the purchase offer. If the seller offers nothing, the difference falls to the buyer.
A strong answer runs the arithmetic on a real listing, both ways: the cost if a seller concession covers the fee, and the cash owed at closing if it does not. That math belongs before an offer is written.
An agent who says the seller always pays it is working from a rulebook that changed in August 2024. So is one who says the question never comes up in Oakland County.
5. Is your fee a percentage or a flat amount, and is it capped?
A buyer agent fee can be written as a percentage of the purchase price, as a flat dollar amount, or as a percentage with a ceiling. A percentage climbs with every dollar spent, so a number that sounded fine in principle reads differently at the top of a budget.
A strong answer gives the figure both ways, as a percentage and as dollars on a home at the top of the budget, and says whether a cap is available. Commission is negotiable and is not set by law.
A fee described only as the going rate, with no dollar figure attached, is the answer to push on. So is agreeing to a cap out loud and then hesitating to write it in.
6. If I find the house myself, do I still owe you a fee?
Most buyer agreements are exclusive, which means a fee is owed on any home bought inside the scope and the term, including one the buyer found alone. That covers a listing spotted on a portal and a neighbor's house that never reached the MLS. Exclusions have to be written in.
A strong answer says yes, explains why exclusivity exists, then offers to name specific exclusions on the page. Realcomp II is Michigan's largest REALTOR-owned MLS and covers southeastern Michigan, so ask how a home never listed there gets handled.
An answer along the lines of working it out later belongs in writing before it becomes a dispute. So does a claim that exclusivity cannot be adjusted, when the exclusion lines exist for that purpose.
7. Do you have to register me with the builder at my first model home visit?
Builders often require a buyer's agent to be named at the first visit, and a buyer who tours a model home alone can find that agent shut out later. The signed agreement still applies to new construction inside its scope, so a fee can be owed on a home the builder will not pay toward.
A strong answer says to call before the first visit and offers to walk the model in person or send the registration ahead. It should also say, in dollars, what happens if the builder pays less than the agreement calls for.
An agent who has not thought about builder registration is one a buyer may end up paying twice for. A registration missed on a Saturday afternoon is rarely reversible.
8. Would you ever represent me and the seller in the same transaction?
Michigan law lets one licensee represent both the seller and the buyer, but only with the knowledge and informed consent, in writing, of both. MCL 339.2517 also states that the licensee will not then be able to disclose all known information to either party. That is the trade being made.
A strong answer explains how the brokerage handles it, whether another agent in the office would take one side, and exactly what a buyer would be asked to sign. It should name what a buyer gives up when one person holds both positions.
An agent who describes dual agency as no different from ordinary representation is skipping the part the statute spells out. Consent has to be informed, and informed means understanding what stopped being shared.
9. How many buyers are you working with right now?
Capacity decides how fast an agent can move, and speed carries weight in a fast market. A buyer's agent juggling too many active searches is slower to a Saturday showing and slower to a Sunday offer. The count matters less than what happens when two clients want the same house.
A strong answer gives a real number, says who else on the team covers showings, and names the conflict policy when two clients chase one listing in Rochester Hills.
A hedge about being busy, with no number behind it, is worth pushing on. So is a claim that two buyer clients have never wanted the same house in a fast market.
10. What is your read on the Rochester and Oakland County market right now?
A buyer agent's read on the market decides how an offer gets written. Redfin put 42.6 percent of Oakland County homes selling above list in the three months to July 2026, at a 99.9 percent sale-to-list ratio and 20 median days on market. Most homes sell near asking while a large minority go over.
A strong answer separates the county from the city. Redfin put Rochester at 16 days on market and 43.4 percent above list in June 2026, and Rochester Hills at 12 days and 53.1 percent above list in July 2026. Agents working Rochester, Rochester Hills and Oakland Township, as The Delia Group does, can name both.
A national talking point with no local figure behind it says the research stops at the state line. So does treating every Oakland County community as one market.
11. What happens when I lose a bidding war?
Losing an offer is a normal step in a competitive market rather than a failure. Redfin put 53.1 percent of Rochester Hills homes selling above list in July 2026, so being outbid at least once is common. What matters is whether the agent learns from the loss and changes the next offer.
A strong answer describes the debrief: what the winning offer looked like, whether the listing agent will share it, and what changes next time on price, terms or timing. Top realtors in Rochester will also name what they will not advise.
An agent whose only response to a loss is a higher number has one tool. Watch for pressure to waive an inspection as a default rather than a decision made with the figures in front of you.
Who Covers the Buyer Agent Fee, Four Ways
Scenario | Where it gets agreed | What the buyer pays |
Seller concession covers the full fee | Negotiated in the purchase offer, never on the MLS | Nothing toward the agent fee |
Seller concession covers part of the fee | Negotiated in the purchase offer | The gap between the concession and the fee |
Seller offers nothing | Nothing offered, the buyer's agreement governs | The full fee in the buyer's agreement |
For sale by owner, or an unrepresented seller | Asked for directly in the offer | Whatever the offer does not cover |
Offers of compensation have not been published on the MLS since 17 August 2024, so each path is negotiated in the offer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I look at a house without signing anything?
Yes, in limited situations. A buyer can attend a public open house or speak with the listing agent without signing anything, because that agent represents the seller. Since 17 August 2024, an agent working for the buyer needs a written agreement before touring a home. Touring unrepresented is possible, but nobody there works for the buyer.
Can I work with more than one buyer's agent at the same time?
It depends on the agreements. A non-exclusive agreement can allow it. An exclusive one usually does not, inside its scope and term. Signing two overlapping exclusive agreements is how a buyer ends up owing two fees on one house. Read the scope, the term and the holdover clause first.
Is a buyer's agent fee negotiable in Michigan?
Yes. Commission is negotiable and is not set by law or by any association, in Michigan or anywhere else. The percentage or flat amount printed in a buyer's agreement is a proposal from the brokerage, and so is the length of the term.
Does the buyer pay the transfer tax in Michigan?
No. Michigan's real estate transfer tax falls on the seller: $3.75 per $500 of sale price under MCL 207.525, plus $0.55 per $500 to the county under MCL 207.504 in counties under two million people, which includes Oakland. A buyer's closing costs are mostly lender and title items.
Talk to The Delia Group before you sign a buyer's agreement
The Delia Group is a Rochester, Michigan real estate team working with buyers across Rochester, Rochester Hills and Oakland Township. Buying a home in Rochester now starts with a signed agreement, and every question above can be asked before that happens. Buyers comparing the best real estate agents in Rochester can start there.
