(In all cases, please refer to Buying and Selling a Home in SD - A Consumer Guide, published by the SD Real Estate Commission.)
The Buyer Broker Agreement
· Until a person buying real estate hires an agent to represent them they are not entitled to the fiduciary duties an agent owes their client. These fiduciary duties include obedience, loyalty, full disclosure, confidentiality, accounting, and reasonable care.
· As the consumer guide states on page seven:
o A buyer agency [broker] agreement is a written contract between you and a responsible broker whereby you become a client of the broker and the real estate [agent] you selected. This agreement employs the [agent] to seek a particular type of real estate, within a certain geographic area, during a given time, for which service you agree on the amount and method of compensation to be paid. Keep in mind that the brokerage fee is negotiable when entering into a buyer agency agreement
· If the property being looked at is listed in the multiple listing service (mls), the buyers’ agent’s commission may be covered, in part or in whole, by the seller.