10 Questions to Ask Before Signing a Buyer Agreement

In Washington, the buyer agency agreement comes early — state law requires your relationship with a buyer’s agent to be in writing, typically before serious touring starts. Which creates an awkward dynamic: you’re asked to sign a binding compensation contract with a professional you may have met forty minutes ago, often in a parking lot, often presented as “just a formality so I can show you houses.”

It is not a formality. It’s the document that sets what your agent is paid and how long you’re committed. Here are the ten questions to ask before signing — with, for each, what a good answer sounds like and which answers should stop your pen.

The money questions

1. “What exactly will you be paid, and in what form?”

The agreement must state the compensation — percentage, flat fee, or hourly. Good answer: a specific number, explained without flinching. Stop your pen: “Don’t worry, the seller pays it.” That was the pre-settlement folk theory; today your agreement sets the fee and seller contributions are a negotiated deal term, not a law of nature.

2. “If the seller contributes less than your fee, do I pay the difference in cash?”

The single most consequential clause for your wallet. Good answer: a clear yes/no plus how they’d handle the gap in offer strategy. Stop your pen: an agent who can’t tell you what their own agreement says.

3. “Is your fee negotiable, and what would a lower fee change?”

You’re allowed to negotiate this like any contract — the same leverage rules as listing fees apply. Good answer: engagement with the question, even if the answer is “my fee is X because…”. Stop your pen: “That’s the standard rate.” There is no standard rate; that’s the ghost of a century-old convention talking.

4. “Does anything other than me buying a house trigger payment?”

Some agreements include retainer fees, hourly minimums, or compensation triggers short of a closed purchase. None of that is inherently wrong — uncommunicated, it is.

The commitment questions

5. “How long is the term, and can we start shorter?”

Good answer: flexibility — a single tour, a single property, or a short initial term while you evaluate each other. Stop your pen: insistence on a long exclusive before you’ve seen them work. Washington’s framework allows narrow agreements; an agent confident in their service can afford one.

6. “What’s the scope — areas, property types, exceptions?”

If you might buy new construction from a builder, or a FSBO you found yourself, ask how the agreement treats it. Scope can be narrowed in writing before signing.

7. “How do I terminate if this isn’t working, and what would I owe?”

Good answer: a clean exit path stated plainly. Stop your pen: visible discomfort. An agreement you can’t leave is an agreement the other party doesn’t have to earn.

8. “How does the protection period (tail) work?”

The tail says you owe the fee if you buy a home the agent introduced within a window after the agreement ends. Fair when limited to listed, procured properties and a reasonable window. Get the version in your draft explained — and see our clause-by-clause walkthrough for what the fair version looks like.

The loyalty questions

9. “Will you ever be on both sides of my deal?”

Ask whether the agreement pre-consents to limited dual agency — your agent or their brokerage also representing the seller. Washington permits it with consent; you should give that consent knowingly, per-situation, not in boilerplate. Understand what limited dual agency means before initialing it.

10. “Is anyone paying you, or being paid, for my business?”

Referral arrangements — from websites, relocation companies, other agents — quietly route a slice of many commissions to whoever sourced you, and they can shape which agent you were matched with in the first place. A direct question deserves a direct answer.

How to actually use this list

Don’t run it as an interrogation. Send the agreement-and-questions request the day before:

“Happy to get this in place — can you send me the agreement tonight so I can read it first? I’ll have a few questions about the fee, the term, and the tail.”

That one move changes everything: you read the contract somewhere other than a driveway, and the agent learns you’re a client who reads contracts. Good agents like these clients — clear expectations now beat disputes later. If real money or unusual clauses are involved, a Washington real estate attorney’s hour is cheap.

Two more habits: get every negotiated change into the document itself, initialed — verbal side deals about the term or the fee gap are worth the paper they’re not written on. And keep your own signed copy from day one. If you later amend the search area, extend the term, or change the fee, paper it as an addendum. The buyers who regret these agreements are rarely the ones who asked too many questions; they’re the ones who asked none and signed on a car hood.

And notice what eight of the ten questions have in common: they’re only necessary because buyer-side fees and terms aren’t published anywhere you can compare. That’s the gap Manaky Homes is built for — Greater Seattle agents publishing their fees and pricing models on a free public marketplace, so you can shortlist buyer’s agents by what they actually charge before the parking-lot moment. Join the waitlist; question 1 should be a lookup, not a negotiation opener.