Realtors certainly will try to get you to sign an exclusivity contract as early as possible. But if you don’t sign, most will show you homes for free. Agents will talk about it like you don’t have a choice to get you to sign, though. Personally, I’d at least demand that such a contract include a cash rebate for a portion of any fees the realtor earns, and I’d want it to be limited to the transaction on a particular home. I wouldn’t sign anything that prohibits me from working with other agents on other purchases.
Not engaging a buyer's agent via a contract is a mistake, but few people understand that. If you have no buyer's agent contract, then guess who you are dealing with? The seller's agent! Yes, that very friendly person that is driving you around to see homes, who listens to your negotiating strategy, your maximum price, and your other sensitive information, is bound by agency law and their state license board to share every detail with ... the seller and their agents. (Why? Because the seller is paying all the agents.) Oh, but you say, your nice agent would not do that! Well, let's say they don't do that. Then you have what is called "undisclosed dual agency", and that gives the seller and/or you a cause of action in court. All these agency options are explained in detail in that pamphlet they shove at you on first contact, but almost no one reads or understands.
>most will show you homes for free
I'm still looking for that real estate agent that does anything "for free".
-Some- realtors will. The best ones won't; they know they're offering you more than Zillow. When I bought, our realtor was constantly hounding the seller's realtor and our own financing company to move the process forward, as well as proactively reaching out to answer our questions and in general help us feel good about the process. She also returned texts and calls promptly, and she had an arrangement with an extremely good independent home inspector, plus pretty much every kind of contractor we could need for improvements; everyone she put us in touch with was amazing. She didn't ask for exclusivity, and she absolutely didn't need it.
Meanwhile in the past when we were looking, a mediocre one tried to get us to sign an exclusivity deal that we'd agree to use him until we chose to cancel (no stipulations there at least, though legally I don't know if he could have, but still, into perpetuity unless we canceled) for -any house in the entire state-.
