Why A Licensed Real Estate
Agent Should Represent You

The licensed real estate agents at DMS Properties, LLC Residential Real Estate Services represent people with real estate transactions in Maryland.  All Maryland real estate brokerage companies work under laws enforced by the Maryland Real Estate Commission (MREC).  Some of those laws discuss how we interact with the public.  Maryland Realtors (our State Association) writes most of the forms that we use.  One of these forms is the Exclusive Right to Represent the Buyer/Tenant Agreement.  It is used when a potential buyer or tenant customer wants to be represented by a licensed real estate agent.  Once a customer signs the agreement, we represent them and they become a client.  A client who wants to see a property that we have listed for sale or for rent must also sign the Consent for Dual  Agency Disclosure.

We highly recommend that anyone who is interested in buying or renting real estate in Maryland be represented by a licensed real estate agent.  You may want to read Why You Need a Trusted Real Estate Professional in Your Corner.  It explains the reasons that consumers should be represented by a real estate agent.

Highlights of the Agreement

• Paragraph 3 authorizes our agent to represent a buyer or tenant.  It also specifies the type of property you want to buy or rent.  
• Paragraph 4 outlines the terms and rights of all parties.  It includes the start and end date of the agreement.  You should discuss the term of the agreement with the agent and it should be based on your needs.  We can execute an agreement to represent you with a term of as long as 90 days and as short as 24 hours.
• Paragraph 5 outlines the buyer or tenant responsibilities.  Those include working exclusively with one specific agent.  It is never a good idea for a buyer or tenant to jump from agent to agent.  It also includes sharing financial information that is necessary for buying or renting a property.  There is also information about “Coming Soon” listings.
• Paragraph 6 outlines the Agent’s responsibilities towards the buyer or tenant client.
• Paragraph 7 outlines the compensation that the buyer or tenant client will pay to the agent.  In Maryland, most commissions are paid to agents by the seller or landlord.  This is accomplished with Broker cooperation through our regional MLS.  All commissions are paid to the Broker at DMS Properties, LLC Residential Real Estate Services.  They are then passed on to the agent by the Broker.  For purchases of a property, the compensation that we charge is the greater of 2% of the purchase price or the MLS co-op compensation offered.  For rental properties, the agent compensation is the greater of $100 or the MLS co-op compensation offered.  In the vast majority of cases, though, the buyer/tenant client owes no commission to the agent.  We will alert you whenever a property you want to see is offering compensation that is less than what is in the Exclusive Right to Represent the Buyer/Tenant Agreement.  You then have the option to opt out of that property to avoid paying the commission yourself.

Explanation of How Compensation Works

Many people get turned off by the compensation discussed in Paragraph 7 above and will refuse to execute this agreement.  That puts them at an immediate disadvantage!  That’s because without this agreement in place when we take you to see a property, we are actually representing the interests of the seller.

Here’s an example of how the compensation really works.  Let’s assume you are interested in buying a $100,000 home.  Under the Exclusive Right to Represent the Buyer/Tenant Agreement, you would be responsible for a commission to our agent of $2,000.  Let’s also assume that the MLS co-op commission is 2% of the purchase price ($2,000).  That means that you would owe our agent nothing because the seller is paying the entire commission.

Please don’t hesitate to Contact Us if you have questions about this agreement.  We will gladly explain it to you in greater detail.