Buyer’s agents in Canada
A buyer’s agent is a licensed real estate agent who represents you, the buyer, rather than the seller: they search for homes with you, research what comparable homes sold for, write and negotiate your offer, and steer the file through conditions to closing. Their duties of loyalty and confidentiality run to you, which is the practical difference between your own agent and the agent who listed the house.
The agents listed here work with buyers across Canada. The terms of that relationship, including what the brokerage is paid and by whom, are set out in a buyer representation agreement that you sign before the work begins.
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Are you an agent? List here freeThe buyer representation agreement
A buyer representation agreement is the contract between you and the agent’s brokerage. It sets out the area or type of property it covers, how long it lasts, the services the brokerage will provide, how the brokerage is paid, and what happens if you buy a property during the term without them. Provincial rules and CREA’s rules for its members increasingly require that agreement to be in writing before an offer is made.
Read the term and the scope before you sign. A short term and a narrow scope, one city, one property type, leave you free to change agents if the relationship does not work. Ask what happens to the obligation to pay if you buy privately, from a builder, or through another agent after the agreement ends; many agreements carry a holdover period.
Who pays the agent’s commission when you buy a house
In most resale purchases the seller agrees, in the listing agreement, to pay a commission to the listing brokerage, and the listing brokerage offers to share part of it with whichever brokerage brings the buyer. That shared amount is how buyer’s agents have usually been paid, which is why many buyers never write a cheque to their agent.
The buyer representation agreement says what your brokerage expects to earn. If the amount offered through the listing is less than that, the agreement says whether you pay the difference, whether it can be negotiated into the offer, or whether the brokerage accepts the lower figure. Commission is negotiable, and nothing in law fixes it; ask how the agent is paid before you start viewing homes, not when you are about to sign an offer.
Making an offer: conditions, deposits and bidding wars
An offer is a written agreement of purchase and sale with a price, a deposit, a closing date and any conditions. Common conditions are financing, a home inspection, review of condo documents and, where relevant, sale of your current home. A conditional offer gives you a fixed number of days to satisfy each condition or walk away; the seller can accept it, reject it or counter.
In competitive markets, sellers may set an offer date and review several offers at once. Buyers are then tempted to drop conditions to compete. A firm offer without a financing condition or an inspection is binding, and if your lender’s appraisal comes in low or the inspection would have found a problem, the risk is yours. A good buyer’s agent will tell you plainly what you are giving up, and help you get a mortgage pre-approval and a pre-offer inspection done first where that is possible.
The rules on what a seller’s agent may disclose about competing offers differ by province. Ask your agent how the offer process works locally before you are in one.
Common questions
Do I need a realtor to buy a house?
No. You can buy without an agent, dealing directly with the seller or the listing agent, and have a real estate lawyer (a notary in Quebec) handle the transaction. What a buyer’s agent adds is representation: someone obliged to act in your interest on price, conditions and negotiation. If you go without one, the listing agent still represents the seller, not you.
What is a buyer representation agreement?
It is the written contract between you and a brokerage that sets out what the brokerage will do for you, for how long, in which area, and how it will be paid. It replaces the informal arrangements that used to be common, and it is the document to read most carefully at the start, because it decides what you owe if you buy.
How is a buyer’s agent paid?
Usually from the commission the seller pays the listing brokerage, which is shared with the buyer’s brokerage. Your agreement says what your brokerage expects, and whether you pay any shortfall. The amount is negotiable and varies; get it in writing before you start.
Can the listing agent also represent me as the buyer?
Rules vary by province. British Columbia largely prohibits one agent acting for both sides. Ontario allows it only with informed written consent from both parties, and other provinces set their own conditions. Where it is allowed, the agent cannot advocate fully for either side, so ask exactly what they can and cannot do for you before you agree.
What should I ask a buyer’s agent before signing?
How long they have worked in the area and price range you are shopping in, how they are paid and whether you could owe anything, the length and scope of the agreement, how they handle offer dates and conditions, and how often they will be available for showings. Then check their registration on your provincial regulator’s public register.