Did you know that Georgia State Law requires you to sign an Exclusive Buyer Brokerage Agreement when working with a real estate agent? Signing this allows you to establish an agency relationship with your real estate agent. The agreement must be in writing and it creates a client relationship between you, the buyer and the broker.

If you wish to not sign this agreement, you will be treated as a customer.  There is a big difference between the level of service provided when you are acting as a client and when you are acting as a customer.  If you are a customer, the real estate agent can simply provide ministerial acts such as giving you the names of vendors, writing the purchase and sale agreement and giving you the comparables for homes which are presently listed and those which have sold over the last 12 months in a specific neighborhood (which is actually public information).  The agent should always disclose material defects that are known to them, whether there is an agency agreement or not.   

In a client relationship, the agent can give you his or her advice and counsel, point out reasons not to buy a house, help the buyer develop a negotiating strategy, help them decide what price to offer based on a Comparable Market Analysis, and keep the buyer information confidential, except as required by law.  In other words, when you have a client relationship, agents can use their “minds” and give advice, as opposed to a customer relationship, where the agent can simply use their “hands and their feet” performing ministerial acts. 

It is for this reason that we strongly suggest that you have representation when purchasing a home.  This is something that you should discuss with your Jenny Pruitt agent at the start of your home search.