Connectictut State Law REQUIRES that a Realtor® furnish you with a written agreement setting forth all the terms and conditions of the representation between YOU and the Realtor®. The Realtor® MUST furnish you with this agreement PRIOR to physically showing you a property that is NOT listed with the Realtor®'s Firm.

You may also be unrepresented should you wish to do so. However, you then are not entitled to the Realtor®'s confidentiality, loyalty, opinions or advice. Generally, you will not be represented if you are shown property listed with the Realtor®'s firm.

There are three basic types of representation agreements:

- Exclusive Right to Represent (Most Common)

With this representation, you are giving the real estate firm the exclusive right to represent you. There is no need for you to look at properties on your own and it may be to your disadvantage to do so. A Realtor® exclusively representing a buyer must make a diligent effort to find a property for that buyer.

- Open Right to Represent

Under this type of agreement, you are free to look at properties with other Realtor®s and directly with sellers. You are not committed to use that particular firm, and that particular firm is not committed to you as a buyer. However, keep in mind that a Realtor® under this type of agreement may have a legal obligation to bring new listings and other properties to the attention of those buyers they represent exclusively before they bring such information to buyers under an open agreement.

- Exclusive Agency Right to Represent

This type of agreement is a bybrid of the two mentioned above. Under this form of agreement, you are free to look at properties offered directly for sale by owners, but you agree to work only with the real estate firm to which you have given the exclusive agency buyer representation agreement if a property is listed with another real estate firm.

No matter what type of agreement you sign, you should inquire as to commission arrangements. Often, the property is either listed for sale by the firm or is listed for sale by another real estate firm. In such cases, either the seller or the listing broker has agreed to pay cooperating buyer agents. There are circumstances, however, where the property is not listed or is being offered for sale by its owner and no one has agreed to pay cooperating buyer agents. Under those circumstances, the buyer agent may ask you to agree to pay the buyer agent's commission. After all, no one should expect anyone to work for free. Even if you agree to pay the compensation to your agent, you may negotiate for partial or full reimbursement of the compensation from the seller.