US Property: Buying a home in Florida

Types of Real Estate Agents

We want you to understand the various professional relationships involved in real estate transactions before you make contact with Florida estate agents. You have an option to use buyers agents who are paid out of the seller’s agents commission. This is only available to you where other real estate agents have not already done work to bring about the sale. Further information is set out below:

The term “real estate agent” is a broad one, applied to anyone licensed to assist in the sale or purchase of Florida property. Real estate agents usually are independent sales workers who provide their services to a licensed real estate broker on a contract basis. In return, the broker pays them a portion of the commission earned from their sale of the property. The broker lays claim to sales commission in one of two ways:

• A “Single Agent” relationship, where the broker/agent is appointed by and represents a seller or buyer but never both. Both Sellers Agents and Buyers Agents will normally look to the seller for their fee.
• In a “Transactional” relationship, where there is in fact no agency relationship. In this relationship, the broker/agent is normally appointed and paid by the seller and has no duty of loyalty or confidentiality to either buyer or seller. Many real estate agents will only operate as transactional agents and under Florida law all agents are deemed to operate as transactional agents unless some other relationship is established in writing.

Transactional and Seller’s agents may offer attractive incentives to deal directly with them. If you wish to engage a buyer’s agent you should instruct the agent before viewing properties with a transactional or seller’s agent. Some buyer’s agents are Exclusive Buyer’s Agents (EBA) because they only work with home buyers and do not operate at all as seller's agents.

Some real estate agents call themselves “realtors,” which means they are also members of the National Association of Realtors® and subscribe to its code of ethics. Florida realtors also are members of the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR). To see if a particular individual holds the required Florida license, click here.

Whomever you choose to work with for your purchase, you should not assume that any real estate broker or sales associate represents you unless you agree in writing to engage in an authorized brokerage relationship. Notwithstanding that the law requires real estate licensees to provide you a Transaction Broker or Single Agent Notice, many real estate agents fail to provide either notice. Unless you have retained the services of a buyer’s agent, don’t disclose any information you want to keep confidential. Please note that most agents act as Transactional Brokers but may refer to themselves as being buyers agents when this is not in fact the case.

With the help of Bennetts advice, finding the U.S. home of your dreams can be a less stressful experience.