If you’ve started shopping for a home in Florida recently, you may have noticed a new step before your agent can take you through a property: signing a buyer broker agreement. This isn’t a Florida-specific quirk — it traces back to a 2024 settlement between the National Association of Realtors and a group of home sellers that changed how real estate commissions are disclosed and negotiated nationwide. Florida buyers working with an agent who has MLS access are now generally asked to sign one of these agreements before touring homes with that agent.
What changed, in short: agent commissions can no longer be published on the MLS the way they used to be. Every listing used to include a compensation field showing what the seller was offering a buyer’s agent. That field is gone, which means commission is now a conversation buyers have directly with their agent, spelled out in writing, rather than something baked into the listing data. Commission rates were always negotiable in Florida, even before the settlement — what’s changed is that the negotiation now happens explicitly and up front, in a signed agreement.
What’s in the Agreement
A buyer broker agreement typically spells out what the agent will do for you (finding properties, scheduling showings, submitting offers, negotiating on your behalf), how and when they’re paid and whether that amount is negotiable, whether you’re committing to work exclusively with that agent and for how long, and how either side can cancel. Terms vary by brokerage: some agents offer a short, single-property agreement to start, while others ask for a multi-month exclusive arrangement. Both are negotiable, and it’s worth asking your agent to walk through every clause before you sign, particularly the exclusivity period and any cancellation fee.
Who Actually Pays the Commission?
One of the most common questions buyers ask is who pays their agent now. Under the new agreements, the buyer is technically responsible for their own agent’s fee. That doesn’t mean buyers are suddenly paying out of pocket at closing, though — sellers can still offer to cover a buyer’s agent commission as part of the deal, and many do, especially when they want their listing to stay attractive to as many buyers as possible. This is worth raising with your agent early, and it’s often addressed directly in the purchase offer rather than left as a surprise at the closing table.
Open houses are a bit of a gray area. Walking through an open house generally doesn’t require a signed agreement, but if you’re already under an exclusive agreement with an agent, you may still owe that agent a commission if you later buy a home you first saw at their open house. And if you’re touring homes without a dedicated buyer’s agent at all, it’s worth understanding upfront who represents whose interests in the transaction before you make an offer.
These rules now apply to essentially every buyer entering the Florida market, so it’s worth reading a buyer broker agreement closely rather than signing it on the spot — ask about the term length, the exclusivity clause, and what happens if you cancel. This article is general information, not legal advice; for questions about a specific agreement, talk with your agent or a Florida real estate attorney.