How to Choose a Buyer’s Agent in Texas

What a buyer’s agent does for you

A buyer’s agent represents your interests, not the seller’s, from your first search through closing. Good representation includes:

• Planning: clarifying your goals, timing, and budget
• Local insight: comparing neighborhoods, commutes, and costs
• Showings: scheduling tours and pointing out issues
• Pricing: running comparable sales before you offer
• Offers: preparing contracts and negotiating terms
• Deadlines: tracking the option period and contract dates
• Coordination: working with your lender, title company, and inspectors
• Closing: keeping you informed through funding and keys

An agent can’t give legal or tax advice. They can explain how common transactions work and tell you when to talk with an attorney, lender, or tax professional.

Texas rules every buyer should know

Information About Brokerage Services

Texas requires brokers and agents to give you the Information About Brokerage Services (IABS) form at the first substantive conversation about a specific property. It explains the ways a brokerage can work with you and the duties owed in each role. You’ll also find it linked in the footer of every page on this website.

A written agreement before showings

Under Texas Occupations Code §1101.563, which took effect January 1, 2026, a license holder working with a prospective buyer of residential property must have a written agreement with the buyer before showing any home. If no home is shown, the agreement must be in place before an offer is presented. The agreement must spell out:

• the services the license holder will provide;
• when the agreement ends;
• whether it’s exclusive or non-exclusive; and
• the amount or rate of compensation and how it’s determined, along with a conspicuous statement that compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable.

Representation vs. showing-only agreements

Read any agreement before you sign it. Look closely at the term, whether it’s exclusive, how compensation works if a seller doesn’t contribute, and how either side can end it.

How buyer’s agents are paid

Your written agreement states what your broker will be paid and how. Compensation isn’t set by law. It’s negotiated between you and the brokerage. When you make an offer, you can ask the seller to contribute toward your agent’s compensation. The current Texas resale contract has a separate section for that request. The seller may agree, offer less, or decline, so understand what you’d owe in each case. Representation is never automatically free.

See how this works in an offer in how to make an offer on a home.

What if the same brokerage represents the seller?

If you want to buy a home listed by your own agent’s brokerage, Texas allows the broker to act as an intermediary, but only with written consent from both buyer and seller. With that consent, the broker may appoint different agents to work with and advise each side. An intermediary must treat both parties fairly and can’t share certain confidential information, such as how much more you’d be willing to pay. Ask how your brokerage handles this before it comes up.

Questions to ask before you choose an agent

• How long have you been licensed, and how many buyers have you helped?
• Which DFW areas and property types do you know best?
• How and how often will you communicate with me?
• Who handles showings when you’re unavailable?
• What does your written agreement include, and how long is the term?
• How is your compensation set, and what if the seller doesn’t contribute?
• How do you approach competitive offers?
• Can you recommend lenders and inspectors? Am I free to choose my own?

For your own planning. Checking items doesn’t send anything to Clever Realtors.

Red flags to watch for

• Pressure to sign an agreement before you’ve read it or had your questions answered.
• Vague answers about compensation, or claims that representation is “free.”
• Promises about winning a bidding war, a specific price, or a guaranteed timeline.
• A license you can’t find on the TREC license-holder search.
• Slow or inconsistent communication early on. It rarely improves under deadline pressure.