Maryland guide

Maryland Buyer Agency Agreements Post-NAR Settlement: What Changed August 2024

If you're buying a home in Maryland, you'll sign a written buyer representation agreement with your agent before they take you on tours — Maryland has required this since 2016, and the August 2024 NAR settlement made it nationwide.

TL;DR

If you're buying a home in Maryland, you'll sign a written buyer representation agreement with your agent before they take you on tours — Maryland has required this since 2016, and the August 2024 settlement made it nationwide. That agreement has to spell out exactly how your agent gets paid, as a specific percentage or dollar amount, not a vague range like 'whatever the seller offers.' Your agent's pay can come from the seller's brokerage, from a seller concession you negotiate, or from you directly — but the total can't exceed what your agreement says.

Before you start — 8 things to know

  • Before your Maryland agent shows you any property, you'll sign an Exclusive Buyer/Tenant Residential Brokerage Agreement. This has been Maryland law since 2016 — it's not new from the settlement, but the settlement reinforced it nationally as of August 17, 2024.

  • The compensation amount in your buyer agreement has to be 'objectively ascertainable' — meaning a specific percentage of the sales price, a flat dollar amount, or both combined. Open-ended language like 'whatever the seller offers' or unfinished formulas aren't allowed under the August 2024 settlement rules.

  • Your agent's pay can come from three different sources: the listing brokerage offering cooperative compensation, a seller concession you ask for as part of your offer, or a direct payment from you. These can be combined — they aren't either/or.

  • Your agent can't pocket more than what your written agreement says they get paid. If the seller's side offers more than that amount, the extra has to either go back to you as a credit or trigger an amendment to your buyer agreement — your agent doesn't get a windfall.

  • Since August 2024, offers of compensation from the seller's brokerage to the buyer's brokerage can no longer appear on the or any website pulling an IDX feed from it. That info still exists — it's just shared off-MLS through brokerage websites, flyers, signs, or direct agent-to-agent communication.

  • If you're not ready to commit to one agent long-term, Maryland's standard buyer agreement can be used as a 'showing agreement' for just a single day with zero compensation. This is a legitimate way to tour a house without signing on with that agent permanently.

  • When a seller agrees to chip in toward your agent's pay through the Buyer Request for Seller's Compensation of Buyer's Broker Addendum, that concession isn't subject to the lender's Interested Party Contribution caps. That's useful because it doesn't eat into your budget for closing-cost help.

  • Compensation is negotiable — there's no standard rate set by law or by your agent's brokerage. Ask what the percentage or flat fee covers, how it changes if the seller pays part of it, and what happens if you find a home on your own.

The timeline — step by step

  1. You interview agents and pick one. Before any home tours happen, you'll review and sign Maryland's Exclusive Buyer/Tenant Residential Brokerage Agreement, which spells out the relationship and how your agent gets paid.

  2. You and your agent negotiate the compensation terms in writing — a specific percentage, flat dollar amount, or both. You can also limit the agreement to a short window (even a single day at $0) if you just want to see one house without committing long-term.

  3. Your agent starts showing you homes. To find out if a listing brokerage is offering to cover part of your agent's fee, your agent reaches out off- — through the listing brokerage's website, flyers, or a direct phone call — because the itself can no longer display that info.

  4. When you write an offer on a home, you decide how your agent's fee gets covered: through the seller's brokerage cooperative compensation, by asking the seller to contribute via the Buyer Request for Seller's Compensation of Buyer's Broker Addendum, by paying out of pocket, or some mix of these.

  5. Your offer gets negotiated and accepted. If the seller-side payment ends up higher than what your buyer agreement specifies, you and your agent amend the agreement or your agent credits the difference back to you — they can't keep the excess.

  6. At closing, your agent's compensation gets paid out according to the agreement and any seller concession you negotiated. The total your agent receives matches what's documented — no more, no less.

Common questions

Do I really have to sign something before I can just look at a house?
Yes, in Maryland you do — and it's been that way since 2016, well before the settlement made it a national rule in August 2024. The agreement can be very short, though — even a single day with zero compensation just to tour one property. So you're not locking yourself in for months unless you choose to.
Who actually pays my agent?
It depends on what you negotiate. The money can come from the seller's brokerage offering cooperative compensation, from a seller concession you request in your offer, or from you directly out of pocket — and these can be combined. Whatever the source, the total your agent receives can't exceed the amount in your written buyer agreement.
Can my agent put 'whatever the seller offers' on the agreement so we figure it out later?
No — the August 2024 settlement requires that compensation be 'objectively ascertainable and not open-ended.' That means a specific percentage of the sales price, a flat dollar amount, or both, written down before tours start. Vague language or unfinished formulas are not allowed.
Why can't I just see what the seller is offering buyer agents on Zillow or the [[MLS]] anymore?
Since the settlement took effect on August 17, 2024, offers of cooperative compensation can't be advertised on the or any site pulling an IDX feed from it. The info still exists — it's just shared elsewhere, like a listing brokerage's own website, signage, flyers, or direct conversations between agents.
What if the seller offers to pay more than what my agreement says my agent gets?
Your agent can't keep the extra. Either the buyer agreement gets amended to match the higher number, or the difference gets credited back to you. The rule is simple: your agent's total pay can't exceed what's documented in the agreement.
If I ask the seller to pay my agent, does that count against my closing-cost help from the lender?
No. When a Maryland seller agrees to compensate your agent through the Buyer Request for Seller's Compensation of Buyer's Broker Addendum, that concession isn't subject to your lender's Interested Party Contribution caps. That keeps your room for other closing-cost help intact.
Is the commission rate set by law in Maryland?
No — compensation is fully negotiable between you and your agent. There's no government-set rate and no brokerage-set rate that you have to accept. Ask what the fee covers, how it changes if the seller pays part of it, and put the answer in writing before you start touring.

Glossary

2 terms
NAR — National Association of Realtors
The national trade group for real-estate agents. The 2024 NAR settlement is the legal deal that changed how buyer's agents get paid.
MLS — Multiple Listing Service
The shared database agents use to list and find homes for sale. Most homes you'll see online started here.

Sources

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