Definition
A Buyer Broker Agreement (BBA) is a contract between a homebuyer and a real estate brokerage that establishes the agency relationship (the broker represents the buyer) and sets out the terms, duration, and how the broker is compensated.
Following recent industry changes, having a written buyer agreement in place before touring homes has become standard practice in many markets.
Why it matters
The BBA binds the buyer to the agent and brokerage, not to any single property. One signed agreement can cover every home the buyer views across many showings and transactions, which is why it belongs to the relationship rather than to a property file.
Treating the agreement as owned by the contact, and reading its status through to each transaction, prevents a transaction from showing the agreement as 'missing' when the buyer has, in fact, already signed it.
Related terms
- Dual AgencyWhen one agent or brokerage represents both the buyer and the seller in the same transaction.
- Electronic SignatureA legally recognized digital signature on real estate documents, valid under the ESIGN Act and UETA.
- ContingencyA condition in a purchase contract that must be met for the transaction to proceed, such as financing, inspection, or appraisal.
In Realm a signed buyer agreement lives with the contact and is read through to every transaction, so it is never marked missing twice.