Written by Katie Johnson, Chief Legal Officer and Chief Member Experience Officer, National Association of REALTORS®

Buyer broker agreements are important, full stop. They promote transparency and are crucial for consumer education during this critical purchase.

They increase transparency by making clear to buyers how much their agent expects to be paid. They also serve as a natural opportunity for buyer agents to educate consumers both on how compensation is typically paid and why listing brokers making offers of compensation to buyer brokers benefits both buyers and sellers. Not to mention they protect you, too.

Every real estate agent can and should use a buyer broker agreement. It benefits the consumer. It lends clarity, which benefits you. And if you’re not in one of the 12 states that requires buyer broker agreements and you ever have a chance to advocate for them, I suggest you do.

There is so much good that the Realtor family and local MLS broker marketplaces can do in raising your collective voices. It goes to the old saying: A rising tide lifts all boats. In this case, the boats are consumers and their trusted advisors.

The value real estate professionals provide consumers, guiding them through one of the most important decisions of their life, cannot be understated. Just with agents who are Realtors alone, there are 1.5 million people who embody all that is being done to ensure generational wealth through homeownership, while abiding by NAR’s Code of Ethics and exhibiting their commitment to the highest professionalism in the industry.

That’s a story worth telling. And we in this industry know how much local broker marketplaces and buyer broker agreements enable those opportunities for consumers.

At the end of the day, Realtors’ membership in NAR demonstrates their commitment to consumer advocacy. You lead as entrepreneurs, small business owners, experts and community advocates to protect consumers and create wealth.

There’s really no better story to tell than that. And there’s no better voice to give life to that story than you.