Buyer's Agency Contract (Exclusive Buyer's Agency Agreement)

A Buyer's Agency Contract — typically the BCREA Exclusive Buyer's Agency Agreement (EBAA) — is the buyer-side agency contract a BC buyer signs with a designated licensee. Under BC's designated agency model, in force since June 15, 2018, the agency relationship is between the client and the individual licensee (NOT the brokerage) — see /glossary/designated-agency. The EBAA defines (1) the buyer's designated licensee; (2) the contract duration (commonly 30-90 days, sometimes property-specific); (3) the geographic scope (e.g., "Fraser Valley" vs "Greater Vancouver" vs a specific city); (4) the commission structure, including how the buyer is to be compensated if the listing brokerage offers a commission shortfall to the cooperating licensee.

The trap most BC buyers fall into: signing an EBAA without negotiating the geographic scope or duration. A 90-day-province-wide EBAA effectively blocks the buyer from working with any other licensee in any other market for 90 days; you may need to step out of one market into another and the EBAA prevents it. Negotiate scope and duration to match your actual search. Also: most EBAAs have a "commission shortfall" clause where the buyer pays the difference if the listing brokerage offers less commission than the EBAA stipulates — read this clause carefully, and ask the licensee to walk you through the math on a hypothetical $1.5M deal where the listing brokerage offers a 2.5% buy-side commission against an EBAA stipulating 3.0%. The Disclosure of Representation in Trading Services (DORT) form (see /glossary/disclosure-of-representation-trading-services) is signed earlier than the EBAA — typically before the first showing — and is a separate document.