Why this matters: The Buyer Representation Bonus Training™ is available to current and future firsttuesday students without charge. It is designed to support a long-delayed enhancement in consumer protection.
The Bonus Training contains everything brokers and agents need to operate successfully in the new paradigm — the buyer representation mandate in 2025 and beyond. An all-encompassing e-book, fully-acted videos and rewritten representation forms compliant with California’s public policy enactment.
Exclusively Californian — specifically firsttuesday.
Clarity for California licensees
California brokers and agents are now complying with newly enacted legislation affecting how:
- licensees represent buyers in California real estate transactions; and
- buyer broker fees are negotiated and set.
You’ve likely already encountered a lot of noise on this topic — breathless commentary from old-guard practitioners, missives from the Department of Real Estate (DRE) and endless conjecture by all levels of authority at industry social functions.
Yes, the buzz is certainly out there. However, the outsized volume of the buzz drowns out a more subtle truth — the change itself is deceptively simple.
Let us explain.
What has changed is singular — fee discussions between clients and licensees have been bifurcated. The fees paid by the seller are now set separately for the buyer broker fee and the seller broker fee. Simply, the seller pays the amount each broker sets as their fee, separately negotiated in written agreements with their respective client, called representation.
How fees are negotiated has changed. Who pays the fees and how they are paid has not.
But “simple” does not mean “unimportant.”
Hardly.
The use by a buyer broker of a signed representation agreement entered into as soon as practicable (ASAP) with every consumer seeking to acquire an interest in any type of real estate is now mandatory — or no fee is due the buyer broker.
The Buyer Representation Bonus Training™ package is now available — at no cost — to firsttuesday students. Whether you’re already enrolled in courses or are soon to enroll, you will have access for the full Buyer Representation Bonus Training™ from within your Student Homepage, separate from your required real estate licensing or renewal coursework.
The Buyer Representation Bonus Training™ is a multi-media powerhouse, consisting of:
- digital text written by our on-staff team of California real estate licensees;
- scripted and fully-acted video which makes the concepts easily understandable and engaging;
- 100% compliant buyer representation forms to use with buyer-clients, one for individuals and one for entities;
- audio definitions to help cement the concepts in your memory;
- interactive Knowledge Check questions to help to test your level of comprehension (and have some fun);
- marketing materials for client assistance to help you respond fully to buyer-client questions with clarity and confidence; and
- a full-color companion e-book which pulls all our related writings together in one place. [See RPI e-book Buyer Representation Bonus Training™]
The Buyer Representation Bonus Training™ will be updated continuously throughout 2025 with more writings and videos as our content creation team generates it. Rest assured, we’ll email all currently enrolled students when further upgrades are posted.
Take a peek
The Buyer Representation Bonus Training™ features the following topics:
- the origin of the “same-percentage, same-split” industry custom now unwound by legislation;
- the contents of the newly-mandated buyer representation agreement, also called a BRA;
- the critical rules surrounding retainer periods, and how buyer representation is extended or modified; and
- your practical use of buyer representation forms depicted through various sample transactions and scenarios.
And again, the addition of further buyer representation topics — and they are out there — will be posted just as fast as we are able to finalize them. Change always brings questions. Do let us know with your comments what issues you believe ought to be covered.
The Buyer Representation Bonus Training™ is the ultimate boost to any California licensee’s working knowledge in 2025 — and available as a free service to firsttuesday students.
Not a firsttuesday student yet? Enroll in our Become an Agent, Become a Broker and Continuing Education courses at www.firsttuesday.us!
Related video:
Glossary terms
Below is a preview of the Buyer Representation Bonus Training™ glossary terms.
Listen and read for best retention.
arbitration — A form of dispute resolution voluntarily agreed to in real estate purchase agreements authorizing a third-party arbitrator to issue a binding award.
Arbitration was born with the intent to save on court and attorney costs, expedite the dispute resolution process and improve the efficiency of the real estate marketplace. However, in practice, arbitration no longer meets these objectives and lacks control for arbitrator compliance with real estate law as arbitration awards are final, unappealable, and errors cannot be corrected by a court of law. The process is generally considered an anti-consumer relic from the 1970s.
buyer broker — A broker licensed by the Department of Real Estate who enters into a buyer representation agreement with their buyer-client. A “buyer broker” is sometimes unnecessarily referred to in the possessive as a “buyer’s broker.”
buyer representation agreement — The employment of a real estate broker by a buyer of real estate as their exclusive advisor and representative authorized to locate and buy property for a fee set as negotiated, earned on acceptance of a purchase agreement offer and paid by the seller through escrow.
As an exclusive employment not open to competition with other brokers, the buyer broker agrees to exercise due diligence in the performance of their services. A buyer representation agreement, also known as a BRA, was formerly referred to as a buyer’s listing agreement.
“Representation” in the context of real estate also means “employment,” “agency,” and “retainer.”
“Agreement” is associated with the words “contract,” “commitment” and “promise.”
buyer’s acquisition cost sheet — A worksheet used by the buyer broker to estimate the buyer’s total expenditures for acquiring a property and the amount and source of funds needed to close. No broker fee is itemized for payment by the buyer, as purchase-agreement fee provisions call for the seller to pay the agreed fee earned by the buyer broker.
diligence — The concerted and continuing efforts of an agent employed as an exclusive representative of a buyer or seller to meet their client’s objectives. The term “diligence” originates from 14th-century French, meaning “attention,” “care,” “haste” and “speed.” Likewise, “due diligence” has been used in the context of law and business since the late 18th century, specifically regarding the mitigation of liability and risk in transactions.
dual agency — The agency relationship imposed on a broker who has undertaken employment by both the buyer and the seller in a real estate transaction, concurrently owing fiduciary duties to both consumers. A dual agency relationship creates a conflict of interest for the dual agent, which is to be disclosed and consented to by both clients before the broker renders further service to either one in the same transaction.
entity — A person other than an individual, such as a corporation, real estate investment trust, limited liability company or partnership. When a broker is employed by an entity, the expiration period for the representation may be for whatever duration the broker and entity-client negotiate.
fee — Compensation earned by a real estate licensee for providing real estate services.
Related, a “contingency fee” is an incentive-based fee paid on successfully completing or hitting certain benchmarks, or received as compensation on the occurrence of an event such as the closing of a contemplated transaction.
“Fee” in the context of real estate also means “earnings,” and is analogous to the unprofessional and archaic word “commission.”
multiple listing service (MLS) — A database of properties listed as available for sale by a seller broker. To post listings and access an MLS database to be competitive in real estate, a licensee needs to subscribe to the MLS. An active licensee does not need to be a member of the trade association to access the MLS.
price fixing — Competing real estate licensees may not, by agreement or conscious parallelism, charge the same fee for real estate services by implying a “standard” fee exists which is not negotiable. Price fixing is a violation of state and federal antitrust laws and is now avoided as each broker negotiates the amount of their fee with their client before entering into representation agreements and rendering services.
retainer period — The agreed period of a broker’s representation of their client. When the buyer-client is an individual, not an entity, the retainer period may not exceed three months from the date the representation agreement is entered into. For clients who are entities, the retainer period may be for whatever duration the broker and client negotiate.
seller broker — A broker licensed by the Department of Real Estate who enters into a seller representation agreement with their seller-client. A “seller broker” is sometimes unnecessarily referred to in the possessive as a “seller’s broker.”
seller’s net sales proceeds — A worksheet used by the seller broker to estimate their seller’s receipts on closing a sale of their property based on the asking price or purchase price under consideration after all costs of the sale and mortgage payoffs are deducted from the gross proceeds. Broker fees are listed as one of the itemized transaction cost on the seller’s net sheet.
