Buyer Agency Agreements: What Changed for Massachusetts Buyers in 2024

If you last bought a home before 2024, the first paperwork you meet this time will be new. As of 17 August 2024, under the terms of the National Association of Realtors settlement, two things changed across essentially every MLS in the country, Massachusetts included.

The two changes, plainly

1.Offers of compensation were removed from the MLS. A listing can no longer advertise what it will pay a buyer's agent through the multiple listing service. Compensation still exists and is still frequently paid by the seller — it is simply negotiated rather than published.
2.A written buyer agreement is required before touring. An MLS-participating agent must have a signed agreement with you before showing you a home. It has to state the agent's compensation in a specific, objective amount — not "whatever the seller offers".

Neither change altered what a buyer's agent does. Both changed when the money conversation happens: it now happens at the start, in writing, instead of being assumed.

What the agreement must contain

A specific amount or rate. A percentage, a flat fee, or an hourly rate. "Whatever is offered" is not permitted.
A ceiling. The agent may not receive more than the amount you agreed to, even if a seller offers more.
A term. How long the agreement runs.
Its scope. Which properties, which geography, whether it is exclusive.

The questions worth asking before you sign

How long does this run? Ask for a term you are comfortable with. Thirty or sixty days with the option to renew is entirely reasonable for a first agreement; a year is a long commitment to someone you have just met.
Can I limit it to specific properties or a specific town? Often yes.
How do I end it if this is not working? Get the exit in writing.
What happens if the seller offers less than my agreed rate, or nothing? This is the important one. The gap is yours to cover unless the agreement says otherwise, and it can be negotiated as part of your offer on any given house.
Is there a protection period? Some agreements say that if you buy a home you were shown during the term, the fee is owed even after the agreement ends. Know the length of that tail.

Who pays the buyer's agent now?

In practice, in Massachusetts, sellers still commonly pay it — but it is now a negotiated term of your offer rather than a published promise. Your agent asks the listing side what they are prepared to contribute, and if there is a shortfall against your agreement, you can:

ask the seller to cover it as a term of the offer,
fold it into the price and finance it as part of the purchase, or
pay the difference at closing.

Which of those works depends on the deal and on how competitive the round is. It should be discussed before you write an offer, not discovered at the closing table.

Does this make it cheaper to buy without an agent?

Rarely, and not for the reason people expect. A seller who is not paying a buyer's agent has no obligation to hand you the savings, and in a multiple-offer situation they will not. Meanwhile the listing agent works for the seller and cannot advise you — that is the definition of their duty, not a failure of character. You would be negotiating against a professional with a fiduciary duty to the other side, on the largest purchase of your life, with no one running the inspection strategy or the contingency deadlines for you.

If you go unrepresented, budget for a real estate attorney from the start and expect to do the market analysis yourself.

What this means if you are just starting out

Nothing about the change should stop you touring homes. It means one conversation happens earlier than it used to, and it is a better conversation than the one it replaced — an agent who cannot explain in plain terms how they are paid is telling you something.

Ask for the agreement in advance, read it away from the property, and negotiate it. It is a contract, and it is negotiable like any other.

If you want the rest of the sequence, the buyer's guide sets out the whole path from pre-approval to keys, and choosing a real estate agent covers what to actually evaluate before you sign with anyone.

This describes the standard practice that followed the 2024 settlement as it applies in Massachusetts as of 2026. It is not legal advice, and individual brokerage agreements differ — read the one in front of you.