So I’m at a wedding this weekend and a young friend asks how much it would cost to put me on retainer to buy a house. I explained to him how in the State of Indiana, in almost all residential purchases the buyer can receive free representation and choose their own real estate agent. If you’ve never bought a house, then odds are that you’ve never sold a home…

A seller will (and should) normally hire a Realtor or Real Estate Agent to assist them in marketing and negotiating the sale of their home. We’ll call this Agent the “Listing Agent”, they will then market the property with a main focus on the local property listing system. [Side Note- Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors (MIBOR) recently decided to change the name of our local system from MLS (Multiple Listing System) to BLC (Broker Listing Cooperative). I'll discuss this topic on another post.] The seller and the Listing Agent will agree on a price for services upon the effective sale of the home. What you need to understand at this point is that the Listing Agent will use a portion (normally half, sometimes more, sometimes less) of those funds to attract other agents. If the Listing Agent finds the buyer for the property then they keep the entire agreed amount (which can be different that if another agent brings the buyer).