@Anonymous wrote:My wife and I plan to move in October or so from Phoenix to Ft. Myers/Cape Coral area. We plan to buy a house. I have two real estate agents sending me MLS listings. I sent an email to both asking with whom do they work. Do they work with the buyer or the seller. I heard back today from one of them and she said she is a "transaction broker" and she works for the "contract". What does that mean? I am not familiar with this term. It sounds like my wife and I will need to negotiate ourselves the selling price, discounts, and the lending broker, etc. with no help from her. Is this correct? Is this the new way real estate agents work, or is unique to Florida? If that is so, I really don't need an agent or at least pay a reduced commission to her. I want an agent who will negotiate with either the seller or his/her agent for the best deal in my interest. Is that asking too much? Does that not apply? We have purchased 5 homes over the years and have never run into this before. Any information would be appreciated.
Florida law presumes that every agent is a transaction broker (as of 2003) unless your agent signs a single agency agreement or no representation agreement with you in writing. You can actually change the representation to a "single agent" if that is what you prefer. Those are the only two types of representation we have here in Florida (other than no representation).
Here is a link to a good definition of the two types of representation: http://saadlegal.com/real-estate-qa-single-agent-vs-transaction-broker/
It does not mean that you have to negotiate the purchase yourself at all. There are still negotiations for discounts and credits. Yes, the negotiations are on your behalf to get the best deal for you. The negotiations can be quite spirited too 
This form of representation has been here for many, many years If you are more comfortable working with a " "single agent" ask the agent to change the representation. If that agent won't change it, find one that will. There is a standard form for the agent to change from a transaction type agent to a single agent. Please note: if you are working with the listing agent of a particular property and that is the property you want - the agent will have to go back to a transaction type representation.
By the way, you don't pay any commission unless you sign a buyers agreement. Then the terms are defined in the buyers agreement. The seller pays the commission. It does NOT mean that the agent works for the seller at all. The source of payment has nothing to do with the representation of the customer/client. We do not have subagency representation here at all,
Ask your Realtor to go into detail with you. Read the link so you know your options.
