Buyer Representation
Why use a buyer’s agent?
The agent on the listing works for the seller — by contract, by law, and by every instinct of the job. Walk into a deal without your own representation and you’re negotiating against a seasoned professional, alone. A buyer agent puts someone with the same training on your side of the table.
The premise
The rules changed. The stakes went up.
After the 2024 NAR settlement, buyers now sign a representation agreement before touring homes, and the commission conversation happens out loud — who pays your agent, and how much, is spelled out instead of buried in the background of the deal.
Some buyers read that and wonder if an agent is still worth it. The honest answer runs the other way. When you’re explicitly choosing and paying for representation, choosing the right agent matters more, not less. A great one earns their fee many times over in the negotiation alone. A weak one is now a line-item you can see.
So the question isn’t whether to have an agent. It’s whether yours is genuinely working for you — or whether you’ve quietly leaned on the one person in the room whose duty is to the seller.
The listing agent is very good at their job. Their job is the seller.
What you’re paying for
What a buyer agent actually does.
Finds & vets
Surfaces the right homes — including off-market and coming-soon listings you’ll never find on Zillow — and walks each one with you. With Adam’s trade background, that walk-through reads the home’s true condition, not just its staging.
Including what you can’t see online.
Negotiates
Price is only the start. Your agent negotiates repairs, closing-cost credits, contingencies, the timeline, and the terms that protect you when something turns up in inspection. This is where representation pays for itself, line by line.
Price, repairs, terms, credits.
Manages the close
Inspections, title, appraisal, financing coordination, and a calendar of deadlines that void the deal if you miss them. Your agent runs the whole machine so nothing slips between contract and keys in hand.
Inspections, title, deadlines, financing.
Side by side
Represented vs going it alone.
About the realtor
Adam Bartulis.
REALTOR® · Good Public Group at LPT Realty
Adam spent close to a decade in the trades before real estate — framing, finishing, and renovating homes with his own hands. For a buyer, that’s the edge most agents simply can’t offer: he reads a house for its true condition, the way only someone who’s rebuilt one can.
On a walk-through he’s reading the bones — settling versus structural, a cosmetic fix versus a problem that eats your budget after closing. He tells you the real number it’ll take to own the home before you write the offer, then represents you all the way through to the keys. One person, your side, start to finish.
Common questions
The honest answers.
Since the 2024 changes, do I have to pay my buyer agent now?
Sometimes the commission structure is more explicit than it used to be — who pays your agent can vary deal to deal. The good news: Adam walks you through exactly who pays what for your specific purchase before you commit, with nothing buried. And on the deals where it lands on you, he rebates a share of his commission back to you at closing.
Can’t I just use the listing agent?
You can, but understand what it means: the listing agent legally represents the seller. Their duty — getting the highest price and the cleanest terms — runs directly opposite to yours. Using them to buy leaves you with no advocate of your own at the most expensive negotiation of your life. It’s not a shortcut; it’s giving up your side of the table.
What’s a buyer-representation agreement?
It’s a short, plain agreement that says Adam represents you — your interests, not the seller’s — and spells out how he’s compensated. Since the 2024 changes, buyers sign one before touring homes. Far from a catch, it’s the document that puts your agent’s duty in writing and makes the cost transparent from day one.
What does Adam’s construction background add?
A decade in the trades means he reads real condition before you commit. Where another agent sees a tidy kitchen, he sees whether the fix behind it is cosmetic or a five-figure problem. That read shapes your offer, your inspection strategy, and your negotiation — so you’re paying for the house you’re actually getting.
What areas do you cover?
Adam works across Collin, Dallas & Denton counties — Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Prosper, and the surrounding North Texas communities. If you’re buying anywhere in that footprint, he can represent you from first showing through closing.
Buyer Representation · Begin
Have someone on your side of the table.
A short conversation with Adam — no obligation. He’ll explain how representation works for the kind of home you’re after, who pays what on your specific deal, and how he reads condition before you ever write an offer.