A Buyer Representation Agreement (BRE), formerly called a "Buyer-Broker Agreement," is an employment contract that spells out the duties and responsibilities of the REALTOR® to the prospective buyer, and vice versa.  It describes the kind of properties that buyer is interested in viewing and lists the homes that the REALTOR® is showing or making known to the buyer.  The form specifies that the REALTOR® who spends time to show the homes will be responsible to write up the offer when the buyer is ready to make an offer. 

Signing the Buyer Representation Agreement does not mean that the buyer has to buy from the homes shown if their criteria or goals have changed.  But it does indicate a commitment to the realtor that the buyer is not frivolously asking to be shown around town.  The Buyer can always change their search criteria by informing the real estate agent. 

A REALTOR® may or may not charge a fee at the end of a specified time period for searching and showing homes.  Some REALTORS® charge a fee to recover their gasoline costs and time in the event the buyer ends up not buying any property after being shown an extremely huge number of homes.  The fee is waived if the buyer buys a home.  The amount of fees charged, if any, may vary with the price of homes and difficulty of locating a home specified by the buyer.  That fee has to be specified in the contract and the buyer should be given a copy of the signed agreement.  Smart homebuyers almost always would want a Buyer Representation Agreement because that is the only way they can make the REALTOR® devote priority time to do home searches and preview homes for them.