Here’s a situation I keep hearing about. A buyer signs paperwork with an agent, looks at houses for a while, finds nothing and drifts away. A month later they call a different agent about a house, or walk into a new construction sales office and sign a contract.

Then the first agent shows up with the agreement the buyer forgot they signed, saying a commission is owed.

We talked about this on the Randal Jenkins Real Estate Hour because I keep seeing these stories from agents in real estate mastermind groups. It’s avoidable.

What changed in August 2024

After the national lawsuits over real estate commissions, the industry changed how buyer agents work. Since August 2024, an agent generally needs a written agreement with you before showing you homes. Commissions are negotiable, and offers of buyer-agent pay no longer appear in the MLS.

The result is that almost every buyer now signs a buyer broker agreement early on. Many sign it quickly and forget about it.

What the agreement covers

A buyer broker agreement spells out the relationship:

• What the agent will do for you
• Their availability for showings
• How long the agreement lasts
• How the agent gets paid, and how much

That last one matters most. These agreements commonly say that if the seller doesn’t pay your agent’s commission, you will.

Here’s how that plays out. Your agent asks the listing agent whether the seller will pay the amount in your agreement. If the answer is no, your agent comes back and asks whether you still want to see the house. That’s a polite way of asking whether you’re prepared to cover it.

Before you sign

Read it. Check the term. If it says you’re working with this agent for a year, you are, whether you’re still talking to them or not.

Ask whether you can cancel. My own buyer agreements are cancelable. Say the word and we’re done. If I haven’t found you a house, I’m not going to hold you to a piece of paper.

Not every agent works that way. Some won’t show homes without a firm commitment, and that’s their choice. You just need to know which kind you’re signing.

Sellers can ask for the same flexibility. My brother Eric’s listing agreements let a seller release him at no cost any time before the home goes pending.

If you want out

Don’t just stop answering the phone and buy through someone else. While the agreement is in force, don’t buy a house without that agent.

Ask the agent to release you, in writing. If they won’t, go to their broker. Explain what’s going on and ask to be let out. The broker may or may not agree, but that conversation is far better than a commission dispute after you’ve already bought a house. If it does turn into a dispute, talk to a real estate attorney.

A buyer broker agreement doesn’t go away just because you forgot about it.

If you’re about to start shopping and want an agreement you can walk away from, call or text me at 727-409-4663. No pressure. Straight answers.

Watch the full episode: Randal Jenkins Real Estate Hour on YouTube

Randal Jenkins
Broker-Owner, Florida Real Estate Partners
Loan Officer, American Mortgage Services, NMLS #2053417
727-409-4663 (409-HOME)

You tell your agent what you want. Three bedrooms, two baths, two-car garage, under $500,000. A list of homes comes back, and you assume that’s everything on the market.

It usually isn’t.

On the Randal Jenkins Real Estate Hour, I ran live searches in the Pasco County MLS to show how much a buyer can miss without knowing it. The numbers below are what the MLS showed when we taped in mid-July 2026. They change every day. The lesson doesn’t.

“Exactly” is not what you want

When I searched for exactly three bedrooms, two baths and a two-car garage under $500,000, I got roughly 600 homes.

But would you take a four-bedroom? Probably. Three baths? Sure. A three-car garage? Of course.

When I changed each of those to “or more,” the count jumped to more than 1,500. Same budget. Same county. More than twice the choices.

If your search uses exact matches, you’re looking at a fraction of the homes that fit your needs. Ask your agent how the search is set up.

The checkboxes are only as good as whoever filled them in

Listing agents fill out a data entry form for every MLS listing. Plenty of fields get skipped, guessed at or filled in wrong. That hides homes from buyers and costs sellers buyers they never hear about.

A few examples from the show:

• Big dogs. When I checked only the small-dog option, about 30 homes came up. Adding the larger dog sizes brought it past 700. Homes with no deed restrictions, which generally means no pet limits, added hundreds more, and that field is often left unchecked. In one community, Plantation Palms, I called the HOA for five straight days before someone confirmed there were no pet size restrictions. Not one of the other listings in that neighborhood said so.
• Horses. About 78 Pasco listings were coded “zoned for horses.” When I searched for an acre or more with agricultural-type zoning instead, I found about 195. Over half the properties that might allow a horse weren’t tagged that way.
• Gulf access. The MLS lets agents describe a canal as brackish or saltwater. Buyers looking for Gulf access tend to search saltwater. In one neighborhood where I recently listed a home, three homes with Gulf access were marked brackish. Anyone filtering for saltwater never saw them.

What to do as a buyer

• Tell your agent what you’d accept, not just what you want. “Three or more bedrooms” is a different search than “three bedrooms.”
• Ask your agent to search by the underlying facts, like acreage, zoning or no HOA, instead of relying only on checkboxes.
• Don’t trust a listing’s pet, lease or deed restriction fields. Verify with the HOA or the documents, and confirm zoning with the county.
• Know the limits of Zillow. The MLS lets agents search on far more criteria than Zillow does. Zillow is fine for browsing, but it can’t search for many of these details.

If you’re selling

Same problem, other side of the table. If your listing leaves out the details your buyer is searching for, that buyer may never see your home. Ask your agent which fields they filled in and what keywords are in the public remarks.

The MLS is more than a listing platform. It’s a buyer-matching system, and it can only match what someone told it.

If you’re shopping in Pasco or the rest of Tampa Bay and want a search built the right way, call or text me at 727-409-4663. Let’s look at your options.

Randal Jenkins
Broker-Owner, Florida Real Estate Partners
Loan Officer, American Mortgage Services, NMLS #2053417
727-409-4663 (409-HOME)

Most people who plan to buy a house aren’t buying today. They’re getting ready to buy in three months, six months, a year.

So the real question is what you should be doing right now. My answer: work on your credit, and find out what down payment assistance you qualify for. Before you look at a single house.

Eric and I covered this on the Randal Jenkins Real Estate Hour, and it’s the topic I get the most pushback on. People hear “assistance” and decide it isn’t for them.

What down payment assistance is

Down payment assistance is money from state, county, city and other programs that helps buyers with the down payment, closing costs, or both. It comes in several forms:

• Grants you don’t pay back
• Loans you do pay back, sometimes with interest, like a second mortgage
• Loans with no payments or interest due while you own the home
• Loans that are forgiven if you stay in the house a certain number of years

There’s at least one program in every county, and some areas have dozens. Here in Florida that includes programs like Florida Hometown Heroes, which has been expanded to many people working for Florida employers, and county programs like SHIP in Pasco. Rules and funding change, so check what’s open when you’re ready.

Who it helps

More people than you’d think. Eligibility usually depends on things like household income, household size, the price of the home, where it is, and sometimes your job. Many programs are aimed at first-time buyers, and that definition is often broader than people assume.

Here’s what it can look like. A couple of years ago, a client of mine bought a $280,000 home with a $65,000 grant from Pinellas County. That’s the most I’ve ever seen, and most programs are smaller, but it shows what’s possible. What matters isn’t what you pay for the house. It’s how much you have to borrow.

The misconceptions

“I don’t need it. I have money.” Maybe. But assistance isn’t a safety net for people who can’t afford a house. It can lower what you bring to closing, help you buy a little more house, or, depending on the program, help buy down your interest rate. Ask yourself: can I buy without dipping into my emergency fund or my kids’ college money? That’s where these programs earn their keep.

“It’s free money, so it’s easy.” It isn’t. You fill out applications on a platform, sometimes more than once. Some programs require a homebuyer class. You might be asked for paperwork you don’t have handy. This is a hoop-jumping contest, and the people who jump get the house.

“I’ll find the house first, then figure out the money.” This is backwards. Programs have price limits and property rules. Find out what you qualify for first, then shop for homes that fit.

Why it’s worth the effort

Run the numbers. On a $300,000 house with an FHA loan, 3.5% down is about $10,500. Add closing costs, which I estimated on the show at around $8,000, and you’re near $20,000 before you get the keys. Assistance can cut that number way down, or free up money to lower your payment for the next 30 years.

How to find out what you qualify for

Start here:

• Watch my one-hour down payment assistance webinar. It walks through how these programs work and what to expect.
• Use my down payment assistance search and application portal. You enter your information and it shows which programs you may qualify for. It’s a Realtor-sponsored platform, and you can look up a specific house to see how many programs it may qualify for.

Then talk to me. I’m a loan officer with American Mortgage Services, NMLS #2053417, and I can walk you through the results, which programs fit, and how they work with your loan. If you don’t qualify yet, I’ll tell you what to work on so you’re ready in a year or two.

Don’t shop for a house first. Shop for the money first.

Call or text me at 727-409-4663. No pressure. Straight answers.

Watch the full episode: Randal Jenkins Real Estate Hour on YouTube

Randal Jenkins
Broker-Owner, Florida Real Estate Partners
Loan Officer, American Mortgage Services, NMLS #2053417
727-409-4663 (409-HOME)

You call a Realtor. You say, “I’m pre-approved.” The Realtor says, “Great, let’s go shopping.”

That’s the usual conversation. It skips the most important question.

The question is: do you have a Loan Estimate?

This came up on the Randal Jenkins Real Estate Hour when Bill Yingling, team lead of the Yingling Group at LPT Realty, joined me. We were talking about what goes wrong for buyers, and we landed in the same place. The biggest complaints people have about buying a house usually come from two things. Nobody followed up, and the mortgage turned into a nightmare. A lot of that nightmare starts right here.

A pre-approval is not a price

A pre-approval tells you a lender is willing to lend you a certain amount. That’s it. It does not tell you what the loan is going to cost.

A Loan Estimate does. It’s a standard form lenders give you after you apply, and it lays out the interest rate, the monthly payment, the lender’s fees, any points you’re paying, and the cash you’ll need at closing. Because every lender uses the same form, you can lay two of them side by side and compare.

Here’s what most buyers are never told. Those numbers are negotiable.

The rate is negotiable. The lender fees are negotiable. You can shop the same loan with more than one lender and see who gives you the better deal. A pre-approval letter can’t show you any of that. A Loan Estimate can.

What to compare

When you have two or three Loan Estimates in front of you, look at:

• The interest rate, and whether you’re paying points to get it
• The origination and lender charges
• The estimated cash to close
• The monthly payment, including taxes and insurance

Don’t just look at the rate. A low rate with high fees can cost you more than a slightly higher rate with low fees, depending on how long you keep the loan. Ask the lender to walk you through it line by line. If they won’t, that tells you something.

And don’t let fear of your credit score stop you from shopping. Mortgage credit checks done within a short window are generally treated as a single inquiry for scoring purposes.

The surprise at the closing table

Bill made a point I agree with completely. Agents worry about the first impression. The impression that matters most is the last one.

Picture this. You’re at the closing table. The title company slides the numbers across. There’s an amount on there you weren’t expecting. Nobody warned you. Nobody helped you compare. You’re signing anyway because the moving truck is already loaded.

Who do you think that buyer blames? The Realtor, usually. And they’re not wrong to expect more.

I’ve told agents for years that our job is more like air traffic control. We’re told to stay in our lane and let the lender and title company do their thing. But when nobody is watching the fees, the buyer pays for it. Asking about the Loan Estimate early is how you avoid that.

Yes, I’m a loan officer

Full disclosure: I’m a loan officer with American Mortgage Services, and a broker with Florida Real Estate Partners. So take this for what it’s worth.

Shop me too. Get my Loan Estimate and put it next to somebody else’s. If theirs is better, take it. I’d rather you get the right loan than the wrong one from me.

A pre-approval gets you in the door. A Loan Estimate tells you what you’re actually paying.

If you want a second set of eyes on a Loan Estimate you already have, or you want to know what one should look like before you start shopping, call or text me at 727-409-4663. No pressure. Straight answers.

Randal Jenkins
Broker-Owner, Florida Real Estate Partners
Loan Officer, American Mortgage Services, NMLS #2053417
727-409-4663 (409-HOME)

Many listings do not have school zones.

Many buyers want a particular school zone.

Many Realtors are afraid if they put school zones on a listing and the school zones change, they will be subject to litigation.

So, if a buyer wants a particular school zone, the buyer’s agent will have to search each listing and then cross reference them to school zones.

Does this happen? Or does the buyer’s agent search by school zones and then send the list?

It is safe to say that most agents send the list.

So, if your listing does not have school zones on the listing, buyers that have a particular school zone in mind will not be seeing your listing.

There is a simple solution to meeting the needs of the public, making the most of the opportunity to sell the home to the right buyer and avoid the risk of the school zone changing and having the Realtor and seller getting sued.

Hire a seasoned professional, reduce the risk, mitigate, and still offer a complete listing.

(Too many Realtors read this blog, I think I will save the solution for my buyers.

Thanks for reading.

Randy                                             727-409-4663   (409-home).

Randal Jenkins

Loan Officer, American Mortgage Services, NMLS #2053417

Florida Real Estate Partners 

4823 Ebbtide Lane 206

Port Richey Fl 34668