Question regarding agent agreement

[Austin Li]

After purchasing a MF in SoCal area, I became interested in the Dallas area and perhaps look into buying our 2nd MF there. We met an agent through a referral but after sending me a couple of properties, the agent wanted us to sign a representation agreement before doing anything else. With our 1st deal, our agent in SoCal didn't make us sign anything until we were ready to make an offer (the offer and agreement came together).

Question.. which is more common/usual? Am I supposed to sign with an agent before s/he can show me anything in a particular area?

Thanks in advance!

[Russell Brazil]

I often don't sign have a client sign these till we are about to write an offer. However for an out of state client, I might consider having a client sign one. When I'm working with a person face to face, I get a much better sense if they are a serious buyer that I should commit to and thus do work for. With someone out of state, it would be much harder to gage that. If they were unwilling to sign, I would take that as a sign that they were not a serious buyer, and thus someone I should not put much effort into serving.