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Georgia curriculum lesson · Real Estate Practice in Georgia

Georgia Buyer Brokerage and Tenant Representation Agreements

A buyer or tenant becomes the broker's client through a brokerage engagement. The agreement should define services, geographic or property scope, exclusivity, duration, compensation and crediting of other payments, conflicts, agency options, client duties, and termination. Compensation may come from different sources, but BRRETA Section 10-6A-11 says payment alone does not determine the relationship.

Facts checked against the current PSI Candidate Information Bulletin and GREC sources. Editorial standards.

What is the exam-ready answer?

A buyer or tenant becomes the broker's client through a brokerage engagement. The agreement should define services, geographic or property scope, exclusivity, duration, compensation and crediting of other payments, conflicts, agency options, client duties, and termination. Compensation may come from different sources, but BRRETA Section 10-6A-11 says payment alone does not determine the relationship.
Official syllabus mapping for Georgia Buyer Brokerage and Tenant Representation Agreements
Official syllabus topicReal Estate Practice in Georgia: Listings and Agency
Official PSI groupReal Estate Practice in Georgia
Published group count21 of the 52 Georgia questions
Exam portionGeorgia salesperson supplement
Source editionPSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026

The Rule

PSI publishes 16, 21, and 15 items for the three Georgia groups. It does not publish a guaranteed subtopic count. The statute, current GREC rule, contract, or other cited primary authority controls each lesson.

The lesson

Georgia questions reward the Georgia rule. A national rule that sounds right can still be the wrong answer when the question names a Georgia statute, document, role or procedure.

Written client status

The agreement creates the buyer or tenant client relationship with the broker and defines the broker's agreed services.

Scope and exclusivity

A clear area, property type, time period, and exclusivity term prevent the candidate from assuming authority beyond the contract.

Compensation disclosure

The agreement should explain the client's obligation and how compensation offered or paid by another source affects that obligation.

Conflicts and termination

Dual or designated agency, conflicts, expiration, termination rights, protection provisions, and post-termination confidentiality require careful reading.

Decision rule

Use the signed engagement, not an MLS offer or showing history, to determine client status, scope, and compensation obligations.

Georgia rule and national contrast

BRRETA and GREC disclosure rules govern the Georgia relationship. Compensation source does not by itself make the payer the client.

Worked Georgia example

Scenario. A seller authorizes payment to the buyer's broker, but the buyer never signs a brokerage engagement.

Reason it through. Section 10-6A-11 separates compensation from relationship status. Payment from the seller side does not by itself create a buyer client.

Answer. Determine the role from the engagement and disclosures, not from who offers compensation.

Common exam traps

  • Using payment as agency proof
  • Ignoring geographic scope
  • Assuming indefinite duration
  • Failing to account for compensation credits

Original practice questions with detailed explanations

These are original instructional questions mapped to the July 1, 2026 PSI outline. They are not copied from PSI or a live examination. Choose an answer before opening the explanation.

Question 1

A listing broker offers to pay any broker who brings a buyer. Another broker shows a buyer a home, the buyer buys it, and the listing side pays that broker. The buyer never signed a brokerage engagement. Whom did the buyer's-side broker represent as a client?

  1. A. The buyer, because the fee was earned by bringing that buyer.
  2. B. The seller, because the fee came from the seller's side.
  3. C. Neither party, because no engagement was signed with either.
  4. D. Both parties, as a dual agent created by the sale itself.
Show answer and explanation →

Answer: C. Neither party, because no engagement was signed with either.

Client status comes from a brokerage engagement, and BRRETA says who pays the broker does not decide the relationship. No one signed an engagement with this broker, so neither party was a client. Picking the seller because the seller's side paid is the classic payment-equals-agency error.

Question 2

A buyer engagement covers single-family homes in Cobb County for 90 days. On day 40 the buyer asks the broker to also find a lake lot in Hall County. What should the broker do?

  1. A. Amend the engagement in writing to cover the new search.
  2. B. Proceed, since the engagement covers any property the buyer wants.
  3. C. Treat the buyer as a client there because the term is still running.
  4. D. Refuse, because a buyer may hold only one engagement at a time.
Show answer and explanation →

Answer: A. Amend the engagement in writing to cover the new search.

The engagement's scope sets the area and property type the broker is engaged to search. A lake lot in another county is outside that scope, so the written agreement should be amended before the broker acts as the buyer's broker there. The unexpired-term answer looks plausible, but time and scope are separate limits.

Question 3

A buyer engagement says the buyer owes the broker 3% of the price, and any amount the broker receives from the seller's side is credited against that. The buyer pays $400,000 and the seller's side pays the broker 2%. How much does the buyer owe the broker?

  1. A. $0
  2. B. $4,000
  3. C. $8,000
  4. D. $12,000
Show answer and explanation →

Answer: B. $4,000

The buyer's obligation is 3% of $400,000, or $12,000, and the $8,000 paid by the seller's side (2%) is credited against it. That leaves $12,000 minus $8,000, or $4,000. Answering $12,000 ignores the credit clause, and $0 assumes any seller payment wipes out the buyer's obligation.

Ready to move on?

You are ready for the next lesson when all of these are true.

  • Explain Georgia Buyer Brokerage and Tenant Representation Agreements in one clear answer without notes.
  • Separate Written client status from Scope and exclusivity using a fresh example.
  • Apply the decision rule to a new fact pattern and name the fact that controls the result.
  • State the Georgia-specific point or explain why the national rule applies unchanged.
  • Answer every practice question and explain the rule each rejected option misapplies.
  • Revisit this topic later in mixed practice without category labels.

Recommended next lesson

Continue with Georgia Offers, Counteroffers, Multiple Offers, and Presentation. Once a buyer engagement is in place, the offers lesson covers what the broker does with each offer and counteroffer, including presenting every one on time even after the client is already under contract.

Return to the Real Estate Practice in Georgia hub for the complete official branch and the full lesson list for this Georgia group.

Georgia Buyer Brokerage and Tenant Representation Agreements questions

Facts checked against the current PSI Candidate Information Bulletin and GREC sources. Editorial standards.

Is Georgia Buyer Brokerage and Tenant Representation Agreements on the Georgia real estate exam?

Yes. It maps to PSI's Real Estate Practice in Georgia group, which has 21 of the 52 Georgia questions. PSI does not publish a guaranteed question count for this individual lesson.

What is the main Georgia rule for Georgia Buyer Brokerage and Tenant Representation Agreements?

Use the signed engagement, not an MLS offer or showing history, to determine client status, scope, and compensation obligations.

How is this different from a national real estate rule?

BRRETA and GREC disclosure rules govern the Georgia relationship. Compensation source does not by itself make the payer the client.