No not in 1986 in my area. I would say they are tops 10 years old. We have been thru a few different versions & have finally settled on one from our local board.

We all worked for the seller back then too.

Long answer:

       Early 1990's, when Buyer Brokerage came into vogue for residential sales.

       I use them, however, the Buyer is not "bound" to me for 6 months or 12 months like a typical Listing Agreement.  If they want to go, or if I want to drop them, our relationship ends.*

     I may or may not get an upfront fee, but I cannot discuss that amount or terms with other Brokers or their agents, per Federal Anti-Trust laws.

     *What I do have is a signed guarantee that any house that I show that Buyer, or any property that I bring to their attention, they will owe me a commission.  This way, if they go back to a house I showed them, go around me, and write an offer with the listing agent, I have a contractual guarantee to get paid. I could take that Buyer to court if necessary (hasn't happened yet).  I will get paid for what I have shown.

     They know that 99% of the time, the commission is already in the MLS, and will come from the Seller at Closing.  But if it is below a certain percentage, or if it's a FSBO with no commission offered, they the Buyer will need to pay me at Closing.

In this area it is like never. No buyer will sign it.  We try to figure out what we can do and spend just enough time.  We have 65,000 active agents in this county. The buyers ask why you why not go direct to listing agent? 

In WA State I "think" it was 1996 or so when Agency and buyer representation came into existence. Prior to that things were kind of interesting in that all agents represented the seller, even when you writing an offer for a buyer (based on  who was paying the commish). Of course who is really paying the commish is very debatable - it's amazing to me that it took up until the 90's to get "fixed". I personally don't use the buyer agency agreements.

The thing is a cleint can drop you and go find another home and how would you know?

I use them 99% of the time. The exception is when I have the listing and the buyer fully understands I will not represent him and wants to proceed without getting his own agent. 

Depends on your state. In CT Buyer Agent agreements became mandatory, I believe in '97. Alas, many agents still ignore them. Even if not, the buyers often sign and then do as they please anyway and even if there is legal contractual recourse, not many agents choose to pursue that course of action. So, theoretically that sort of agreement would have saved you, but in practice, not necessarily.

Every time!!

Pennsylvania agency law went into effect in 1999; that is when Buyer Agency Agreement were made available via PAR forms. (Pennsylvania Association of Realtors) 

I do not use them, but am reconsidering given the current climate!

I don't use them - I find them not worth the paper they're written on - after all what will you do if they decide to work with someone else? Sue them? That's real good for business - suing potential customers

I don't remember when they came into existence.  They are big on the east coast, but barely known on the west coast.  I only use them if I'm taking someone to a house that's not yet listed.

In my jurisdiction, Buyer Representation Agreements and Buyer Customer Agreements were created a number of years ago.

I am a ABR and yes if a client is not known to me I require that. time is money and too many buyers are not loyal until they understand what we do for them.

Susan Laxson Buyer Representation was very rare and very secretive when I first came into real estate in 1985. Although, like most things it started in California some time in the 80's. We didn't officially see it here until the 90's. Now Buyer Broker Agreements are mandatory here in Virginia with Buyer Representation.

Susan,

Commercial real estate always had one to my knowledge.  It was 3 pages long and full of legal stuff.  Ron created a simple one (one paragraph) with the right to cancel in 30 days.   We also had a spread sheet with all the properties we toured that they signed as having seen with us.  A

where we are, if an agent was to ask the buyer to sign, many would just go to another agent. many many buyers are going to the listing agent period and not using the buyers agent. they use the listing agent as the buyers as well and ask for discount

Always a good idea to get it signed along with all the other formalities like collecting their name, contact info, and pre qualification.

Before heading out to see the first home.

those in my office who work with buyers have never used a buyer's broker agreement

1. No

2. Yes - always

3. Yes - always

Sometime in the 1990's I think.

Not sure in our state the start of it but I use them all the time now.

I don't know the exact time but I do recall learning about them early in my career(mid 1990s) and I rarely(as in practically never) use one.  

No. We use then at some point in the process, but it depends on when we start having serious conversations about buying. There are options to make buyers feel more comfortable signing one, like 1 showing, 1 day, 1 week expiration dates. If it's a good match, then the date can be extended.

Susan Laxson in MA, buyer's agency officially became effective in July 2005 - to best of my knowledge.

I doubt if any such thing existed in 1986!

Buyer's agency wasn't a thing in GA until 1992.  Not sure what year after the form came along

I think the agreement came in around 1990 

Minnesota has had them for a long time and I use them all the time.

That standard is usually set by the broker of the company. I would advise all tools at your arsenal.