Occasionally you hear horror stories out there. Here's a good one. Later we'll tell you how to avoid this situation.

You want to buy a house so you contact a real estate agent and the agent tells you that before he can do any work for you you'll have to sign the standard agreement offered by his firm. The agreement will bind you into a 6 month arrangement. You sign. Very quickly you discover you don't like the agent. Maybe its just a question of personality differences, but you just can't stand the guy. But you're stuck for 6 months.

Here's a better way to proceed. Before you sign that agreement be frank with the agent. Tell him or her that you don't know them very well and that you would prefer to work on a verbal basis for a few weeks to see how the relationship works out. If the agent says no then offer to sign an agreement that is binding for a few weeks or even a single month. If the agent says no, then find yourself another agent.