Buyers don't pay commissions to agents. Sellers do.

No need to sign one. It basically says you cannot use another real estate agent to find you a house, which is silly and not standard. In my experience, they will then do minimal work to find you a house, knowing anything you find on your own will still be "their" deal. That's not in your favor and isn't standard. If they do a good job for you in showing homes that meet your criteria, you won't need to look elsewhere or use another agent, anyway. Tell them if they find you the house you end up putting an offer on, you'll use them to present the offer and represent you in the transaction.

That's lazy on their side.

Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate.

I'd advise shop around and try to get the best deal. Your realtor's 3% commission on the price of a $100k home is $3k. 3% on a $1m home is $30k - for basically the same work. And don't be fooled by the line "seller pays" - it's coming out of your pocket. The higher your price range - the more leverage you have for negotiation.

The exclusive agreement itself isn't inherently bad - and works in your favor if you've agreed a good rate with the broker.

Has anyone who has purchased a home or condo around here signed an "Exclusive Buyer Agreement"? A realtor I am working with now has asked me to sign it, but I've never heard of this until today and the limited research I've done has turned up mixed results (sign it / don't sign it!).

Would love to hear any firsthand experiences, etc. regarding such a contract. Thanks