Short answer: we know of no Nevada rule that requires a buyer to hire an agent. You can negotiate directly with a seller, a builder's sales office or an owner selling without an agent. Whether to hire one is a choice with trade-offs, and this guide sets out the facts so you can make it. It is general information, not legal advice. For legal questions about a contract, ask a Nevada attorney.
What a buyer's agent does
Services depend on the written agreement, but a buyer's agent commonly:
- Searches for and schedules showings of homes that fit your criteria, including ones you did not find yourself.
- Pulls recent sales of similar homes so you can judge an asking price.
- Prepares and negotiates the offer, and explains the contract terms and deadlines.
- Coordinates inspections, the appraisal, the lender and the escrow or title company through closing.
Nothing stops a buyer from doing these steps alone. The question is how much of that work you want to carry and how comfortable you are with the contract.
How buyer-agent pay works now
The National Association of REALTORS® says that, beginning August 17, 2024, buyers are asked to sign a written buyer agreement after choosing an agent and before touring a home in person or virtually (NAR, Consumer Guide to Written Buyer Agreements, read October 16, 2026). According to that guide:
- The agreement sets out the services the agent will provide and what the agent will be paid.
- Compensation is negotiable and not set by law.
- You are responsible for paying your agent as the agreement states, and you can still ask the seller to cover that compensation.
Read the agreement before you sign it. Ask how the fee is calculated, what happens if the seller pays part of it, how long the agreement lasts and how either side can end it early. An agent who works for a buyer must also disclose in Nevada each source from which the agent will be paid (see the Duties Owed form below).
The Nevada "Duties Owed" form
Nevada requires a real estate licensee to give a form listing the duties the licensee owes to each party the licensee represents and to each unrepresented party. It is the Nevada Real Estate Division's Duties Owed by a Nevada Real Estate Licensee, Form 525 (revised October 3, 2023, read October 16, 2026). In summary, the form says a Nevada licensee must:
- Not deal with any party in a deceitful, fraudulent or dishonest way, and use reasonable skill and care with all parties.
- Disclose to each party, as soon as practicable, material and relevant facts about the property that the licensee knows or should know, and each source from which the licensee will receive compensation.
- For the licensee's own client: carry out the brokerage agreement with reasonable skill and care, keep the client's confidential information for one year after the agreement ends (with limited exceptions), present all offers, disclose material facts, advise the client to get expert advice on matters beyond the licensee's expertise, and account for the client's money and property.
The form also covers a licensee who may act for both sides of a transaction: before acting for two parties with opposing interests, the licensee must give you a "Consent to Act" form to sign. Read every page you are given and ask about anything unclear.
If you buy without an agent
- The seller's disclosure rules still apply. A seller of residential property must give the buyer the completed Seller's Real Property Disclosure at least 10 days before conveyance, and a buyer cannot waive it (Form 547, read October 16, 2026).
- If the other side has an agent, that agent owes you, as an unrepresented party, the duties listed to all parties on Form 525, but is working for the seller.
- Builders set their own rules for buyers who bring an agent or come without one. See new construction homes in Las Vegas.
- You will arrange the inspection, the lender and the escrow company yourself. The CFPB's closing steps show what that involves.
Questions to ask any agent before you sign
- What services are included, and what is not?
- How and when are you paid, and what if the seller covers only part?
- How long is the agreement, and how can it end?
- How many buyers do you work with at once, and how do you handle a home you or your broker also have listed?
- Can I see the Duties Owed form now, before we tour?
Next steps
If you are starting out, our first-time home buyer guide walks through the process, and you can search all Las Vegas homes and save a search for email alerts. If you would like to talk, contact 1st Realty.
