Builder Representative, Buyer's Agent, and Real-Estate Lawyer: Who Does What?

The builder's representative

Hired and paid by the builder, this is the person who greets you in the show home, explains floor plans and pricing, and manages your file through to possession from the builder's side. Their job is to sell that builder's homes well — which doesn't make them dishonest, but does mean their duty runs to the seller, not to you. Our deeper piece on who the show-home rep actually works for covers licensing specifics.

What they're genuinely good for: accurate information about that builder's product, current promotions, and construction timelines. What they're not the right person to ask: whether this deal is competitive against other builders, or whether you should negotiate harder.

The buyer's representative

An independent, licensed professional whose duty runs to you specifically. Day to day, that means comparing this deal against the broader market, flagging contract terms worth pushing back on, negotiating upgrades and lot premiums, and coordinating timelines with your lender and lawyer. See our full breakdown of what independent representation actually adds.

This role is optional — nothing requires it — but it typically costs you nothing extra, since the commission is usually already built into how the builder prices the community whether or not any given buyer brings representation.

The real-estate lawyer

Paid by you, and doing work neither the builder's representative nor a buyer's representative is licensed to do: reviewing the purchase contract clause by clause, confirming title, handling the deposit trust arrangements, and managing closing. This is legal work specifically, and it's the one role that isn't optional in practice regardless of how you're represented on the sales side.

Our new home warranty guide and financing guide cover two areas — warranty coverage and the GST rebate — where your lawyer's review and your own homework tend to matter most.

Where these roles overlap, and where gaps appear

In practice, the builder's representative and your buyer's representative both touch scheduling, specifications, and upgrade selection — which is where good communication between them matters (our piece on working productively with both covers this directly). The gap that catches unrepresented buyers most often is contract review: without a buyer's representative flagging concerns and without proactively hiring a lawyer early, buyers sometimes don't get real scrutiny on the agreement until it's already largely finalized.

Who pays whom

The builder pays their own representative directly, as an employee or contracted salesperson. The buyer's representative is typically compensated through a commission the builder has already budgeted into the community's pricing — not an extra cost layered onto your purchase, though this varies by builder and is worth confirming. Your lawyer is paid by you directly, usually as a flat fee or hourly rate agreed before work begins.

If you haven't decided whether to bring your own representative at all, start with our guide on whether you need a realtor — and if you're ready to look at homes, browse current new-construction listings across the Edmonton area.

Frequently asked questions