Listing, Marketing, and Buyer Representation
Listing agreements
- Exclusive right to sell: the broker is paid no matter who procures the buyer, including the seller.
- Exclusive agency: the seller keeps the right to sell directly without paying a commission.
- Open listing: non-exclusive; only the procuring broker is paid.
- Net listing: prohibited or tightly regulated in many jurisdictions because it invites divided loyalty.
- Term, price, compensation, and dispute-resolution clauses should be written and signed.
Current marketing rules
- MLS participants working with buyers must have a written buyer agreement in place before touring a home; compensation offers are no longer published in the MLS, so buyer-side compensation is negotiated directly.
- Advertising must identify the brokerage; Fair Housing Act rules bar discriminatory wording and reach targeted digital ads that exclude protected classes.
- Telemarketing must respect the Do Not Call registry, commercial email must comply with CAN-SPAM, and photographs and virtual tours are copyrighted works.
Worked example
A seller tells the listing agent, "We'd take $30,000 under list if it closes by June." The agent posts that range on social media to attract buyers. The agent has breached loyalty and confidentiality: the seller's reserve price was not the agent's to publish. Publishing it also creates a misrepresentation risk when buyers are simultaneously told the list price is firm.
Traps that cost marks
- Marketing a listing as "exclusive" while it is in the MLS with a cooperating broker.
- Letting an unlicensed assistant answer substantive questions at an open house.
- Soliciting a competitor's exclusively listed property directly - an ethics violation distinct from a general availability message.