Under most instances, property owners usually
refrain from selling personally owned real estate owing to the many
uncertainties, complex laws, and hidden details that often times bring about an
untimely and unproductive conclusion to a transaction. Under such conditions, if unsuccessful,
property owners may retain one or more real estate Brokers for assistance,
usually to the exclusion of all prospective Buyers’ the owner previously
introduced to the property.
At times, Brokers will agree to represent such properties under a written Exclusive Agency Agreement, under which such Brokers’ may represent the Seller’s property, for a disclosed period of time, under qualified terms including negotiated fees for professional services to potential Buyers’ not yet aware such property is available. Such agreements bind the property owner and Broker to the terms of the Agreement, providing however that the same is legal in nature, and thus stipulated. However, “verbal agreements” are fleeting, and do not shield the Broker from other competing brokers’ or the property owner from perfecting a sale to other Buyer’s. In nearly all instances, most Brokers prefer an Exclusive Right to Sell Agreement, and generally decline verbal requests to sell real estate.