About methods of sale

The agency agreement is an agreement between you and the real estate agent. It must state:

• The services the agent will provide for you.
• The amounts of any fees or commission you agree to pay for those services.
• The circumstances in which the agent is entitled to payment. For example, commission is usually payable only when the property is sold.
• How and when payment is to be made. For example, whether the agent can deduct their commission from the deposit money paid by the buyer.
• Warnings about circumstances in which you might have to pay commission to more than one agent
• The extent of the agent's authority to act for you. For example, whether the agent is permitted to exchange a sale contract on your behalf or make changes to the sale contract.
• The agent's estimated selling price or price range for the property.

You have the right to negotiate with the agent about the terms and conditions of the agreement and to ask for any legally permitted changes to be made. Alterations made to the agreement need to be signed by all parties.

The agency agreement usually has a specified period (a "fixed term") during which the agreement cannot be ended unless you and the agent both agree. If the agreement is open ended (that is, it does not have a fixed term) it must state how the agreement can be ended.

The length of any fixed term is negotiated between you and the agent, there is no minimum or maximum set term. The fixed term will depend on how long you and the agent think it will take to sell the property.

If the fixed term is longer than 90 days, you can give the agent 30 days written notice to end the agreement after 90 days. Of course, if the fixed term has less than 30 days left to run, you can just give notice to end the agreement at the end of the fixed term - check your agreement to see how much notice you need to give. If you are not sure how to end the agreement, you should seek legal advice.

If you are not happy with an agent's services, it is important to properly end your agreement with them before signing up with another agent. Otherwise both agents may charge you commission when the property is sold.

This arrangement allows you to list your property with a number of agents. You pay a commission to the agent who finds the buyer.

Exclusive agency agreements are commonly used for the sale of residential property. In this kind of agreement, you give exclusive rights to one agent to sell your property. This may entitle the agent to be paid commission if the property is sold during the fixed term of the agreement, even if the property is sold by you or by another agent. The agent may also be entitled to commission if the property later sells to a person who started negotiating for the property with the original agent.

This is similar to an exclusive agency agreement. You give rights to one agent to sell the property but you may find a buyer yourself. If you find a buyer who has not been introduced by the agent, then no commission is payable to the agent.

This is effectively an exclusive agency agreement where the property is listed for auction.