A listing agreement is a contract between a property owner and a real estate broker that authorizes the broker to represent the seller and find a buyer for the property. The three types of real estate listing agreements are open listing, exclusive agency listing, and exclusive right-to-sell listing.
An open listing is a non-exclusive contract. This type of listing gives the seller or buyer the right to engage any number of brokers as agents.
Working with more than one real estate agent is fine when you haven't signed an exclusive agreement with anyone, says Adam Aguilar, a real estate agent with Reliantra in West Toluca Lake, CA. “You can use as many as you wish, unless they stop to ask you to make a commitment to them, in writing,” Aguilar adds.
Explanation: A written listing agreement between a seller and a broker is an example of a bilateral contract. A bilateral contract is a type of contract where both parties make promises to each other. In this case, the seller promises to sell the property and the broker promises to find a buyer.
In Florida, there is no Dual Agency representation, where the agent “equally” represents both the buyer and seller.
Working with more than one real estate agent is fine when you haven't signed an exclusive agreement with anyone, says Adam Aguilar, a real estate agent with Reliantra in West Toluca Lake, CA. “You can use as many as you wish, unless they stop to ask you to make a commitment to them, in writing,” Aguilar adds.
Joint agents Joint agency agreements mean that you'll have two, rather than one, agents working to sell your property, but no more than that. Both of the agents in question must agree to this, and the decision over who gets the commission once the property is sold will also be made before the agreement is drawn up.
Multiple Listing Service (MLS): What Is It An MLS is a powerful tool to further cooperative agreements between brokers for the sale of their listings and provide information necessary to permit such cooperation.
Most agents expect you to query multiple agents at a time, so it's usually not a problem. A few agents do request exclusive submissions, though, so look out for that. Most agencies don't want you to query multiple agents at the same agency at the same time. Read each agent's submission instructions carefully.