13.1 Exclusive Seller Representation & Listing Practices
Key Takeaways
The seller contracts with the brokerage. Agency duties attach to the brokerage in common-law agency or to the named agent under designated agency.
Use the exclusive form’s start and end fields. Before extending the term or changing a written price term, obtain the relevant parties’ signed amendment.
A binding sale can trigger the fee under the agreement. For a post-term sale, check the dates, introduction and contractual exceptions. Separately check when the fee is due and the statutory requirements for recovery.
Ending or pausing marketing changes different rights. Confirm the written scope, any surviving fee or expense obligations and authority for any further advertising or showing.
Define the authority before marketing
A residential seller who engages a brokerage as a client signs a written service agreement under Rule 43. Explain the Consumer Relationships Guide, complete the applicable Schedule 1 content and give the client a true copy immediately on signature. In a common-law brokerage the brokerage is the seller’s agent. Under designated agency the named agent owes the agency duties and the brokerage supervises and protects confidential information under Rule 58.1.
Rule 57 requires best efforts to market the property, reasonable skill and care, loyalty, confidentiality, disclosure of conflicts and relevant facts, prompt presentation of offers and obedience to lawful instructions. Review title and confirm the parties’ authority with the broker or legal counsel when needed. Confirm the list price, included goods, the proposed possession date and the brokerage’s authorized services. Rule 43 requires an address or legal description where applicable. The RECA seller sample provides for both, as well as the offered price and possession.
Use written owner or lawful representative authorization for advertising, then confirm what it allows for photographs, signs and channels. Ask who will occupy the property during showings and how they will manage pets, alarms and locked spaces. Agree on notice, showing windows, entry and any lockbox, then confirm directions in writing. Follow the approved entry instructions and leave the property as found. Exclusive representation limits who acts for the seller. The marketing plan and applicable listing-service rules determine whether the property is publicly listed.
Prepare the listing presentation and likely buyer responses from the same evidence. For example, record which appliances the seller intends to include and check the eventual offer wording. If a buyer asks whether a basement suite is approved, verify the relevant permits and inspections and explain what the records establish. If proof is missing, identify what remains unverified. Handle known material latent defects through the required disclosure process, and keep the seller’s private price and motivation confidential unless disclosure is authorized or required.
Explain the fee with a worked example
The brokerage and seller negotiate the fee. Explain a fixed amount, a percentage or a tiered percentage, any separately agreed expenses, applicable GST, any cooperating amount and when payments are due. A fee calculated from the spread between list price and actual price is prohibited by Act section 24. Rule 54(1)(b)–(c) channels the individual licensee’s payment or acceptance of trade remuneration through the registered brokerage. An associate should direct a disputed fee to the broker.
| Question | Where to check |
|---|---|
| What makes the fee owing? | Read the signed fee clause. In the RECA designated-agency seller sample, clauses 9.3 and 9.5 address a binding sale during the term or a qualifying post-term contract and applicable exceptions. |
| When is payment due? | Read the separate due-date and default provisions. The sample states that the ordinary fee is due when the sale completes. The January 2026 AREA purchase contract clauses 4.8(c) and 10.7 describe payment from confirmed deposits or through the seller’s lawyer as applicable. |
| Can the brokerage bring an action? | Apply Act sections 21–23. Under section 22(b), the recovery test addresses a sale or lease effected through the employed broker’s services and a signed instrument delivered as specified. |
| What if the seller turns down a full-price offer? | The offer alone does not trigger the sale fee in the sample and does not meet section 22(b). Review any agreed expenses or other surviving terms with the broker. |
A listing ending June 30 has a signed 60-day holdover and a 5% fee on the sale price. A buyer introduced in June signs a binding private sale agreement on July 20 and the sale completes on August 15. If the sample’s other terms apply and no exception does, the timing and introduction tests are met. At $550,000, the fee is $27,500 before GST. The holdover test uses when the binding contract is made. If the seller instead signed a qualifying seller representation agreement with a second brokerage before that sale contract, the original sample clause 9.5(b) would except the fee. A buyer excluded in writing is a separate exception.
Change, pause or end the mandate
Use the start and end times in the signed form. Rule 43(2)(c) requires a written amendment signed by the relevant parties for a change to a written agreement term. Give the client a true copy immediately. An extension agreed before expiry can keep the listing active. If the agreement already ended, obtain a new signed agreement before resuming. A pause in showings has the effect the parties agree and may leave the expiry unchanged.
Read the form’s early-end provisions and applicable listing-service requirements. Completion, a mutually agreed earlier end or written notice after a qualifying material breach are examples in the RECA sample. Record when the mandate ends and what obligations survive. AREA distinguishes conditional termination that preserves holdover rights from an unconditional release of those rights. Check any agreed expense reimbursement and surviving confidentiality. If the parties disagree about the right to end the agreement, consult the broker and have the client seek independent advice.
RECA Rules · Real Estate Act · RECA designated-agency seller sample · RECA seller property-defects checklist · AREA’s holdover guidance
A signed agreement follows the RECA seller sample and has a 60-day holdover and a 5% sale fee. A buyer introduced during the listing signs a binding $550,000 private sale agreement 20 days after expiry, then closes. Assume the original broker’s efforts effected the sale and neither fee exception applies. What is the fee before GST?
$0
$27,500
$13,750
$5,500
A seller and brokerage sign an AREA conditional termination that ends the active listing today and preserves its holdover clause. What should the associate tell the seller about a buyer introduced last week?
Active marketing authority ends. A qualifying sale to that buyer can still trigger a fee under the surviving clause.
The associate can keep marketing the property until the holdover period ends.
The seller owes the entire sale fee immediately when the termination is signed.
Any signed termination extinguishes the holdover clause even when the document expressly preserves it.
A seller using the RECA sample receives a $600,000 unconditional offer matching their list price and requested terms. They decline the offer and never enter a sale contract. What should the associate tell the broker about the sale commission?
A commission is always due the moment a matching offer is received.
The associate can secure payment by registering a builder’s lien.
The offer alone does not trigger the sale fee or satisfy the section 22(b) recovery requirements. Check any separately agreed expenses.
The seller must accept a matching offer to avoid regulatory discipline.
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.