Legal question about selling my house, changing from sole to multi agency agreement?

[zackary42]

My house is on the market with a sole agent, the agency agreement doesn't tie me in to a minimum period, but does require 14 written days notice before i change over to a multiple agency which i have provided .

I have spoken to two other agents who want to start marketing the property straight away but i don't want to do that if it would be considered breach of contract .

The terms of the agreement are a bit ambiguous:

Firstly under sole agency definitions the contract states "you will be liable to pay re-numeration to original sole agent X if at any time unconditional contracts for the sale of the property are exchanged, either with a buyer introduced by us during this period of our sole agency OR with a purchaser introduced by another agent during this period.

I understand this to mean i would only be liable to pay the original sole agent if another purchaser that was introduced by a second agent actually exchanged contracts during the official period of the sole agency's tenure, as opposed to someone who first viewed the property with a second agent whilst under contract but didn't actually exchange contracts until after the sole agency period was expired.

Further in the agreement regarding multiple agencies it specifies... "If a purchaser is introduced in good faith by another agent without our involvement (the original agent) , either BEFORE or during the period of multiple agency, no fee or expenses will be payable to the original agent.save where otherwise expressly agreed

I am understanding this to mean that assuming the new agent doesn't know about the sole agency agreement and then finds a buyer who subsequently exchanges contracts before the sole agent period is up there would be nothing to pay the original agent.

I hope someone can help with this , i don't know how much weight these sole agency contracts carry in law, especially where i wasn't tied into a minimum sole agency period , but i don't want to
stir up a hornets nest by allowing other agents to actively market the property only for the original agent to come back later and demand his share of the commission.

[jolie]

I have never heard of your agent's language in 30 yrs.
"SOLE agent." But I can presume what she-he means.
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......."I hope someone can help with this , i don't know how much weight these sole agency contracts carry in law, especially where i wasn't tied into a minimum sole agency period , but i don't want to
stir up a hornets nest by allowing other agents to actively market the property only for the original agent to come back later and demand his share of the commission."
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At least in AZ, we have 3 types of LISTING contracts:
a; exclusive right to sell [whomever brings the buyer, the
listing agent gets some commission at close of escrow]

b. Exclusive Agency means that you will pay if they, or some other agent, brings you the buyer. Any agent with a buyer is presumed to have been procured through the listing agent's marketing efforts. Nonetheless, this does allow for random people to knock on your door and buy the property direct from you - despite the fact that the listing agent's efforts were what alerted them to the existence of the property. Since most agents have been burned on this one or know someone who has, few agents want to accept this style of agency without requiring you to at least pay for their efforts, and they are mostly not the top-notch ones. But if you really want to exercise the escape clause in having to pay the agent, count on being on your own through the negotiations and escrow process. A very large proportion of prospective buyers who will go around your agent to negotiate with you directly are sharks, unqualified buyers unable to buy, or possess some other characteristic that's going to cost you a large amount of money, time and frustration.

c; open listing; the seller owes no fee if the owner sells it
himself.
---------------------------------------…
most agents will not deal with a sale that is anything but
an exclusive right to sell; it is part of the old buddy system.

what confuses things even more is; as of 12 yrs ago,
listing agents rarely find buyers; instead, the listing agent
contacts other RE firms and talks to BUYER"S AGENTS.

prior to 12 yrs ago, most listing agents wanted to both
list and represent buyers; which, in fact of law, they
were not doing. They were not representing the buyer at all!

available to guide you further