What kinds of things to look out an exclusive sales listing agreement?

[David Kim]

Hi folks,

I'm looking to put my commercial property on the market. I've never worked on selling one before. I've been talking to a commercial real estate agent, and they sent me a sample of their contract.

Is there any common practice that's predatory, and that I should look out for and have them change if I see it on there?

The only thing that raises an eyebrow, looking at it, are the conditions under which the firm gets a commission. They mostly make sense, but this one seems strange: "(d) Seller withdraws the Property from sale, or otherwise prevents Broker from selling it."

So does thing say that if at any time I decide that I no longer want to sell the place (e.g. let's say offers are WAY lowballed and I decide to go a different route and not sell), I need to pay them a commission? That seems awfully unjust, especially since I can pretty much just... not withdraw, but not accept any offers, and run down the clock on the contract.

[David Kim]

Awesome, thanks everyone!