I see this come up on the forums from time to time and as a mortgage broker myself here are the strategies I implement to work with great lenders1.

I have become comfortable talking with brokers and other experts in the industry.

If thats the case, I guess the listing agent or broker would have liability for failing to provide their client with documents they can comprehend.

As a nationwide private money lender and broker, we specialize in a range of funding solutions for non-owner-occupied real estate investments.

Buyer's Broker agreements are much like a listing agreements - they can be exclusive or not, as follows:   - They can be an entirely exclusive agreement, as you've indicated in your initial post

I'm not a lender, just speaking from experience on the deals I've brokered so far. 

Now I cannot speak for all lenders and some lenders broker out loans so they may not have this process up front. 

So now on 1st September my property is vacated and needs some TLC but their broker wont show it to anyone till the work is completed. 

Them and a private listing broker we have a relationship with.

What Prashanth said above is true, development sucks (I've been a land broker who sells to builders for 15 years).