Do I owe the realtor a commission if I sell my house myself within 30 days after my agreement expires?

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Do I owe the realtor a commission if I sell my house myself within 30 days after my agreement expires?

I am selling my home. A paragraph in my agreement says, “If in the event that the property, or any part of it, described in this agreement becomes subject to a written or other agreement by the buyer and seller or their designees or is sold, conveyed, leased or in any way transferred within 30 days after the expiration of this agreement to anyone whom the seller, broker, or broker’s salesperson…had introduced the property during the term of this Exclusive Listing, the compensation as indicated above shall be earned by the broker and payable to the broker by the seller…”

Asked on October 12, 2011 under Real Estate Law, New Jersey

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

For a definitive answer, you need an attorney to review the entire agreement and the circumstances with you.

That said, the specific language you quote would indicate that IF the sale was to someone who had been "introduced to the property" by the realtor, you would owe him or her a commission under the circumstances you describe. On the other hand, this specific language quoted would not seem to apply to the situation of your finding a buyer who had *not* seen the house during the time the realtor's contract was in force. Again, though, for a more definitive answer, you need to discuss the situation with an attorney who can also review the contract in its entirety. Since in NJ, you effectively need a lawyer anyway to sell property (for example, to deal with the 3-day "attorney review" period), you should retain a RE lawyer now, and he/she can look at the contract as their first service to you.


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