The Contract You Signed in Five Minutes: What Your Agency Agreement Actually Says

The part most sellers miss

There are two types of agency agreements.

Most people think they signed a sole agency agreement. They almost certainly signed an exclusive agency agreement.

• Sole agency:you find your own buyer → no commission
• Exclusive agency:you find your own buyer → full commission still applies

REIWA Form 109 is an exclusive agency agreement. It says it in the title.

Here are the key clauses and what they actually mean for you. The parts most sellers don't realise matter until after they've signed.

Clause 1B: The lock-in

This is the exclusive period. Typically 60 to 90 days.

During that period, you are locked in with that agent. You can't switch to another agent without triggering the double-fee clause (Clause 17). You can't sell it yourself without potentially owing commission. You are contractually bound to work with them, regardless of whether you're happy with their service.

The period is negotiable. Most people don't negotiate it.

This is why agents push so hard to get the agreement signed at the first meeting. Before you sign, they are competing for your business. They're responsive. They're available. They're selling you on their service.

After you sign, the contract protects their fee for up to 90 days whether they perform or not. The dynamic changes completely.

Clause 3: When the agent earns their fee

Here's what the contract actually says:

"The Selling Fee will be payable upon settlement of a transaction if during the Exclusive Rights Period:

(i) the Property is sold or exchanged;

(ii) a Buyer introduced by the Agent to the Seller or the Property, contracts to buy the Property, or gets another person or entity to buy the Property or otherwise becomes a legal or beneficial owner of the Property;

(iii) the Property is sold to a Buyer in any of the above circumstances but Settlement does not occur due to the fault of the Seller."

Clause 3, REIWA Form 109, as at April 2026

In plain English: the agent gets paid if anyone they can connect to the sale buys the property. The form defines "introduced" as being the effective cause of the sale. That's deliberately broad.

If a buyer:

• • sees your listing online
• • attends a home open
• • then contacts you directly

…the agent can argue they were the effective cause. They ran the advertising. They held the home open. Under this clause, that's enough.

If that buyer sends a friend or family member instead? Under Clause 3(a)(ii), the agent may argue the fee still applies.

There is one protection worth knowing about. If you appoint a new agent after the exclusive period ends and the new agent is entitled to a fee, the original agent loses their claim under clauses 3(a)(ii) and 12. But that only applies afterthe exclusive period. During it, you're locked in.

Clause 6(d): Marketing costs and your trust account

Before your property goes live, the agent will ask for money upfront for marketing. This is known as vendor-paid advertising (VPA). The amount varies widely depending on what services you choose. It could be $1,000 or it could be $5,000.

That money goes into a trust account. The agent can only invoice you for costs actually incurred. Unused funds must be returned.

If you pull the property off the market early or terminate the agreement, you must reimburse all expenses already spent. But you're not liable for the full amount. Only what was actually used.

The risk is that most of the marketing spend happens early: photography, signboard, portal listing fees. By the time you realise you want to switch agents, most of it has already been spent.

What catches sellers off guard is the totalcost. The VPA you pay upfront is separate from the commission you pay at settlement. On the Perth median sale (~$842,000), you're looking at thousands in marketing plus2.5% commission at settlement. And you don't always know exactly where the marketing money went.

There is also no cooling-off periodfor agency agreements in WA. Once you sign, it's binding. (For comparison, NSW has a mandatory cooling-off period and Victoria has a maximum initial agency period. WA has neither.)

Read more about how VPA works, what it should cost, and what to ask for.

Clause 12: The tail

This one catches people off guard.

If a buyer is introduced during the agreement period, and they come back later and purchase the property, you still owe the full commission. Even if the agreement has ended. Even if the agent is no longer involved.

There's a date field that controls how long this applies for. Most sellers never notice it. The agent fills it in.

Typical tail periods range from 30 to 90 days after the exclusive period ends. If the field is left blank, the tail may default to the end of the exclusive period, which is a meaningful protection. But if a long date is entered and you don't question it, the agent's claim can extend well beyond the working relationship.

This is negotiable. Ask what the tail period is, ask for it to be reasonable (30 days is standard), and make sure you see the date before you sign.

Clause 16: You find the buyer, you still pay

There's a checkbox in the agreement:

The seller WILL or WILL NOT be liable for commission if they introduce the buyer themselves.

If "WILL" is selected, you pay full commission either way.

You find the buyer → you still pay.

On the Perth median sale price (~$842,000 at 2.5%), that's around $21,000. For a conversation you might have had yourself.

You can ask for "WILL NOT"before you sign. Most agents will agree to it if you ask. They want your listing. If they won't budge on this, it tells you something about how the rest of the relationship will go.

Clause 17: The double fee scenario

If you appoint another agent during the exclusive period and they sell the property:

You're considered to have terminated the first agreement.

Which means:

• • You owe the first agent their full fee
• • You owe the second agent their fee

What this looks like in practice

A family from our kids' school in Hammond Park came to us.

They had already signed with another agent. Paid marketing. A few weeks in, they weren't happy and wanted to switch.

They couldn't.

If the house sold, the original agent would still be entitled to commission. If they switched, they risked paying two fees.

On a ~$700k home, that's easily $15k–$20k wasted.

They stayed where they were. Not because they wanted to, but because the contract gave them no choice.

At KeyHive, we use exclusive agency agreements too. The difference: one fixed fee, no percentage commission, and we'll do shorter lock-in periods if you want them.

You have more leverage than you think

Every clause in this article is negotiable. The agent wants your listing. Before you sign, you are the one with leverage. Use it.

Here's what you can negotiate:

• Shorter lock-in.30 to 45 days is reasonable in the current Perth market. If the agent can't get results in that window, you should be able to walk.
• WILL NOT on Clause 16. Ask the agent to select "WILL NOT"so you don't pay commission on a buyer you find yourself. Most agents will agree.
• Shorter tail period. Ask for 30 days instead of 90. Check the date field before you sign.
• Itemised marketing costs.Ask for a line-by-line breakdown of what the VPA covers. Know what you're paying for before the money leaves your account.

If the agent says "it's all standard"and won't discuss changes, that tells you something about how they'll treat you for the next 90 days.

Read it before you sign it

REIWA Form 109 is a standard contract. Standard doesn't mean neutral. It means it was written by the industry, for the industry.

That doesn't make it wrong. But it does mean you should understand what you're agreeing to. Because once it's signed, it's enforceable.