Sections de l’article
Introduction
The real estate agent offers services to accompany a seller and facilitate his transaction on the best terms, all the conditions are listed in the contract he signs with the seller: the sales mandate. In return, he receives agency fees in the event of a sale.
The range of services offered varies markedly from agency to agency, and your agent sometimes offers a full support that includes estimating the property, making real estate diagnoses, strategic advice, writing the ad, taking professional shots, consolidating your file and representing the owner during the process.
In order for agency fees to be payable, the intermediary must hold the professional card TRANSACTIONS ON IMMEUBLES AND COMMERCE FUNDS issued by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This is an inescapable condition: the card number must appear on all official documents, and first of all on the sales mandate.
To apply, agency fees must also have been defined in the sales mandate signed by the seller and agent. It must be pre-existing to the offer to sell, otherwise no commission may apply.
Finally, agency fees are only due if the agent has actually connected the seller with his purchaser, and if he has concluded the sale.
Agency fees apply exclusively when a sale is made. No advance, deposit or any advance payment can be made before it is approved, the sale is made official by the signature of the deed of sale at the notary. This means that the pre-contract (compromise or promise to sell) is not enough to trigger the payment of agency fees! Agency fees are therefore inseparable from the payment of the price of the property. They are due on the day of the signing of the authentic deed of sale to the notary.
Who pays agency fees?
It all depends on the case: agency fees may be borne by the seller, the buyer, or both parties in equal parts. The key is that the person responsible for the payment is clearly defined in the sales mandate signed between the seller and the agent.
Generally, the seller is responsible for paying the fees. They are then integrated into the sale price, which is advertised in ISP (including agency fees) in agency and on the internet. This means that the offered sale price to the buyer already includes the agent’s commission.
More rarely, the commission is therefore the responsibility of the purchaser, half or in full. That said, this only changes on form: basically, it is always the acquirer who pays the agency fees, either directly or indirectly (via the ISP sale price).