Four months, 10k of retainers, nothing closed
Structure was a 2,500 monthly retainer, creditable against commission at closing, non-refundable if nothing closed. Twelve month term, which I talked down to four. He pitched it as buying priority: I'd get first call on off-market stuff before it went to his list, and he'd write offers same day.
What I actually got in four months was 14 forwarded MLS listings, three of which I'd already seen on my own alerts, two showings, and one offer written. That offer went in 9k under ask on a 1950s duplex in a working class pocket and got beaten by cash. No off-market anything. When I asked in month three what off-market sourcing looked like in practice, the answer was that he calls owners when a client is under contract elsewhere and he's got dead time.
So I paid 10,000 for what an alert and a decent transactional agent would have given me for zero up front.
Where I think it broke: I bought "priority" without defining a single unit of output. Nothing in the agreement said how many owner contacts a month, how many offers, how many properties walked, or what happened if the number was zero. There was also no kill clause. I could stop paying at the end of month four and that's all.
What I'd do differently: tie the retainer to countable output, offers written and doors contacted, with a monthly floor and the right to cancel with 15 days notice if he misses it twice. And 60 days, not four months, before I look at whether it's producing. I'd probably also just pay a higher commission at close and skip the retainer entirely.