My agent wants a 1% buy-side fee on off-market deals I source myself

Question

I've been working with an agent who genuinely knows investment numbers. She runs comps, she understands ARV, she's brought me two pocket listings from her wholesaler contacts. No complaints there.

The issue is the buyer agreement she wants signed. It's a 12 month exclusive, 2.5% on anything MLS, and 1% on any off-market property I put under contract during the term, including ones I find myself through my own direct mail. Her argument is that she's still writing the contract, coordinating title, and doing the analysis.

On a 180k purchase that's 1,800 for paperwork on a deal she didn't source. I do 6 to 8 acquisitions a year on thin spreads, so that's real money. But I also don't want to torch a relationship with someone who's actually feeding me deals.

Has anyone carved out self-sourced properties from an exclusive? What does the carve-out actually look like in writing so it doesn't turn into a fight at closing?

Rena Expert · Accepted Answer

Carve-outs are normal and they're written as exclusions by source, not by property type. The usual mechanics: you attach an exhibit listing named properties or named lead channels that sit outside the agreement, or you define compensation tiers so a self-sourced deal pays a flat transaction fee rather than a percentage. A flat 750 to 1,500 for contract-to-close on a deal you brought is a common shape, and it prices what she's actually doing on that file.

What makes carve-outs fight at closing is vagueness about timing. If your direct mail lead responds in month three and closes in month seven, whose deal is it? Write the test as the date of first contact with the seller, documented, and agree on what documentation counts. A CRM export or a mailing list with dates is usually enough. Without a timing test you're relying on both of you remembering the same story.

Buyer agreements are state-specific forms in most places, and what a broker will let their agent modify is a brokerage policy question before it's a legal one. Some brokerages won't allow flat fees at all because of how they split. Ask her what her broker permits before you negotiate language, or you'll spend two weeks drafting something she can't sign.

The part worth pricing separately: she's giving you wholesaler relationships. If you carve yourself out too aggressively, the economics of feeding you those pocket listings get worse for her, and those calls go to whoever pays. Six to eight acquisitions a year makes you her best client only if the per-deal number stays interesting. Sometimes paying a fuller rate on sourced deals and near-nothing on self-sourced is the trade that keeps both sides in it. Have the buyer agreement reviewed by an attorney in your state before signing anything modified.

omar_haddad · Answer

The 1% on self-sourced always struck me as a tell about how the agent thinks about their own work. Coordinating title on a cash purchase is maybe four hours. Charging 1,800 for four hours is fine if you say that out loud, but percentage pricing pretends it scales with purchase price and it doesn't.

aliyah_b · Answer

Question from the cheap seats, since I'm nowhere near six deals a year. If the carve-out is based on first contact with the seller, what stops the agent from arguing that a property that appeared on MLS at any point during the term is MLS-sourced? Flint's direct mail list probably overlaps with expired listings pretty heavily.

bmoreno23 · Answer

@tally that overlap is exactly what I'd worry about. Expired listings are one of the first lists anyone tells you to mail, and every single one of those was on MLS.

renee_dubois · Answer

I'd push on the 12 months more than the 1%. Twelve months exclusive with someone you've done zero closings with is a long runway. Six months renewable gives you both a real checkpoint, and if she's actually feeding you pocket listings the renewal is automatic and painless. If she isn't, you found out in half the time.

On the fee itself, the flat number @rena-expert describes is what I'd try first. It reframes the conversation from what's it worth to what did you do.

My agent wants a 1% buy-side fee on off-market deals I source myself

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