Roles
What is listing agent?
Also called: Seller's agent
A listing agent represents the seller, taking responsibility for pricing, preparing and marketing the property, managing enquiries and viewings, and negotiating offers on the seller's behalf.
The role begins before marketing: pricing the property against comparables and advising on presentation and repairs, which together usually influence the outcome more than any later negotiation.
During marketing the listing agent controls exposure — photography, copy, syndication, viewings — and is the point of contact for every competing buyer's agent.
Their fiduciary duty runs to the seller alone. A buyer dealing directly with a listing agent is not represented, which is a distinction many buyers do not realise they are making.
Related terms
A buyer's agent represents the purchaser in a property transaction, owing them fiduciary duties and advising on price, terms, negotiation and process — as distinct from the listing agent, who represents the seller.
A listing agreement is the contract between a seller and a brokerage that authorises the brokerage to market the property, setting the price, duration, compensation and the extent of exclusivity.
A listing presentation is the meeting where an agent pitches to represent a seller, covering proposed pricing, marketing plan, process and fee, in competition with other agents doing the same.
Fiduciary duty is the legal obligation an agent owes a client to act in that client's best interest — including loyalty, confidentiality, full disclosure, obedience to lawful instruction, and reasonable care.