Can I go around my broker and negotiate directly with a buyer?

Talking to a buyer is not the difficulty. The difficulty is what you agreed to when you signed with the broker. A listing agreement is a contract, and the answer to this question lives in its wording. Read it, with a lawyer, before you reply to the buyer or agree to anything.

The agreement may not be only what you signed

Éducaloi, which explains Quebec law to the public, says a contract can be verbal, and that a verbal agreement or an email exchange is enough to form one. Gather the signed listing agreement, any amendments and the emails with the broker. Whatever the broker and you settled, in writing or not, may bear on whether direct dealing is allowed.

Clauses that decide it

• Whether the agreement is exclusive or non-exclusive.
• Whether named buyers you already knew are carved out.
• Whether you are barred from contacting buyers yourself during the term.
• Whether a tail clause applies to a buyer the broker introduced after the agreement ends.
• How and when you can terminate, and whether the tail still applies if you do.

What a letter of intent adds

BDC says a letter of intent is not intended to be fully binding unless it expressly says otherwise, but where it so provides it creates binding obligations, particularly on confidentiality and exclusivity. If you sign one with a buyer directly, check that it does not conflict with commitments you made to the broker.

If there is a disagreement

Éducaloi notes that a person who claims damages has an obligation to limit them, and explains demand letters and settling out of court. Those pages describe Quebec; other provinces run their own rules. Our page on what a broker listing agreement contains explains each term in more detail.