Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Agreement — Iowa Edition Template

The Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Agreement is the backbone of nearly every residential listing in the United States. It is the contract that formally engages a brokerage to market a seller's property, and — critically — it entitles the listing broker to a commission no matter who procures the buyer, including the seller themselves. That single feature is what distinguishes it from open listings and exclusive agency listings, and it is why virtually every MLS requires an executed exclusive right to sell (or exclusive agency) agreement before a listing can be published.

This 6-page template covers the full lifecycle of a listing engagement: property identification and included/excluded fixtures, listing price and seller's authority to convey, the listing term with a definite expiration date (a requirement in most states — indefinite listings are prohibited or unenforceable in many jurisdictions), commission rate and the conditions that trigger it, a protection/tail period for buyers procured during the term, cooperation and compensation disclosure for buyer brokers (updated for the post-2024 NAR settlement landscape, where offers of compensation can no longer be communicated via the MLS), marketing authorization including photography, signage, and lockbox consent, and seller representations and indemnities.

Agency and listing agreements are governed state by state — statutes such as New York Real Property Law § 443 (agency disclosure) and license-law regulations in every state impose specific disclosure and writing requirements, and the statute of frauds in every state requires brokerage commission agreements to be in writing to be enforceable in most circumstances. This template includes a 50-state variation notes section flagging the most common state-specific requirements (definite termination dates, anti-automatic-renewal rules, required disclosure attachments) so you can adapt it with your broker or attorney. It is a professional drafting template, not a substitute for your state association forms or legal advice.

About this Iowa Edition: Every template was redrafted around Iowa's real estate license law, Iowa Code chapter 543B, and the Iowa Real Estate Commission's rules in 193E IAC, which require written brokerage agreements with definite expiration dates, a written agency disclosure before any brokerage agreement or offer, and the informed written consent of all parties before a brokerage may act as a dual agent or through appointed (designated) agency — so the consent form in this set is a true Iowa dual agency / appointed agency election rather than a transaction-brokerage substitute. The seller disclosure form is structured to Iowa Code chapter 558A (delivery before the buyer's written offer) and adds the Iowa-specific items practitioners expect: radon, the time-of-transfer septic inspection under Iowa Code chapter 455B, and the groundwater hazard statement categories. Throughout, the forms reference the Iowa statute of frauds (Iowa Code § 622.32), the Iowa Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (Iowa Code chapter 554D), homestead spousal joinder (Iowa Code § 561.13), the commercial broker lien act (Iowa Code chapter 570A), Iowa's abstract-and-Title-Guaranty title practice, and the rule that all compensation flows through the licensed brokerage.