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Q: I am the listing agent, is it legal to have another brokerage hold an open house for my seller? 

A: First and foremost, you must talk to your broker. There are a whole host of potential issues that you need to make sure have been addressed. 

Has the seller said it would be ok if other firms held an open house? Does the seller understand who would be there, i.e. selling agents? Would the seller have a problem with selling agents doing an open house? Does the seller know that selling agents have different responsibilities and would work for the buyer and not the seller? How will the agent holding the house open be compensated and has the seller agreed to that? Who would be responsible for any damage? These questions are not everything, your broker may have more.  

In other words, did you talk with your seller about all the possible implications of having another firm hold an open house? Most importantly, did your seller agree to this in writing?  

If the answer to the above two questions is no, then there actually may be a prohibition on having another brokerage hold an open house in the listing.  

In addition to the seller-based questions, there are additional licensing and agency questions such as: Which broker is responsible for supervising the open house? Has the agent holding the open house been given any information about the seller or the property that is confidential and could create an issue under agency law? 

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