Estate agent commission: instruction, viewings and getting paid without disputes
Why commission is won or lost in the instruction agreement, what your viewing records must prove, when the fee falls due and how to track what you’re owed.
Most disputes over an agent’s commission aren’t disputes about the amount. They’re disputes about whether there was an agreement and whether the viewing took place — two things that can only be proved in writing, and only if they were written down at the time.
The instruction agreement is the basis of your claim
- In writing — a verbal “understanding” leaves your fee at the other party’s discretion.
- With a clear percentage or amount, and when it is payable.
- With a term and a type: open or sole agency — and for the latter, what happens if the owner sells privately.
- Signed before the first viewing, not “once things move forward”.
Every viewing needs proof
The buyer who “found it on their own” after you showed it to them is the classic way to lose a fee. The defence is process, not suspicion: record every viewing — property, person, date — and, wherever possible, confirm it in writing (a viewing confirmation, an email, a message). A complete viewing history is your strongest card.
When the fee is earned
Set out in the agreement when the claim arises — as a rule, on conclusion of the contract you brokered — and how it is paid: in full on completion, or partly on the preliminary agreement. Vagueness here turns into “let’s talk after completion”, which means a discount you never agreed to.
What you’re owed needs an overview, not memory
In an agency with ten open cases, the “so-and-so still owes me from the summer” items pile up quietly. One view per client — agreed fee, payments on account, balance, date — makes collection a routine process instead of an awkward phone call that keeps getting put off.
In EstatePro the fee is agreed on the instruction from your own price list, every viewing is logged with its date against both the property and the client, and unpaid fees show up on one screen — the proof and the collection, in the same place.
Conclusion
A written instruction before the first viewing, every viewing logged with a date, a clear moment when the fee falls due, and a weekly look at what’s outstanding. An agent’s commission is earned through the legwork — but it’s secured on paper.