What problems arise when selling a property with real estate agents in Germany?

Background:

Since 23 December 2020, the German Civil Code (BGB) stipulates that brokerage fees in the event of a property sale must be paid by both parties. See §§656a–656d.

The aim is to prevent the buyer from being burdened with all contract‑related costs. Previously, the buyer had to pay the full brokerage commission. Nevertheless, the first contract is still signed by the seller. The problems that can arise are described below.

“She is completely at her wits’ end, can’t sleep at night,” she tells me. “She wants to know whether we at COS can somehow help.”

What happened?

She wanted to sell the apartment of her deceased mother. She had no experience with real estate or selling property at all.

So she hired a real estate agent from a company that is well‑known throughout Germany (mainly due to heavy advertising).

What should you pay attention to?

The real estate agent initially made a good impression and appeared trustworthy.
He particularly convinced the owner by assuring her that he could sell the property at an extremely high price.

But is that really convincing?

Common scenario: contract sigend -->poor performance

• At first, he stopped responding.

• Only after repeated requests did he visit the property and take photos.

• He did not obtain the land register extract; he left that to the owner.

• He did not create an exposé.

• He did not list the apartment online, claiming he was busy with other projects.

• Only after weeks and repeated follow‑ups did he finally publish the listing.

• But due to the excessively high price, no potential buyers showed interest.

Terminating a real estate agent?

At this point, the owner had enough. She wanted to get rid of the agent and informed him that she no longer wished to work with him. She wanted to handle the sale herself or hire another agent.

But to her shock, he informed her of the following:

1. She is not allowed to hire any other agents besides him
2. If she terminates the contract, she must pay compensation equal to the full brokerage fee
3. She must pay the brokerage fee even if the sale happens through herself or a third party
4. A proper termination is only possible after the 8‑month contract period has expired

Brokerage fee to be paid by the seller?

This means that the only way to end the contract before the 8‑month period expires is to pay the brokerage fee. Yet her contract stated that 50% of the fee would be paid by the buyer.

This is also what the law requires: when a property is sold, the buyer must pay 50% of the brokerage commission.

How to get rid of the agent ?

When she heard this, she contacted COS for help.
But unfortunately, this is reality. Almost EVERY agent includes such clauses in their general terms and conditions, and German law allows it. Under German law, agents incur expenses and risks, which they are allowed to safeguard through such measures.

What is an exclusive contract with a fixed term?

In our long experience at COS, we do not know a single agent who offers an open‑ended, non‑exclusive contract. With the usual exclusive and fixed‑term contracts, you are bound — even trapped.

A fixed term of 8 months is legally permissible.

And: under the BGB, you can only terminate an agent contract for cause if you can prove a breach of duty.

How can a breach of duty be proven?

In the case described, the agent only needs to claim that he offered the property to his business contacts by phone.
The inflated price can be interpreted as him “acting in the client’s best interest.”

Therefore, proving a breach of duty is nearly impossible.

If someone is already emotionally overwhelmed — like the woman described above — it is questionable whether they have the energy for a legal dispute. Courts are overloaded, and proceedings often take years

Why are brokerage fees always so high?

In Baden‑Württemberg, the market‑standard commission for real estate is 7.14% of the purchase price (as of 2026). There is no legal cap on the amount. The law only requires that the fee be split 50:50 between buyer and seller.

7.14% of a house costing €720,000 equals €51,508 — minus VAT — which the agent pockets.
Such high costs can be avoided by comparing fees. COS‑Immobilien typically agrees to a commission of only 3.2%, making COS‑Immobilien the cheapest real estate agent in Stuttgart.

What does COS recommend?

Even if it takes effort to contact and compare different agents — do it anyway.
Even if a friend recommends someone — stay critical.

1. Choosing an agent is a matter of trust: invite several candidates
2. Check the contracts: if you see “exclusive” or “fixed term” in the terms and conditions, do not sign

How can such risks be completely avoided??

We want to point out that COS is one of the very few agencies that does NOT use such restrictive contracts.

If you are not satisfied with us, simply tell us — and the business relationship ends immediately, without costs and without consequences. Just like that. Any expenses incurred are risks we take on ourselves.

Why do we do things differently? Because we are confident that no customer will ever be dissatisfied and end the relationship.