55. XYZ Realty enters into an exclusive agency agreement with a couple for the sale of their home. The house is listed for $300,000 and the commission rate is 5%. The couple finds a buyer for a purchase price of $290,000 without the assistance of their agent. What is the amount of commission owed to XYZ Realty?
Answer: A
The commission owed to XYZ Realty is $0.
In this scenario, the couple entered into an exclusive agency agreement, which allows them to find a buyer themselves without incurring a commission fee to XYZ Realty. Since they successfully found a buyer without the agent's assistance, no commission is owed.
A) $0
This option is correct because, under an exclusive agency agreement, the sellers retain the right to sell the property on their own without paying a commission if they find a buyer independently. In this case, since the couple found a buyer for $290,000 without the help of XYZ Realty, they are not obligated to pay any commission.
B) $7,500
This option is incorrect because it assumes that the couple would owe a commission based on the sale price of $290,000. However, since they found the buyer independently, they do not owe any commission to XYZ Realty under the terms of their exclusive agency agreement.
C) $15,000
This option is incorrect as it calculates the commission based on the original listing price of $300,000 at the 5% commission rate. Since the couple sold the property themselves, they are not liable for any commission, making this option irrelevant.
D) $14,500
This option is also incorrect because it applies a commission calculation based on the purchase price of $290,000. However, since the sellers acted independently to find their buyer, no commission is owed to XYZ Realty under their exclusive agency agreement.
Conclusion
The correct answer is $0 because the exclusive agency agreement allows the sellers to find a buyer without incurring commission fees. All other options incorrectly assume that the couple owes a commission despite having sold the property on their own initiative. Thus, the nature of the exclusive agency agreement directly leads to the conclusion that no commission is owed to XYZ Realty.