Is a broker commission payable if the intention to purchase was known beforehand?

Hello,

if you learn directly from a home seller, whom you know privately, about their intention to sell and want to buy the house, but it was listed through an agent, is the broker’s commission to be paid by the buyer/seller?
I have known about the owner’s intention to sell for a year now (the seller wants to emigrate to Portugal this year), but the seller wants to hire an agent to determine the market-appropriate price for valuation purposes. Whether I can buy the house depends on this price. If this is possible, does the broker have to be paid?

The seller can provide names to the broker for whom no commission is due. That is the safest.

If you learn directly from a private house seller you know that they intend to sell and you want to buy the house, but it was listed through an agent, is the agent's commission payable by the buyer/seller?

No. Either the seller names you as an already known interested party or you inform the agent yourself.

However: If you do this too late or accept services from the agent, such as receiving property documents as part of sending the exposé, requesting and receiving detailed property documents from the agent, arranging a viewing appointment through the agent, etc., then you can no longer rely on your prior knowledge.

It depends on what kind of contract the seller makes with the broker. We had to pay the broker even though we only picked up the key for the house from him. We did not receive anything else from the broker. Not even a brochure.

Just as a side note: Valuation by the broker should be viewed critically. The broker wants to get the contract, so he tends to estimate higher. An appraiser would probably be more neutral.

It depends on what kind of contract the seller makes with the broker. We had to pay the broker even though we only picked up the key for the house from him. We did not receive anything else from the broker. Not even a brochure.

But yes, you did get something from the broker. A brokerage contract... A broker does not necessarily have to do more work, because brokers in Germany are usually only intermediary brokers. They only need to facilitate the contact between the seller and the buyer to earn their commission. That’s why they are out of the deal (with their commission) if the buyer already has prior knowledge of the property sale.