what is a listing agreement 
a listing agreement is a contract under which a property owner as principal authorizes a real estate broker as agent to find a buyer for the property on the owner s terms in exchange for this service the owner pays a commission less commonly the term listing agreement also refers to a contract made between a security issuer e g a public company and the financial exchange that hosts the issue examples of exchanges include the new york stock exchange nyse the tokyo stock exchange tse and the london stock exchange lse 