Can I go around my broker and negotiate directly with a buyer they introduced?

You can have direct conversations with a buyer, but doing so to avoid your broker's involvement — or to avoid commission on a sale to a buyer they introduced — is a different matter and can put you in breach of your listing agreement. Most agreements are written so that commission attaches to any sale to a buyer the broker introduced during the listing term, regardless of who conducts the actual negotiation or how the final deal is structured, precisely to prevent sellers from cutting the broker out once a promising buyer has been identified.

If you're frustrated with how the broker is handling negotiations and want more direct involvement, raise that with the broker rather than working around them quietly — many will accommodate a seller who wants to be more hands-on, especially on price and key terms, while still fulfilling the agreement. Trying to route around the broker entirely with a buyer they found is likely to create a commission dispute later, even if the broker never finds out until closing. A Treadstone business lawyer can advise on what your specific agreement allows before you take that approach.