“Firing” my agent

[familyguy]

I hate to use the word firing as it sounds so harsh, but essentually I think thats what I am going to have to do. I signed a 6 month contract for her to take my listing a couple of months ago and just don’t think she is doing much.

Am I obligated to stay the course for the next 4 months, or can I temrinate the contract for what I deem as a lack of proper representation?

Thanks for the answers…clearly the answer to this sort of question would be in the contract itself, (admittedly I should have researched this prior to signing the contract) I just don’t have access to it right now so I thought I’d ask.

[SD Realtor]

Simply call the agent let her know that you would like to terminate the listing. You can have the agent send you a cancellation of contract. The agent will most likely resist. You can contact the broker and ask for that same cancellation. If you are firm, they will comply.

A few questions:

What do you expect the listing agent to do?

Frequently sellers use the term lack of representation because they are not satisfied with the number of showings that they have had. So did you agree with the price that your realtor recommended? Does the home show well? Was the home priced in line with recent SOLD comps?

I have a pretty standard policy I like to recommend to sellers. If you don’t get an offer in the first 10 days along with at least 10-15 showings then something is wrong. More then likely the price needs to be slashed by at least 5%. Rinse and repeat in the next few weeks unless you plan to renovate to remedy the problem.

How many showings have you had? What kind of feedback did you get from the showings?

Generally there is not some fancy advertising solution that will sell your home. You can pretty up pictures all you want, send out mailers, have a buzillion open houses. The fact of the matter is that if the home is on the MLS, and it shows well, and you have made it easy to show, then the house will sell if it is priced well. If there are environmental factors like the neighborhood or noise, or crappy neighbors then price it better. Either way, you need to get some feedback on the showings you had so you can adjust.

Basically any home can sell…

It all depends on your motivation.

************************

I am not saying your realtor is good or bad. Undoubtedly your realtor should have had a strategy that they very clearly explained to you up front prior to agreeing to take the listing.

If you have been on the market for 2 months without an offer then you need to make some serious adjustments. A new realtor may help but a new price will more then likely be needed.

[ocrenter]

Is the 6 month contract pretty standard in the industry?

Also, I would think the agent after a couple of months without any bites would probably not put up too much of a fight to keep the listing.

[sdrealtor]

Listing periods are negotiable but 180 days is standard. Sometimes I will agree to shorter but it depends upon the situation. If I think the price the seller wants to ask is high I am more likely to require the full 180 days. I often invest alot of money upfront to sell a home and want time to prove to the seller we have tested the market. It takes time to get some sellers to realize that the only wrong is the price. I am not saying this is the case here.

[ocrenter]

[quote=sdrealtor]Listing periods are negotiable but 180 days is standard. Sometimes I will agree to shorter but it depends upon the situation. If I think the price the seller wants to ask is high I am more likely to require the full 180 days. I often invest alot of money upfront to sell a home and want time to prove to the seller we have tested the market. It takes time to get some sellers to realize that the only wrong is the price. I am not saying this is the case here.[/quote]

Makes sense. Especially with the professional photography, the sign, ads, and the number of open houses. Well, hopefully all of these were done for the OP.

I do share the OP’s concerns though. It is the beginning of the spring buying season. If the current realtor has not demonstrated competency, I can see his fear of wasting away precious spring and early summer under the “wrong” realtor.

[urbanrealtor]

As a general rule I don’t do many “regular” listings.
Most are short sales.
When I do handle regular listings, I really try to get a very clear list of duties from a seller.
I recommend that every seller do this.
Just a list which you email to your client of the minimums you expect.
EG:
2 open houses per month.
1 emailed status report every Monday
2 broker opens during the listing period.
professional photos
free back rubs

The point is that SD and sdr are right.
Often the the final problem is the fact that the seller thinks they understand the market and cant part with their higher price point expectations.

Most problems can be solved with money or explosives.
Properties without offers are no exception.

[Author]

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