Hi, I would like to change my listing agent becuase I feel they are not working in our best interest. The agreement we have is signed until October. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. thank you.

Drop the price!

We did! But didn't sign anything? Your thoughts cool cat?

We need more information to comment intelligently. What are the reasons that you feel that the agent is not working for your best interest?

We feel they are investing the amount of time needed to do the job. They have told us that our house sale is taking up her whole day and they have no time for other things. We believe a change and some new enthusiasm might be helpful.

Just tell them that you want to help them free up their day.

Make sure you obtain a cancellation of the listing and a release from any obligations to the agency in writing!

No way should one house take up all of anyone's day. What is she having to do that takes so much time? Sounds like a butt-saving cop out. Ask her what she has done besides the mls to market the home, ask her for numbers and statistics on what the deal is. Having your best interest in mind and actually working the listing are two totally different things. Stay professional and simply tell her that youre disappointed and need an accounting on whats going down. When was the home put on the market?

Thanks, it has been on the market 3 mos, and recently dropped 24K. We had a septic tank issue which was time consuming, although I dealt with it as well as her. Since she has been a friend for a long time, I think she is telling us things she shouldn't, for example "So I am trying my best, but the bottom line is, there are very few (I'd go so far as to say a needle in a haystack) buyers who are actually serious about buying real estate right now" This is really making us consider her commitment to getting this sold. I always thought realtors were overly optimistic, especially to the seller they are listings.

It's too bad you didn't reduce the price 24,000 when you listed it, as supposedly the most showings occur during the first two weeks a home is sold.





Well, would you rather have an overly optimistic realtor stringing you along with hearts and flowers, or one telling you the truth. She probably knows that the home wont' sell because it could still be overpriced, (for all I know...just shooting in the dark here).

I did take on a ridiculously overpriced listing. It was my first listing, I knew it was nuts, but hey, it was my first listing presentation, I got the listing in spite of my telling him his house was overpriced by 100,000. He wanted to stick to his price anyway. I was the laughingstock of the MLS for a while, but hey. It got me a few phone calls and leads.

ANYWAY, I digress. Maybe your best bet is a fresh approach, with a price that will SELL, and just try to salvage the friendship.

Hi Pedro!

I'm sorry for what you are going through. It's always hard to work with family and friends as (in my experience) they seem to take advantage of the situation. You are, unfortunately, in a sticky situation... only because she is your friend (and probably want to keep it that way).

I agree with Merkaba that you should get documentation on how she has been marketing your home. If she is unable to or has not provided enough attention towards your home, then you have 3 options:

1. Meet with her and let her know your dissappointment and how you expect her to do more. Ask her if she still wants to help you with the sale of your property. If she says yes, then ask her what changes she will make this time around. Get her to create a marketing plan that she can give to you (in writing) so you know what to expect from her. This is something she really should have presented to you when you signed the listing agreement with her.

If she says she no longer wants to help you sell your home, then get the proper release papers. Make sure you have signed documents with the broker's signature releasing your agreement. If you don't do that and you sign on with another listing agent and then your house gets sold, your friend actually could come back and say that she deserves the commission because you have an agreement and there was no release.

2. After getting proof of her non-performance, you could go to her broker and have a discussion with them. Brokers normally don't want to lose a listing and will do what they can to save it... if saveable. They will either talk to your real estate friend and see if something could be worked out, or they could just provide another listing agent within the same company to take over your listing.

3. If you are unhappy with the whole company completely, get the release papers - be sure to read it carefully to see how long after you can sign on with another agent - and then go sign up with another listing agent. HOWEVER... this time around, you might want to interview several agents and see what they have to offer you. Just remember that the agent that says they can get your house sold at whatever price you want is just selling you. We, as real estate agents, don't have control over the selling price. The market does. Go with the agent that is honest and gives you a good comparable analysis of homes in your area - this should include the actives, the under contracts, the solds, and the expireds. Also, make sure they offer you a marketing plan... what they are planning to do over the next few days and weeks and WHEN they will be doing it. Keeping in contact with you at least once a week should be part of their marketing plan.

Here's something for you to just keep in the back of your mind in regards to the comparables of homes... when you see the active listings right now, you can't really base your home pricing on those numbers as that are just numbers that the sellers are HOPING to get. Your best bet are the under-contracts and the sold because this is what the market is wiling to pay...but be careful of the under-contracts because the price you see at that time may not be the closed price in the end. Expired...well, that's just the price that the market refuses to pay for.

Phew! I feel like I just went through my listing presentation. LOL!!!

Real quick now... Your agent is correct that buyers are slowing down...not because there aren't enough, but because they are now getting a little picky. So if your house is in tip top shape (staged) and is priced very competitively at the market's price bearing, then you could have multiple buyers because now they see beauty and value.

I truly hope this has helped you. Good luck!

Thanks for the notes guys! The house is very well priced, actually 60K under the apraisal value from last year and the cheapest per sq feet in the area, and was just totally remodelled with paint, carpet, appliances, roof, etc.

One other note, we thoroughly studied the market and the prices of comps for sale and made sure we were less than all of them, so no, we weren't overpriced compared to the other properites currently for sale. Appreciate everyone's feedback!

YOUR IN CALIFORNIA!!!!!!!

There are areas that last year had 400 properties for sale now have over 4,700!

The appraisal last year means NOTHING,was the appraisal for a refi,a loan closing or just to see what it's worth.If it's for what it's worth it's useless as the appraiser will try to hit your number so they get PAID.Unlike a bank loan where they are required to have an accurate number and refi's are worthless as they go up to 125 percent value of the home..


In your area what is the average days on the market?How much inventory is listed?What have properties SOLD for recently?Throw all listing properties pricing out the window.Most sellers in Cali are all overpriced.

How much is the market depreciating in price each month 2,3,4 percent a month,by checking solds for th epast few months your agent can get this average.

If you need to sell,sell now to move it and drop until you get it sold.If not wait a few years until the Cali market settles and then put back on the market.

Pedro it sounds liek your agent isn't telling you like it is or you don't want to believe it.Either way there is only one truth and that is what the sold prices are in the market.Buyers have lot's to choose from,know Cali's values are dropping and want a huge deal because they don't want to pay near market and with values falling be upside down on the home.

If you agent can't pull mls solds have look at the tax recording records which will include any fsbo's good luck.

I am fully aware of the market's issues combined with the mortgage crisis and I accept that. My gripe is she has mentioned several different times to being burnt out, over it, and thinking of changing careers. Perhaps this was said to me as her friend, not as her client but it still troubles me. Due to the state of the market, I strongly believe that is all the more reason to have an agent putting 110% into it.

Sorry Pedro but in many if not most places in CA an appraisal from 1 yr ago is about as valid as one from 150 yrs ago. I won't use comps anymore that are more than 90 days old.

The standard CAR form listing agreement makes it impossible for one party to cancel unilaterally.

But what you can do is talk to your agent's broker & see what can be worked out.

As a broker myself, I would never hesitate to let a client out of a listing. Especially in this market unless it's a genuine steal & can compete w/the REO's I can't make sense of spending the $ to advertise, place a sign, lockbox etc.


In my market if a house isn't selling, it's b/c the price is too hi.

Drop till it sells.

That is the reality. In my area resale homes are also getting hammered by competition from new construction w/buider incentives, buy downs, etc.

Sellers are having a really tough time right now understanding how fast & far values have fallen & it's still falling.

Got it! Seems all indicators point to the same scenario for us. Re rent the house long term (basicly breaking even after all costs), take the tax break and readdress the issue when things calm down. I think we should be thankful we can get our overhead covered when we rent it, providing of course we can find a good renter. Someone much smarter than me just said only people that really have to sell are trying to sell, and even some of them can't.

Yup. You definitely got it.

That is what we're doing, renting them out for now. Fwiw, altho I am a broker myself, I pay a property mgt co to handle my rentals. I don't have time to deal w/the headaches. Money well spent IMO.

update, well we had a heart to heart conversation today and we all agreed it is in everyone's best interest if we disolve the listing agreement. We agreed to compensate her for the last few onths of property management (delaing with house issues, overseeing new septic, etc). Thanks for all your feedback.

Your agent/friend has probably made those comments out of frustration with the market, she's probably just venting. I just sold property for a family member, who drove me nuts, calling every day to find out what I was doing to sell her home, the truth is in this market there is only so much you can do. It dosen't meen that the agent is lazy or dosen't want to sell your home I'm sure when her phone rings with someone interested in seeing the property she will jump at the chance to show it. If people arn't calling, then they will not be viewing, If your not getting 3 showings a week, your not gonna sell. If you don't need to sell you may just want to take it off the market but if you do want or need to sell consider dropping the price by 5-10% every week until you are getting 3 showings a week. Then you should start to get some offers. Don't loose a friend over it, I'm sure she's doing all she can, and probably feels obligated to do her best because of your friendship.

Inflated appraisals are produced regularly for purchase and refi situations. The pressure to "hit the number" is always there, regardless of the purpose of the loan.

True, a year old appraisal is worthless. An appraisal only a few months old (effective date) can be worthless.

Hi Pedro,

If you decide to ask your agent to allow you to withdraw your listing, make sure you get the agent to sign an "Unconditional" withdrawal, rather than a "Conditional." Although it may be called something different from state to state, most states allow for both types.

I agree with the agent that suggested getting a good accounting of the marketing activities already completed. Make certain your home is priced correctly and it will sell. Perhaps if you found that the agent has indeed been working on your home's marketing, you may even decide to stay with her.

Good luck!

can you break a contract with a selling agent if they are really bad?


Thomson Alliance

Home Inspectors Inspection Hawaii, Oahu
http://www.thomsonalliance.com
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Yes you can give them written notice. There should be something in the contract that will tell you how to break the contract with your selling agent (listing agent)

Beside, this thread shouldn't be existing. When you list with a Real Estate agent, just ask for a release clause in the listing agreement: "seller and agent understand and agree that seller may cancel this agreement...at anytime...winth 30 days of...in writing...without any penalty...whatever you want to put in.
If agent disagree, move on, he won't be 100% on your property then...

Enthusiasm does not sell the hose. What do you think they did not do and what do you think they should have done?

Drop it again......


Statistics show that the number one reason a home sales is because it is placed on the MLS. Number 2 reason is almost always a yard sign..

What does this mean?

If you listed your home with the worse office and the worse agent in town, but had your home priced right, it would probably sell.