My daughter got talked into letting her sister in law list her house. she is a new agent, never listed or sold a house before. It has been almost 3 months and only one person has looked at the house????? First she said the listing would be for just 3 months, but now after reviewing the paperwork, it says 4 months, and she cannot list with another agent for a month after that, so its 5 months! And there will be a huge fee if she cancels the contract. The house is not in the paper, she finally had an open house with absolutely no advertising! One open house in almost 3 months! Just a sign out front and on the street corners the day of the showing. One person came inside! One!!! Now she is telling my daughter to lower her price???? The house was appraised in May for $545,000 and they have since added a bedroom by building a closet, all new carpet, travertine tile, and hard wood in front room, paint, staging, the house looks great! Much better than when it was appraised. So why does she want to list it at $510,000??? There will be no equity left over after paying for her commission. Now she wants to rent the house out and have them move in with family members, that way her boss who owns a property management and loan office, will get a rental commission too. They owe $2500 each month on their mortgage, they could only rent it for about $1700, this just isn't right! I really feel like my daughter is getting ripped off. Is there no way out of this mess? Isn't there a conflict of interest, since this sister in law is my daughters estranged husbands brothers wife? Their family does not want my daughter to move, they want her to move back, but he cheated on her, and she refuses to go back to him, he says he will sell the house and follow her, but he can't do that with this lousy agent and conniving family sabotaging them. There must be someway to get out of this railroading contract. Please help, mad grandma in California.

In many markets in the US, an appraisal performed in May may be considered outdated due to market correction! What was the purpose for the appraisal performed in May? If it was for an equity line, then it's most likely not as detailed & accurate as a full-blown appriasal. Sounds like it was for an equity line as you mention the improvements taking place shortly thereafter. If it was for an equity line, it was probably what we refer to as a "drive-by" which is NOT the same as a standard appraisal.

You need to find out what comparable sales within the past couple of months have occured within the same neighborhood as her house. As for the improvements made... unfortunately, adding many personal touches to a property does not always equate to 100% or greater return on investment. That's not to say that it won't help. I just feel like you should know that a dollar spent does not always mean a dollar received. There are many factors to consider in properly pricing a home. All of this is not justifying the reduced price that she recommended! Only a true comparative market analysis with detailed adjustments will give a starting point for proper pricing. Motivation to sell and market conditions also play an important role.

If you feel that the sister-in-law is not doing her job, then contact her broker and voice your displeasure. They may reassign the listing to another agent within the same office or just release the listing. If they agree to release the listing, ask for the release in writing and make sure that the broker signs it!

Good luck!