How can you fire your realtor if he/she is lazy and not doing much for you?

Question

You sign these contracts for them to be your realtor. Then they fall asleep and barely lift a finger to help you sell your property. Can I just say, "You're fired!" and go about finding someone new?
Or do I have to do it a certain way without getting sued myself.

Thanks for the good answers so far. I've had my house on the market about a month, and the realtor has not even put up a picture or description of my house on the website. I even gave her lots of digital photos. I met with her a month ago at the house for a walk through and she showed up with a digital camera with dead batteries. I send emails but never get a response. When I call, I get a bunch of lame excuses, "I had to go to a funeral, I was sick last week, blah blah." This is a major realtor company too. I look on the site for listings from other agents with this agency and they have nice music, good photos, text descriptions, panaramic video, etc. All I get is a frikkin "picture & description not available". Like that is going to spark interest.

Answer 1

If you have emailed, phoned and attempted contact with this agent without success, call the broker next and tell him/her that you have been unsuccessful trying to contact your agent. There is a portion of the contract that says the agent must perform or the contract can be voided.

Also tell him that you are not satisfied with his firm and want to get out of the contract for non-performance by his agent.

If he gives you any static tell him you are going to place a complait against him with the real estate board he belongs to as well as with the Better Busines Bureau.

Failing to get out of the contract with these methods might cause for you to hire an attorney to write a letter to the brokerage firm indicating more action will be forth coming if this matter is not resolved.

I can understand that you just want out of the contract now.

In the future in dealing with real estate agents I suggest that you interview at least 3 of them. They should tell you how they will market your property as to the number of open houses, print and televised advertisement and that they will publish the listing in the MLS. They should also give you some idea as to what current prices are going for with houses similar to yours so you can price it right. Your three agents should be within several thousand dollars of each other about how much you can sell your home for.

After listening to the three agents you might call each one, telling one that you have selected them. Call the other two and tell them they were not selected and why. Don't keep them on a limb calling asking if they are gonna get the listing. Save their time because it is valuable as is yours.

I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

Answer 2

All you have to do is inform the realtor you will be using someone else. The catch? Whatever homes that realtor present to you, either in writing, in pictures or in person are still her properties. If you found one you want and that realtor is the one who showed it to you, you have to use that realtor to buy it. Once you tell the realtor you are going to use someone else, then you have to start all over with OTHER properties that you have not seen before. In case you had not noticed, your first realtor probably showed you a ton of homes one way or another that you were really not interested in. That way she has pretty much monopolized you and has you tied up for any of them. If there are 100 properties of the type you want and the realtor showed you 90 of them, you can only use a new realtor for the remaining 10.... GOT CHA!! Next time give the realtor a very specific list of what you are interested in. Like this. Homes in zip code 33440 only. AND Homes under $400,000 only. AND Homes with pools only. AND Homes with a 3 car garage. By giving the realtor a specific list of requirements such as above, if they show you anything that does NOT meet the requirements it does not count. Then if you want to get a new realtor you can continue your search and just by changing one requirement, you can be safe. For example.....you do not like the one realtor so you get another one. You give them the same list except this time you ask for homes in a different zip code. Since the first realtor was ONLY to show you homes in that one zip code, if they did happen to show you something outside that zip code, they did it without your permission. Realtors have a real racket. Even if an owner sells a house at a loss, the realtor still gets to make money off the sale.

Answer 3

A real estate listing agreement (or contract) works both ways. The listing agreement stipulates what the Realtor will do for you as well as what you the seller are obligated to do.

If they are performing their duties according to the agreement, there is not much you can do except asking them to release you from the agreement.

If your agent is not performing according to the listing agreement, then talk to the agent's broker and explain your situation. Since all the listing agreements are done on the broker's behalf, he/she is the one with the say so.

If they are not holding up their end of the agreement and they won't release you from it then you can contact your state's real estate board and file a complaint. You should be able to find their number in the government pages both in the phone book and on the web.

You say that your realtor is lazy, is it because there are no offers on your place? Did you price the property within the recommended price range that the agent provided when he/she performed a comparative market analysis for you? Is your home priced right for your area? Are other comparable homes in your area selling for the same price?

I know that I personally have some clients who believe I am not trying very hard to sell their property. These clients fail to realize that the real estate market has cooled dramatically over the past seven to ten months. Homes are not selling for what they used to, and those that are selling are taking much longer to do so. I actually have several listings that are priced high, which have not had any showings in the past five months; the sellers seem to not understand that to be competitive in a market with few buyers, they must be priced right for what teh property has to offer.

Hope this helps, if only to possibly understand the agents point of view.


Post Script:
Having read your additional comments, I strongly recommend talking to the agency's broker to get this resolved. If you do not get satisfaction from there, contact your state's real estate agency/commission, they can investigate and possibly levy fines and penalties. Finally, contact the national chain's main office, let them know how the franchaise is being operated in your area. They will probably be very happy to do what it takes to avoid the bad publicity that may ensue.

Answer 4

Set up an appointment with the Broker of the Agency. Than tell him/her what you were presented and what you were promised. Realtor.com which most cities are linked into have a great way of getting your home out there. I know my clients are mad when my automatic daily emails blast out a property without a photo. Six good photo's get much attention. 12 photo's which I always insist get great attention.

Tomorrow call the agency your agent works for and set up an appointment with the Broker. Than decide from that conversation if you wish to leave or not. Remember the Broker get's paid as well and does not want to tarnish there name.

Good luck.

Answer 5

I would call the owner, (if he/she will take the call) or write a letter to the owner explaning how you would like to change to another realtor in the office, or terminate the contract. Rule of thumb is "do not sign a long term contract". Any good agent will terminate a contract with you just asking, but most are not good or ethical. Especially with todays changing market, I have 10 condos for sale right now (mine) and I negotiated with the realtor to pay for all the "Staging" of the condo's, I simply told her - hey if you don't want to spend money on advertising and staging I will go with someone who will, so far we have sold 7. Sellers have to be aggressive in todays changing market, remember in life you don't get what you deserve you get what you negotiate!!!..

Answer 6

Definitely follow your contract, but can always ask for a release if it isn't working out. Just a hint, in case Realtor doesn't let you out - you can always...

-talk to her broker about satisfaction level (may get a release)
-call her all day long with every sort of question and asking for updates each hour - she will want out quickly
-question every move she advises you on
-Look for contract areas that she is not following herself, it could render her in default on the contract
-Let her know that someone in the neighborhood asked about her work for you, but you are recomending someone else right now

Answer 7

You need to read over the contract that you signed with the realtor to see if there are any outs. Listing Agreements with agents of large brokerage firms (Coldwell Banker, Alain Pinel, Intero, etc) will be a lot easier to get out of than agreements with smaller, independent brokerage firms. Technically agents can sue you for breach of contract, however, brokers dont generally want their agents to do that because 1) its a ton of bad publicity, and 2) the amount they can sue you for and expect to get is minimal

Answer 8

Your best bet is to have an attorney go over the contract to make sure that you can safely fire the Realtor without any repercussions.

Answer 9

Check your listing contract and find out if there is a time limit.

If not, call and have a talk with her and if she's okay parting ways (often they are especially if it didnt' sell on its own quickly) and then get her to sign a statement.

Answer 10

Can't. You signed a listing contract.

If you sell your home without using the agent, the agent and broker can sue for the commission that is owed them.

Unless the agent would legally release you from the contract, or you complained to his/her broker and he forced the agent to release you.