Should I fire my Listing Agent?

Question

My townhouse has been on the market since December 20th and still has not sold. My contract with my listing agent expires on March 31. I realize that the housing market is soft but I also feel that she may not be doing the best job.

1. She has held no open houses and her reasoning is that they don't work, only the MLS or the For Sale sign works

2. The sign is very plain with no flyers

3. My home is in a suburb of L.A. considered "SouthBay" which has its own MLS but she has my home listed on the L.A. MLS and I may not be getting the same visibility that other homes in my area are getting.

I'm sure if I try to fire her she will blame the soft market, are my concerns valid?

Answer 1

The straightforward answer that you are not going to like is; if your home is not priced right, then even the top real estate agent in your state, could not sell it in the time frame you want. 3 things sell a house: Price, Product, Promotion and that is in order of importance

I do not know how your market is out there in Cali, but here in Michigan, particularly in my MLS area, our average days on the market is 135 days. The typical real estate listing contract lasts for 6 months for that exact reason. If your agent is not acting actively, and being passive, then you might want to interview a few other agents from reputable companies around town.

Now to answer your questions,
1. She is right, Open houses do not sell homes. Only 2 percent of homes listed are sold at an open house, if that. Agents do open houses to meet new buyers in the area, that even though they might not like your house, they can try to find them others in the area, generating more business for themselves. Another reason an agent holds an Open house would be to satisfy the seller to make him/her feel like they are being proactive. A thing that you might suggest would be to have her hold a Broker open house. This is where your agent invites agents throughout your arean to come have lunch and view your listing, hoping that it might fit one of their buyer's needs/wants. Lately, these have proven to be quite effective for agents within my company.

2. Plain sign = not that big of a deal, as long as it advertises that your home is for sale, and gives a person driving by the means of contacting your agent, your good to go. Flyers, although helpful to buyers actually can help your home NOT sell. Why you ask? Do you want people driving by your property, picking up a flyer and deciding there on the spot that they don't even want to take a look inside, nor have an agent show them around, highlighting the good things about it. Unless you have lots of things to show off inside your home, don't use flyers, and if you do decide to use flyers in the future, do not put the asking price on them. You do not want to turn a potential buyer away without even getting a chance to negotiate.

3. I am not to sure about this because I am not from your area, nor do I know if your agent belongs to numerous MLS's. However I do know that I belong to two different MLS's to maximize my listings exposure, and because my company requires it.

To me, just by what you have said, it sounds like your agent isn't even attempting to appear to be actively marketing your house. Call your agent and ask him/her what exactly she has done to market your home. If possible, ask for proof, I.E. internet websites it is located on, newspaper clippings, etc. If you are not satisfied with her response either a) interview other agents, or b) get a month to month contract going with him/her, that way you are not locked in for 3 more months. Best of luck to you, if you have any questions, feel free to send me an email. I met an agent within my company from L.A. that is awesome, who might be able to be of help. Just email me and I can attempt to contact the agent and give you their contact info.

Answer 2

Yes you have a valid argument! Rates and an artificially inflated market (subprime lenders and 100% financing) have softened the market. Good news, however, is that you have a recent reduction in mortgage rates which will help more buyers afford your home. Has your listing broker created flyers presenting financing opportunities or options?

If your agent has listed your home as a "out of the area" listing agent/broker, chances are that selling agents will not either see the listing or will avoid it. Your best bet is to list your property with a local agent who is familiar with your area. This is not a necessity however. Some agents will not incur an additional expense by having your home listed across multilple boards. There is a service by MLS Alliance which encompasses almost all boards (even including some portions of Arizona and Nevada)! The fact that your listing agent (or broker) refuses to hold an open house is a clear indication that he or she is not doing her job. If your property is listed competitively (even a little below confirmed sales) then it should sell very quickly. If it doesn't and you are asking below market pricing, then your agent isn't effective. Go to Realator.com and see if your home is there. Read the listing. Is it good? Remember that the market is slowing and the dramatic increase in foreclosures is depriciating the market, so the longer you have your home listed, the more you're missing the market and the lower your home will sell.

Answer 3

In a word ... YES.

Her primary responsibility as your Realtor is to market your house the best way possible and apparently she is failing at her job. YOU ARE THE BOSS and you don't need to wait until the end of the listing contract to fire her! You don't have to explain why, the reasoning is right in front of her face.

Your concerns are completely valid, but should have been worked out when you originally hired her in the first place as to knowing what the Realtor's marketing plan (Newspaper Advertising, and how often, MLS, Open Houses, Flyers, etc) was. Chalk this up to experience and find another agent. It is completely OK to take the house off the market for a little while in between firing and hiring which could help phase out some of the staleness associated with your property. Good Luck!

Answer 4

Okay, your agent is semi-right on a couple of your points- but you are way more right.

#1 Open houses usually don't find a buyer for your home, but they are one of many necessary required marketing requirements to get a home sold. Open houses never hurt your home when getting marketed. So yeah, lets get some open houses going.

#2 I am a firm believer in nice looking flyers but usually there are only 3 main requirements for a flyer to work to sell your home-Price, Picture, and contact info. But here's the thing, if your agent is going to take the time to put a flyer together, shouldn't it look really impressive to the seller?

#3 Your home is listed in an MLS which is part of the MLS Alliance (before the February update). So, any Realtor in Southern California except for San Diego should be able to see your house in the MLS. Also, you can see it on Realtor.com.

Since Realtors are a dime a dozen, and you are already frustrated with valid concerns, find another agent. This time list your property for less, give a bigger coop comission, and go to Ross, TJ Max, or Marshals to buy some plants and other inexpensive things you can use to make your property show better.

Answer 5

Sellers are too quick to blame the Realtor. Open houses really don't sell houses - they bring in nosey neighbors and buyers who usually aren't qualified in your price range. I don't agree with flyers outside. Often the flyer gives a buyer enough information to DISQUALIFY the house - if the flyer answers all their questions, they don't need to call the real estate office, do they? The sole objective of placing a sign in the front yard is to generate calls.
The house should be listed in both MLS areas. Discuss this with your agent and demand that it be listed in both areas. If her office is not a part of that MLS, be apologetic, but firmly let her know that as much as you'd like to work with her, you cannot risk losing that exposure. She has most likely spent a lot more than you realize from MLS fees, to sign installation, to professional photos for the MLS to advertising. I don't think she will be real happy about releasing you from the listing. If she cannot accomodate, you might ask her to refer you to the best agent she knows who is active in both MLS areas (she can then get a fee from the agent she refers it to to cover some of her expenses paid out). She will probably mention the soft market - she is most likely sharing the facts in doing this instead of "blaming" the soft market.

Answer 6

Hi!
Just to give you a little background I'm a licensed appraiser & loan officer in Southern California.

The situation with agents currently, since the market isn't as hot as it once was, is that they are pretty much lazy. Alos, competition for agents has shot up astronomically now that there are many Help U Sell type services.
It looks like your agent simply has your house signed to herself to increase her chances on finding a buyer who may be interested. But she doens't want to spend money for fear of losing it when the house may not sell - this is why you have been furnished with flimsy flyers and no open house (which I'm shocked to hear) Truthfully, if you have an agent who doesn't want to spend 5 or 600 bucks on listing a house this means that they are not only cheap but their reserves are lacking, any good agent goes full out on a listing (catchy fliers, open houses, maybe even some staging) no matter what the market or other factors. This is the only way to ensure that you have tried your hardest.
I would drop her faster than hot coal.
If you'd like I can refer you to professional agents I have worked with throughout my career who take their jobs seriously and will put in a 150% effort to sell.

Answer 7

That's 78 days on the market. Call other listing agents in your area, & ask them what the average time on the market is for a house in your price range. If it's considerably less than 78 days then she should be SO fired.

Plus people can rationalize their way out of doing all kinds of things, & I would be concerned that she isn't doing everything possible to get your house sold, & that includes holding open houses.
By now I would have expected that she would have held at least two open houses, one for other agents, & one that was advertised in the local papers. If she doesn't have success with open houses, that may be a testament to her sales ability, not the success rate of holding open houses.

One thing to look out for is an agent that will be willing to accept a cut rate commission. Sure the commission is low, but then they aren't motivated to do a lot for you either.

Last year we sold our house. Our agent took a 5% commission. It was 2% for him, & 3% for the purchasers agent so that he could offer incentive for the other agents to bring perspective buyers to us.
He brought in a professional photographer, printed flyers, & advertised in the local papers. We had two open houses, & sold the property in less than 30 days with only about 7 or 8 private viewings.

I think you have valid concerns. ;-)

Answer 8

I have been in real estate for many years, I do open houses as much as possible. And yes open houses rarely get a buyer for that particular house but there has been once in a blue moon where I did sell a house through an open house. What is this sign you are referring to? Is it the for sale sign? There should always be flyers in the house and in the sign in the yard.

In my opinion, I would fire her, a soft market is part of the problem yes but it sounds like she is not even trying to sell your home. Usually in a soft market you will find real estate agents who will do anything and everything to make sure your home as much exposure as possible.

Answer 9

If you are not satisfied with the job your agent has been doing, you are well within your rights to fire her or hire another when this listing expires. Bear in mind, your listing contract may provide that she get paid no matter who lists it if it sells within the next 6-12 months. Read this contract carefully, and when you do terminate your contract with her (no matter how you do it), put your concerns in writing. Your concerns are valid, in my opinion a soft market means you need more aggressive marketing.

Answer 10

She's right about open houses. Most Realtors only hold open houses to make more contacts and generate more leads- they very rarely lead to a sale, especially since people can see pics just fine on the internet without going through the trouble of actually seeing the house in person.