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  • #1

    Firing Realtor

    I put my house on market may 30. We were in the staging process (filling up a storage unit) and the realtor we decided to list with called and spontaneously had a client to show our home too. It was not ready to be shown but he wanted to walk the family thru anyway. I was away from home. He presented my husband with a contract saying it was so he could show the house to this family.
    My dh signed it. It was a six month contract with him. I know it is your responsibility to read everything you sign and my husband is VERY VERY responsible and usually does but SOMEHOW he just signed it. The realtor didn't express it was signing with him six months. nto blaming dh

    I had my first offer the week it listed. It fell thru last minute after 51 days sale pending. I don't blame my realtor for buyer financing falling thru but I have MANY offenses about him. He's not awful just not good at all.

    I wish we had a three month contract bc what motivation does he have now?
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  • #2
    To be fair, I am not like "omy my goodness I want to fire him now" but here are some offenses

    1) while making counter offers to bidders, wrote them wrong ie. said they get fidge when they don't for x price

    2)I called him one night and said I wanted to move. it was a sudden choice. found him in an ad. I knew what city, size, style and price range bc I had looked online a lot for years but was ready to do it. I found a house myself online I said was perfect for me. He showed me it on a Friday, just the one. I am closing on it in two days by the way. I asked him the next day, a sat ,to show me three more so I can compare. He actually complained he had to spend his weekend showing me homes. We spent a total of 3 hours looking at homes. He gets commission on the 254K home I am buying.

    3) Many times if we question anything he gets mad literally angry about having to spend time on it. ie. "Why are the buyers asking me to pay them $57 a day rent on a 200K home if I rent after closing? sounds high?" response cocky "Well it's a nice sunday, let me just go spend some time on this contract for you"
    He's always "in the middle of something" he's mad he has to stop to do to spend time on me.
    I rarely contact him.
    I got a e mail saying my buyer had a financial issue. I asked what it was politely. Just say you don't know!! He gets angry and says "Let me spend some time researching this for you" in a mad voice

    good things
    good staging adviser
    has spent some time on phone talking to me a few times
    has positive attitude about getting high price for home(why I hired him. he was confident about getting good price for upgrades"
    he is more of a landlord it seems like and just has a few listings

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    • #3
      In most states, just about anyone can obtain a realtor's license.

      A contract is a contract. If you can't exit the contract and prove the realtor isn't holding up his end of the bargain, then you need to decide what you're going to do. Maybe contact a lawyer if you really need out. Maybe ask the realtor (since he seems to not enjoy your company either), if the two of you can sign some sort of agreement that mutually terminates the contract?
      History will judge the complicit.

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      • #4
        I'd fire that realtor because he basically tricked your dh into signing a listing. I just don't want to conduct business with a person who has questionable ethics. I wonder what your state's realtor board would think about this practice.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Goldy1 View Post
          I put my house on market may 30. We were in the staging process (filling up a storage unit) and the realtor we decided to list with called and spontaneously had a client to show our home too. It was not ready to be shown but he wanted to walk the family thru anyway. I was away from home. He presented my husband with a contract saying it was so he could show the house to this family.
          My dh signed it. It was a six month contract with him. I know it is your responsibility to read everything you sign and my husband is VERY VERY responsible and usually does but SOMEHOW he just signed it. The realtor didn't express it was signing with him six months. nto blaming dh

          I had my first offer the week it listed. It fell thru last minute after 51 days sale pending. I don't blame my realtor for buyer financing falling thru but I have MANY offenses about him. He's not awful just not good at all.

          I wish we had a three month contract bc what motivation does he have now?
          There is an issue dealing with commission based sales people.

          Realtors, Insurance agents and financial planners all get lumped together like that.

          Some realtors will charge a $1000 listing fee and a lower commission schedule. Unless the realtor was referred to you by someone which used them to sell their house, keep looking.

          I know 100s of realtors from my experience as a financial planner (they are a dime a dozen, really). When I went to list my house, the only ones I considered were ones which had listed houses of people I knew. Just because I like someone does not mean I want to do business with them.

          Live and learn. Don't look back, wait until February and re-list again with a better realtor. Look for realtors which have sold in your neighborhood.

          Comment

          • #6
            I can't wait. I am closing on a house(see my other threads) and I need to sell this one now.
            I have to deal with him. I am moving and pregnant and can't find time to get lawyers involved. just venting and wondering in case things got bad.

            I heard you can ask to switch to another agent in company??

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            • #7
              Okay I told myself I wasn't going to comment on your threads because I really, really don't want to relive my own angsty experiences in Real Estate. Seriously, I think I'd voluntarily undergo a colonoscopy with no anesthesia before I could face selling a house again.

              But I just had to chime in to tell you that in my experience, if your Realtor is working for a Real Estate Broker, then it is time to pick up your telephone and call the Broker and let him/her know what is going on in the name of his/her office and say that you want any further work performed on the Contract by this Realtor to be closely supervised. And then tell him/her that you'd like a meeting sooner rather than later where you can be informed of the plan that is going to be implemented by the Realtor to market your house appropriately and get it sold.

              If your agent is the Broker then it is a bit harder. You need to start mentioning all those friends you have who buy and sell houses and how much you like to talk about your consumer experiences online and in person to any further future customers.

              But you know, if they'd prefer not to deal with a highly disgruntled and dissatisfied client, you'd be more than happy to just cancel the contract and everybody go their happy ways.

              Comment

              • #8
                I don't think it hurts to just broach the subject. If I was ever unhappy or some circumstance changed I have never had anyone ever blink at canceling a contract. I don't have any realtor specific "contract cancelling" experience. But have certainly mutually agreed to cancel a real estate purchase contract, simply because we were unhappy with the situation. The other party didn't have a lot of motivation to make us go through with a contract we were unhappy with. Most reasonable people wouldn't. I would just bring up the subject and ask. If he won't let it go and he doesn't care about his reputation then I think the advice above is good. But, just wanted to say I would back the truck up and talk to him first.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Originally posted by MonkeyMama View Post
                  But, just wanted to say I would back the truck up and talk to him first.
                  Agreed. I would definitely keep having conversations, if the realtor isn't aware of everything you have told us about how you feel, make sure you say it. The realtor works for YOU! They may not like to hear it, but it is part of the job.
                  My other blog is Your Organized Friend.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    This won't help OP

                    however I was advised by more than one realtor that selling house A before writing a contract on house B is always the best position to be in.

                    Trust the advice professionals give, especially if more than one professional give the same advice.

                    The want of the new house may trump the logic of above, being able to suppress the emotion will lead to better financial decision making.

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