Posted: 5/24/2011 2:25:00 PM EDT
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My mom is trying to sell her home and has hired a realtor. So far, she's received two calls from them about showing the house, and then nobody showed up. Then they had planned an open house and the realtor never showed up. She called them and 'something had come up' and they forgot to tell her. Then they said that they were going to put it on craigslist and apparently never did. Essentially, all they've done is put a shitty sign in the yard with no fliers or anything. They keep telling her all these things they're doing, when they're not doing anything, and assuring her they're working hard. She says she signed some sort of contract with them. Is there anything she can do? I have absolutely zero experience with realtors but it seems that my mom is being taken advantage of. |
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Quoted: usually there is a contract for a specified time frame. after that she can tell them she does not want to list with them again. I would guess that even with an exclusive listing if they are fucking up she has grounds to fire them.* *not legal advice, always hire a lawyer admitted in your state for everything, mowing the lawn, using the remote, dishes, hire a lawyer for all of that, times are tough
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Quoted:
Quoted:
usually there is a contract for a specified time frame. after that she can tell them she does not want to list with them again. I would guess that even with an exclusive listing if they are fucking up she has grounds to fire them.* *not legal advice, always hire a lawyer admitted in your state for everything, mowing the lawn, using the remote, dishes, hire a lawyer for all of that, times are tough Nope, even with an 'exclusive listing' she can drop them like a hot potato. They've never shown the house to a single buyer? They have no one to list as a possible buyer if the house were to sell in 30 days, no way to make a claim on the commission. They have failed in their fiduciary responsibility to the seller. All she has to do is inform them she's withdrawing the listing from their brokerage. Done deal. List with another competent brokerage and get on with life. Read the contract she has with the listing agent. Call the real estate board. Ask questions. Get answers. |
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Quoted: Quoted: sounds like they have failed to perform––contract dead! That's kind of what I figured but I figured I'd float it here anyway and see what people have to say. The contract generally is more specific than 'will perform to my satisfaction' (ex. MLS listing, 2 open houses, etc). There's also usually an expiration date. Your options are basically to complain (to the realtor, the realtor's manager, or the realty board) or wait for the contract to expire. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: usually there is a contract for a specified time frame. after that she can tell them she does not want to list with them again. I would guess that even with an exclusive listing if they are fucking up she has grounds to fire them.* *not legal advice, always hire a lawyer admitted in your state for everything, mowing the lawn, using the remote, dishes, hire a lawyer for all of that, times are tough Nope, even with an 'exclusive listing' she can drop them like a hot potato. They've never shown the house to a single buyer? They have no one to list as a possible buyer if the house were to sell in 30 days, no way to make a claim on the commission. They have failed in their fiduciary responsibility to the seller. All she has to do is inform them she's withdrawing the listing from their brokerage. Done deal. List with another competent brokerage and get on with life. Read the contract she has with the listing agent. Call the real estate board. Ask questions. Get answers. The realtor isn't going to be able to manufacture buyers. Most contracts will let the seller pull the listing.....but they'll be legally obligated to pay the first realtor the agreed commission (out of their pocket) if another realtor sells the property before the contract expires. Read the contract. |
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Quoted: Quoted: *not legal advice, always hire a lawyer admitted in your state for everything, mowing the lawn, using the remote, dishes, hire a lawyer for all of that, times are tough How much do yall usually charge to do someone's dishes? All I know is my wife swears she has an allergic reaction to dishwashing soap.  |
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Former agent from AZ..
It's VERY common for buyers to change schedules, skip on a house, etc.. Just tell your mom that this will be an inconvenient (hopefully short) process. Open house plans can change a lot. Nobody works on the weekend, so I used to show most of my properties on the weekends because of the work week. The prospect of taking active buyers out to look at properties outweighs setting a dozen signs up around a neighborhood and sitting there all afternoon. It definitely warrants a phone call to the homeowner for the change of plans though, and if it happens too often, that's a bad sign. Regarding the craigslists ads, they are so full of bullshit/flagging/etc.. if you can't find the listing directly don't worry, but I would worry about an agent that ONLY offers craigslist ads and doesn't have about a million other advertising methods. Ask to see the advertising/web adds/ listings they have done for the property too. IMO once you start to get a sour taste with how the agent is handling your situation, it's tough to bounce back from that. If they keep slipping up, fire them, and find and agent that stays on top of their shit. –––––––––––––– Part of my sales pitch for listings and for buyers was that I would never ask them to sign an exclusive listing/agency agreement. That gives both of us the opportunity to walk away if something stupid happens, the timelines are lessened, and it gives the clients a sense of control over the situation. Our team only had one temporary negative result as of this, but we took it to our AZ relator arbitration and got our money 6 months later. |
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Is your mom's house even in the MLS?
Personally I would wait for the contract to expire and then FSBO the thing. I sold my old townhouse that way last year priced just under recent sales, which I could afford since I wasn't kicking 6% to a realtor, and it was under contract in a week. |
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Quoted: Lawyers will mow lawns and do dishes now? Times must be hard.Quoted: usually there is a contract for a specified time frame. after that she can tell them she does not want to list with them again. I would guess that even with an exclusive listing if they are fucking up she has grounds to fire them.* *not legal advice, always hire a lawyer admitted in your state for everything, mowing the lawn, using the remote, dishes, hire a lawyer for all of that, times are tough |
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Read the contract like others have said. If there's still a while before it expires, she can contact the broker for the agency holding her listing and ask for a new Realtor to assume the contract. There's no issues with having to pay 3 people this way as you might have to do if you switch companies, because the Realtors work for the broker of what ever company has the listing. Good luck. |