Hello Scourt123,

Be sure you get your listing cancellation in writing and signed by both your former agent and her broker. Once you have that very important piece of page, interview brokers who have good experience, good recommendations from their clients and time to devote to marketing your home. If you don't feel comfortable and confident in your initial interview, then move on to the next broker. Half of the success sellers have is in having a good relationship with their broker. The more hands on a broker is the more sellers succeed. If a broker assigns important tasks to their assistants, then they may be too busy to take a personal interest in your home's success. If you would like to interview me, just give me a call on my cell: 510-589-4794

I think your reasons sound fair. You need good representation, and you deserve to feel well represented. Your listing contract is with the brokerage, so contact the broker to discuss details - they may re-assign another agent to you (I assume you'll have the right to interview people they think might work better with you).

Good luck!

Scourt,

If you do not feel you are being handled properly, then you are not. I may agree that the agent is handling the buyers wrong if she is screening them for lowball offers but he/she should still discuss them with you to let you know what the market is telling her. If there are good comps and multiple comps to support value, why not hold a line? This is one tactic to pressure buyers to getting you your price, but pressure should not be needed if the home is priced right to begin with or better priced low to attract multiple offers.

The right thing to do is to discuss the matter with your agent first and get her to justify herself. You have the right to know what is going on. Lastly, Yes, firing her is an option.

As a 24 year veteran Realtor I can tell you that our job is a full time Plus... Properly servicing a listing implies that you will be there when a call comes in about the house you listed. Experience always counts on any field, at times like these you need someone that is fully dedicated and knows your town, your local market conditions, your demographics etc, etc. I totatlly agree with you about speaking with you and not for you.

Realtor and Seller need to be working together and fine tune their relationship in order to achieve the goal of selling the house. The Realtor must have a good marketing plan in place and the seller needs to have the house ready at all times, the Realtor's efforts to get showings of the house must be followed by the house being in top shape, lights on, pleasant views, tidy, clean, open, uncluttered... It is a team effort!

If you don't trust and believe your Realtor you might as well get another one! Interview a couple of Realtors, ask questions, see their advertising, call one of their listings and see how they respond to you as a buyer and then you will have an idea of how they work. Above all, get someone that works in San Leandro. Good Luck.

All of these answers are very good and offer a lot of great advise. I would like to add some understanding to the idea of your Realtor not letting you out of your listing. Keep in mind, your contract as a client and your home is not with the agent, but with the Broker. Ultimately, only the Broker has the say so in releasing a client, whether that is a Buyer client or a Selling client. The contract that is established is with the real estate company, through the Broker not the agent. Speak with the Broker and they will work to resolve your issue. If they give you an "unconditional release", then you are free to pursue any other real estate service relationship you like. If you are given a "conditional release", make sure you understand what that means and what the conditions of your release are. Ask the question, "what does this allow me to do now, and what is the time frame before these restrictions are removed." This will let you know what the boundaries are with moving forward. Stan Vaught, Coldwell Banker United, Realtors

Scourt - hello again

Let me give you a suggestion moving forward, whether with this agent or a new one.

Ask for their marketing plan to be put in writing.
I ALWAYS write out everything I will do for a seller. I sign it, much like a pledge, and then I make sure I do what is on the list. I even list how many times a week the seller will hear from me. If I don't do what I say I will do, I will let them cancel our agreement.

What this does is separate out the things I have control over from the things I don't have control over. I have no control over what the final price will be, or even how many offers will or won't come in.
By putting it in writing, it also tries to keep me from becoming a scapegoat for the seller's frustration if the house doesn't sell...ESPECIALLY if the seller didn't always follow my advice.

Having a list clearly defines the expectations for both sides.
Good luck with your sale........Find an agent who is full tim,e and can work to get your home sold!
Best wishes
Debbie Rose

Scourt123:

Let me respond to your statements:

Q: I have to cancel my realtor relationship because their is a conflict of interest. Is this the wrong thing to do?
A: I’m not sure I’d say there is a conflict of interest – in my opinion, I’d use words such as “acting in your BEST interest.” In practical reality, you can cancel a relationship with a Realtor at any time. Although we don’t like to se this happen, you need to be assured that you are receiving the very best professional help possible. In your case, it sounds as if you have serious doubts. Most Realtors will allow you to cancel a listing with them if you tell them you want to do so. If a listing Realtor won’t cooperate, I’ve seen sellers do a number of things to make a property unsalable:

(1) Refuse to allow the property to be shown or set very unrealistic showing guidelines,
(2) Remove the lockbox,
(3) Refuse to look at offers,
(4) Refuse to lower the price to market value … and so on.

I’m not suggesting you do any of these things – these are merely things I’ve seen other sellers do when a Realtor refused to allow them out of a listing agreement. Most Realtors will let you out of the listing – some may ask you to pay some of their costs to date.

Q: My realtor starts a new job on Wednesday.
A: You need a full-time Realtor.

Q: The second reason is she does not have enough experience.
A: Experience is critical – especially in this market. Along with this I’d have a few questions of my own:

(1) Is she fully marketing your home? Are there multiple pictures on the MLS and all other major websites? Is she taking full advantage of all other websites?
(2) Is your home staged?
(3) Does she have a virtual tour up and running? Here’s an example: http://tours.bayhometours.com/public/vtour/display/6056/slideshow
(4) Does your home have a dedicated website? Here’s an example: http://www.4490glidden.com

One of the issues faced by part-time Realtors is the lack of funds to fully market a home. If you are competing against REOs, you need to put your best foot forward.

Q: Third reason is she seems to talks the interested buyers in our home out of sending us a offer. Her conversations with me indicate she takes a hard line with the pricing without speaking with us first.
I have told her more then once that she needs to speak with us not for us.
A: I would agree with this – we take the position of telling all buyers to write at whatever level they wish to, then we counter if necessary. Sometimes the very fact that we have an offer in hand (we don’t need to disclose that it might be a lowball offer) is enough to get others to get off the fence and write appropriate offers. We also let our sellers know what kind of market activity is happening and if anyone is considering writing an offer – even if it is low.

Q: I am I making the wrong decision?
A: As Glen stated, it sounds to me like you’ve already made your decision. You need the absolute best help you can get. Make sure you interview a few prospective Realtors before you make a final choice.

Here is a link that may be helpful:
http://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Selling/How_do_I_know_if_I…

.

My suggestion would be to discuss with your listing agent first about cancelling your contract, your concerns or fix the problem if possible. I'm sure most of the the agent understands that if the seller is not satisfied with their service then cancelling the listing is better.

On pricing, no listing agent will force you to take a lower offer, the agent needs to talk to you first for lowering the list price or present any offer they get and its up to you whether you want to accept that offer or not. If you dont like any offer then you can either counter or reject the buyer offer.

If I can help you further, please let me know.

Thanks
Blaison
510-366-9405

Sounds like you already know the answer..... Get the service you want and deserve. Hope your house sells soon. Glen Broker

HI Scourt
Certainly, as you just stated, you need someone to speak with you, and represent what your wishes are. As a listing agent, we cannot state that the seller will take less than the asking price, but we can, and should, encourage all offers to be submitted.

if your agent is startig a new job, that means real estate isn't full time for her. I truly feel everyone is better served by working with a full time agent who knows the market and has had time to hone their skills.
If you have a listing agreement with her company, then what you might want to do is sit down with her Broker, and see if they can assign a new, FULL TIME agent to you. Certainly, a discussion with her and her broker is a good place to start. I don't know how you found her, but business comes first, and if she doesn't have the time or know-how to handle your sale, you are entitled to move forward with someone else.

Good luck with your sale!
Best wishes...
Debbie Rose
Prudential NJ Properties