Last week, I had asked on Twitter and Facebook “what’s the one thing you expect most from your real estate agent?”  The responses varied in general, but one specific thing that came up was that people wanted their real estate agent to listen.  A novel concept, really … we all want to be heard.  Out of that question, someone on Twitter followed up by suggesting that when you have a contract with a listing agent, you can’t fire them, even when that agent isn’t listening.

@NRVLiving How can you fire someone with the contract? You either wait out the listing or have to stop looking, No?

— Lynn Huber (@LynnHuber) April 4, 2012

I disagree.  In fact, I tell every client that I work at their discretion, and if I’m not doing what they hired me to do, I should be fired.  I’m not trying to get fired, mind you, but sometimes that’s just the way it goes.  Think about it like this – when you’re hiring an agent, you’re deciding that you’re going to work with them for a few months.  You’re going to “date” them for a while, and you need to make sure you’ve got a match.

Sometimes when a home is listed for sale, a seller will change their mind.  Maybe their circumstances change and they don’t NEED to sell their home, or maybe they’ve just decided they don’t want to work with the agent they hired.  In any case, if the house hasn’t sold and you’re listed with Jeremy Hart and NRVLiving Real Estate, we’ll allow you to cancel your listing agreement.  We want you to be 100% satisfied with our work, and if we’ve promised you something and haven’t delivered on that promise, then shouldn’t you have the right to change your mind?

It really shouldn’t be more difficult than that.  The Listing Agreement is just that, an agreement, but sometimes changes need to be made, and as a home seller you shouldn’t be made to feel that you have no options.  The same goes for home buyers – just because you have a written agreement to work with a particular agent, if that agent keeps showing you split level homes even after you’ve told them 38 times that you didn’t want to see split level homes, then perhaps you need to look into canceling your agreement with them.  I’m dense, but if it takes me 38 times to get the message then perhaps there’s no hope for me.

All of that being said, if you’re a home buyer or seller and have a property under contract, you need to contact an attorney before deciding whether to cancel the contract.  Please note the emphasis – I’m not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV, but there are likely serious consequences for canceling a ratified contract, and you need to know what those are before doing continuing.

You have options as a home buyer or seller. Just because you signed an agreement to work with a particular agent, if you aren’t satisfied you shouldn’t be forced to keep dating.  Be honest – say “this isn’t working for me, and I’d like to see other people.” It’s for the best, I promise.

Want to read more? Jay Thompson did a much more in-depth post in March.

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