How do I fire my Realtor? Desperate for help/suggestions (sry long)

[Panthra529]

My DH and I lived in a beautiful house that we loved very much. However, the one downside to our home was that it faced a very busy 2 lane street. Our driveway was not on the busy road. You have to turn off of this busy road, and go around the block to a private access to get to the home. The home is a 4 bedroom, 3000sq ft house on a 1/2 acre of land with a brand new fenced in yard. The street is a good 100 feet away from the front of the house, so there is also a large front yard. The house is very sound proof. You would never know there was a road out front. We hated to leave, but upon finding out that the county may someday widen the road in front of the house and there is going to be a funeral home built on the property on the other side of this busy road about a block east of my home, we decided to put our house on the market. It is not that I am trying to dump it on someone else, I just know there are those out there that it may not bother. We thought we would be good friends by hiring our friend who has been a realtor for the last 3 years. There was my first mistake! He is a great guy and means well, but I am not sure this was the right choice.

I told him we wanted to buy land to build on in undeveloped areas, he insisted of showing us already built homes in "stepford wives" subdivisions. After realizing we wouldn't be able to afford the property we wanted, we gave in and started looking at the stepford wife homes. Actually this was a good thing. We found a house we fell in love with and amazingly enough, they accepted our low offer. However, we had to drop our contingency. To make an extremely long story short.....we have been in our new home which we love for a month and half, and in order to do so we had to take out a bridge loan since we haven't sold our other home yet.

Our house has been on the market for 4 months now. It shows extremely well (so the realtors say) It is very reasonably priced compared to the comps, actually it is low priced compared to the comps. Our friend has put it in many magazines, newspapers, and has had many open houses. I just don't feel though he is putting his all into it. When we ask him to change things ie: price, description, etc he is very slow to do so. He doesn't call realtors who have shown the house back in a timely manner to get feedback, and he is really pushy to have us take the house off of the market for 90 days so we can relist as a new listing. (we are in Illinois) I think he feels he does real estate as a hobby. Most of the feedback we get when we do have an occasional showing is that they love the house, just not the location. My friend works with Prudential, and I am not wondering if we should go with ReMax or Century 21? But how do I tell my friend this without jepordizing our friendship (I know if he is a real friend he would understand) or making it seem like we haven't appreciated his hard work so far. (When I say hard work I say that for the hard work he has had to do with putting up with my mutiple daily calls in the beginning)

Go figure...the one time my conservative husband and I decide to take a risk, it doesn't pan out for us. I realize that this is not the season to be selling a home in Illinois, so my husband and I have just gave in to the fact we wouldn't sell until after the 1st of the year, but that is right around the corner. So please if anyone has any suggestions, I am desperate! I can't afford 2 mortgages for long!

 

[dbarker]

I really cannot give you any good advise after the fact. But I think you have learned your lesson on "Don't mix business w/ pleasure"

However, do you have a contract w/ your friend realtor? If so, there are legal obligations. If not, go see another realtor and maybe ask them for suggestions. Good luck.

Also, this is a bad time of year to try to sell a house. Right now, everyone is buying Christmas presents, not houses. I heard that it is a "Buyer's Market" right now. Be patient. The market might pick back up after the middle of January. I sure hope so. Good luck in selling your house.

 

[Panthra529]

Actually our contract with him is up. I am sure he will be asking us to renew soon. Hence our problem. Thanks for the wishes of luck....we need it...oh and believe me ALL lesons have been learned here!

 

[dbarker]

Since the contract is up, then definitely go speak to another realtor. I would go w/ the Re/Max or Century 21. Good Luck.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

I would certainly not renew with him. Find someone who is energetic and REALLY wants to sell your home.

 

[SillyMe]

If your house is listed in MLS, which I'm sure it is, there probably isn't much more you can do or your realtor can do. Other realtors out there know about the house. If it is being shown, but no offers are coming in, it isn't necessarily your realtor's fault. It could be the price. It could be the location. It could just be that the right person hasn't come along yet. This time of the year is slow. It will pick up when people start receiving their income tax refunds.

 

[PlutoPony]

Before initially picking a realtor, professionals typically recommend interviewing at least 3 realtors to get their take on how they'd sell your home, the price they'd suggest, etc. Maybe you could do that now? You can get other realtors' opinions on why your house hasn't sold and what they'd do differently (if anything) then make a decision on who you think has the best chance of moving the property. I personally think your friend the realtor shouldn't be surprised if you look at other options now that his contract is expiring.... it may not be his fault that it hasn't sold but the bottom line is that it HASN'T and that's what should be most important here.
Good luck!

 

[disneylizzy]

You definitely should get feedback, but you also might have to consider dropping the price. Cliche but true - location, location, location.

 

[minkydog]

You definitely should get feedback, but you also might have to consider dropping the price. Cliche but true - location, location, location.

I'd second this. Any house will sell if the price is right. I think the biggest obstacle is the location. Personally, there is no way i would even look at a house that is located on a busy thoroughfare, no matter how great the house is. You're going to have to sweeten the deal, I'm afraid. Good Luck to you.

 

[mom2grace]

We also bought a new house without selling our old house. It did finally sell at the 6 month mark, but we had found someone to rent it. Is this a possibility for you?

You could rent it for 6 months, then put it back on the market in June?

 

[DVC-Don]

One realtor said there is location and there is price. The only thing we can change is the price. Your location sounds awful to me. Plus, this is a bad time of year to try and sell a house. I'd take it off the market while you interview realtors and listen to their opinon of your asking price.

 

[C.Ann]

You have two strikes against you - and I personally don't think it has anything to do with the realtor..

The biggest strike is the location - and the second is the time of year that you listed..

My house went on the market a week before Thanksgiving - poor timing with people concentrating on money flying out the window for the holidays - but it costs me nothing to have it "listed" right now and I signed the contract with full knowledge that the timing wasn't the best.. However - come January - when all of the landlords start raising their rents - I think there will be a lot of people out there looking to spend their money on something where they will build some equity.. Luckily I don't have to worry about paying two mortgages - I just have to be patient until the right buyer comes along..

As far as firing your realtor - I'm not sure what else it is that you expect him to do.. My realtor is a long-time friend who has been in the business forever and ever and I wouldn't have dreamed of using anyone else..

Hopefully things will brighten for you after the New Year..

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

It very well may have nothing at all to do with your friend, but everything to do with your old home's location.

Changing from Prudential to a C21, or Re/Max isn't going to open any magical gates. As agents, we're all independent contractors and are only as good as the business we run. The franchise we're with, won't guarantee a better agent.

(Re/Max for example offers zero training to its agents. I can't speak for C21 or Prudential, but I am an ex-Re/Max agent and could tell you stories that will curl your hair.)

I'm not sure about Illinios, but in Texas you'd have to disclose the information you have about the road and the funeral home. An experienced buyer's agent (who knows the area) will know these things too. It's possible that the agent has warned his/her clients about those two things. I know when I show a house that's obviously priced below market, I delve into to it to find out why.

Is your house located around other commercial properties? Would it be possible to market it as such?

To me it sounds like your agent is doing everything possible, marketing-wise to sell your property. Sometimes agents fall down on the job, but more often agents take the fall every time a house doesn't sell and it's outside of their control.

 

[JennInTN]

If you do not have a current, active contract, no need to fire your REALTOR. You are probably under no obligation to him from a busiess stand point (see your own contract). You may choose to re-list with him or someone within his firm. You may also go with another firm.

I will say that if your contract is up and you haven't ALREADY been contacted by him to re-list, you may want to find a someone who is willing to work to sell your home.

 

[Tanuki]

I have to say your location is such a big strike against you that you should expect it to take longer for your house to sell.

Anyone from the area is going to know (or suspect) that the road in front of your house could potentially be widened. They widen the roads where people tend to sit in traffic - staring at your house.

I can predict a few roads in my area which are candidates of "improvement". I don't even have to go to the county to find out. You can just tell.

The other thing is the busy street itself. If I had a dog or a small child I would never even consider buying a house on a busy street. What if they got out? My rule of thumb was to never to buy a home on a street with a yellow line in the middle of it.

You may have to ask a lower price to get your house to sell if the location is bad.

 

[Panthra529]

Thanks for all the input so far. I really appreciate it. We have dropped the price twice now. I really don't think price is the issue here. I do think it is the location though. And we are not trying to pull a fast one on anyone. There is a sign in the field across the way stating they are buliding a funeral home, (what better neighbors!) and the possible road widening has been in the paper. I am just very frustrated......every other home I have had has sold in 3 days or less. I knew this one would take longer due to the location. It is just going to be a matter of finding exactly the right person. We are in the MLS; the number is 05223065 if anyone is interested in looking on realtor.com. It really is a charming house! It isn't like it is on RT 66 throughfare either. It is a 2 lane hwy with large shoulders. At it's busiest time, the traffic is actually at a stand still due to a streetlight up the road, and the cars can't see into the house. But either way, I know full well it is still a deterrent.

I guess my main concern is not to hurt my friends feelings. I agree, there probably isn't much more he can do. I don't know, like I said I'm just frustrated.

However, the fun thing is that after staying up to the wee hours posting this last night. I got a call for 2 showings. One was today, and one tomorrow. I did find out thought that today's showing didn't go well. The people didn't like the floor plan. (first time I heard this!) And that is okay, not everyone likes the same things! So hopefully tomorrow will go better!

Thanks for listening to me vent!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I guess my main concern is not to hurt my friends feelings. I agree, there probably isn't much more he can do. I don't know, like I said I'm just frustrated.

Then don't hurt his feelings! It's really as simple as that. Regardless of what some people think of real estate agents, the job is hard and we spend the same amount of our unearned income regardless of whether a house sells or not. Let me tell you, advertising is extremely expensive. I spent over $20k alone, last year.

If you're just frustrated because your house hasn't sold and you suspect it's because of its location, don't ruin a friendship over it. Wait until your current listing agreement expires and explain to him that you think this could be long, messy ordeal and you'd rather not mesh a friendship with it.

If I were you and he has a solid history in real estate sales, I'd leave well enough alone and realize that every month your old house doesn't sell, you're losing money in taxes (or possibly mortgage payments). You could possibly lower the price and get rid of the house and call it even. Sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees.

However, the fun thing is that after staying up to the wee hours posting this last night. I got a call for 2 showings. One was today, and one tomorrow. I did find out thought that today's showing didn't go well. The people didn't like the floor plan. (first time I heard this!) And that is okay, not everyone likes the same things! So hopefully tomorrow will go better!

Thanks for listening to me vent!

That right there shows progress!

Also, welcome to the market here in Houston. Our homes sell in around 4-5 months. All of you in these hot markets have gotten used to abnormal real estate patterns and when the tide changes - and it will - you'll be dealing with these longer than (your) average days on the market. And that's for a home with no issues.

 

[DisneyArk]

I guess my main concern is not to hurt my friends feelings. I agree, there probably isn't much more he can do. I don't know, like I said I'm just frustrated.

However, the fun thing is that after staying up to the wee hours posting this last night. I got a call for 2 showings. One was today, and one tomorrow. I did find out thought that today's showing didn't go well. The people didn't like the floor plan. (first time I heard this!) And that is okay, not everyone likes the same things! So hopefully tomorrow will go better!

Thanks for listening to me vent!

We went through a similar situation a year ago. I really had to "push" my friend. I let her know our financial situation and asked her to do all she could to help it sell. She started calling all the agents who showed the house and asked them for any comments that they had heard. We did have ugly wallpaper in 1 bathroom. We hired someone to remove the wallpaper and paint it and then we got an offer within 2 days.

Also, we did not move until the house was sold (even though we owned the new house). It sounds like you have moved. Maybe you should have a stranger walk through the house and give you pointers on what doesn't show well. I'm saying a stranger because I know it's difficult for friends to be brutally honest. An empty house will easily show any little problem (nicks in the paint, spots on the carpet, etc).

Also, most realtors will give free price quotes. Maybe you should do that or have your realtor ask around at his office to make sure the price is right. In our area, buyers do not usually make low offers. They want the house to be priced right before they make an offer. I really don't understand why.

Best of luck and I can understand you wanting to vent. I hated waiting for our house to sell. I drove me crazy - every minute of every day! Hang in there! As others have said, the market should pick up after the new year.

 

[lindalinda]

I have to disagree with most of the posters. There are good real estate agents and bad real estate agents. If it doesnt really matter and its all just location and price , then why do they get 7%? for a long time now realtors have been getting easy paychecks on a very fast market. now they need to earn their money. Find one that will. Go interview them and find a go-getter who will put energy and enthusiasm into your needs and desires. And if you truly believe it is just a matter of price and location.....lower the price by a factor of the agents commission and market it on buyowner.com or FISBO . You may have a better idea of the positive aspects of yournieghborhood than any realtor would. Good Luck and stay positive.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

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