Dear Vinny,
My property is listed for sale with a local broker. I listed with him because we live in the same town and have known each other for a long time. He’s a nice enough guy and always seems to be around. but now that my property is listed for sale, I can’t find him! I want more feedback and to know what is going on with my property. I have had three showings since the property was listed – we are going on month 5 – I assume the showings went well, but I don’t know for sure. When I look online, I am eventually able to find my property, but it does take some time and digging. I feel like he is not marketing the property to the best of his ability; I’ve seen what he has done for other listings in our area. I want to get out of the listing contact, but I don’t want to hurt his feelings or cause any issues since we live in the same town. What should I do?
- Disappearing Broker
Dear Disappearing Broker,
Unfortunately, if you didn’t add a termination clause in your listing agreement you may be stuck with the terms until it expires. I would personally sit your broker down and discuss why you would like to terminate the agreement and hopefully, you can both agree to an amicable split. Make sure to be very clear as to why you want to go in a different direction. These situations can always be difficult conversations to have and hopefully, your broker understands. Every so often, a broker, “local Joe,” will get a listing, punch it up on the Multiple List Service, and head for vacation. In the future, I would investigate a brokerage that has a national reach and a much larger platform to facilitate your sale and fully understand who’s working for you and what is being done to sell your property with weekly or bi-weekly marketing updates. Expectations for any listing agreement should always be set at the forefront and a firm with national reach will have systems in place so communication flows smoothly between the seller and their broker.
