Pwned by real estate agent

[Veramocor]

Cliffs:

Selling house
Real Estate agent blowing us off
Believe real estate agent isn't living up to contract
No real recourse because contract language is too subjective



Well I'm selling my house in preperation of a move to DC. I want to sell it as quick as possible as to decrease the amount of time I am paying rent and mortgage. I decided for the reason to go with a full service agent.

I decided to sell my house with the agent who I had originally purchased the house from, she had also just recently sold a house in my neighborhood.

Initially she was very good giving me updates on the home and what she was doing. Recently she has become less than helpful. I sent her an email about a few things last Thursday (setting up an open house, switching our sign to a full post sign as promised,adding a home warranty provision to our sale, and considering lowering the price.)

Well she didn't reply at all Friday, and the first half of Monday. I tried calling at around lunch time and she sent me to voicemail. I used my wifes phone and she picked up (she didn't know that number), briefly talked about an open house and hurried me off the phone. My wife wanting the other questions anwsered said she would call later in the day to follow up. My wife left a message, and it was never returned. When she called later this night she didn't pick up, we then called from our home phone (last new number we had) and she told my wife "she didn't get any message and that she had talked to me about everything already".

What can I do? If I call her on her BS I will just get worse service. I am locked into a standard contract for two more months. I could breach the contract but would be forced to pay her fees and recupe her losses.

I feel she is really the person causing problems but how can I prove that she is not living up to her part of the agreement "Use Broker's best efforts to procure a buyer......."

Is ther anything else short of a contact fight I should do? Remember I'm worried if I point out her poor service it will just become worse.


Regards

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Fire her.

Get a new agent.

If she starts anything, talk to her broker and file a complaint with the board of realtors in your area.

 

[thetxstang]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Fire her.

Get a new agent.

Did you happen to read the part about how he's locked into a "standard contract for two more months?"

Edited to add: Ah, you amended your original post. Never mind my comments. Good suggestion, by the way.

 

[jagec]

The more I live, the more I've grown to believe that most people on earth are either incompetent or lazy or both, and that I'm better off doing my own work in almost every field. With a few exceptions, when you pay someone to do something because you "don't have the time", you end up spending MORE time to ensure that work actually gets done. So, whenever you find a competent worker out there, SPREAD THE WORD! They need to be rewarded as much as possible, and business taken away from the lousy ones.

So, what's the name and office location of this agent? Maybe someone on the forums knows a better one nearby? Let her know that you're unhappy (politely, of course), but if she doesn't shape up, complain to the BBB, go to a different agent and ask your options, anything!

 

[Queasy]

Talk to her broker and let them know just how unhappy you are with her first. See if you can get another agent from that broker.

If you are still unhappy at that point contact your local real estate commission.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: thetxstang

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Fire her.

Get a new agent.

Did you happen to read the part about how he's locked into a "standard contract for two more months?"

If she's not returning phone calls and ignoring requests for open houses and generally providing poor service he can cancel the contract. The only thing he's on the hook for are the people who have already seen the house. If one of those people buy the house she can ask for her commission. Otherwise, he can fire her and get a new agent.

The listing is with the broker and not the agent. So he may be able to have the listing transferred to another agent in the brokerage who is willing to work a little harder to sell the house.

He has lots of options.

 

[Vic]

She doesn't return your calls over the weekend and you flip out? I'd fire you as a nightmare client.

 

[Rage187]

Originally posted by: thetxstang

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Fire her.

Get a new agent.

Did you happen to read the part about how he's locked into a "standard contract for two more months?"

Edited to add: Ah, you amended your original post. Never mind my comments. Good suggestion, by the way.

do you not know how realestate works?

Fire her and if she complains or mentions the contract, tell her you will talk to her boss about her crappy performance.

Crappy performance is more than enough reason to break a contract.

 

[thetxstang]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy

Originally posted by: thetxstang

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Fire her.

Get a new agent.

Did you happen to read the part about how he's locked into a "standard contract for two more months?"

If she's not returning phone calls and ignoring requests for open houses and generally providing poor service he can cancel the contract. The only thing he's on the hook for are the people who have already seen the house. If one of those people buy the house she can ask for her commission. Otherwise, he can fire her and get a new agent.

The listing is with the broker and not the agent. So he may be able to have the listing transferred to another agent in the brokerage who is willing to work a little harder to sell the house.

He has lots of options.

Excellent advice. Much better than your original post that consisted of nothing but:

"Fire her."

"Get a new agent."

🙂

 

[thetxstang]

Originally posted by: Rage187

Originally posted by: thetxstang

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Fire her.

Get a new agent.

Did you happen to read the part about how he's locked into a "standard contract for two more months?"

Edited to add: Ah, you amended your original post. Never mind my comments. Good suggestion, by the way.

do you not know how realestate works?

Fire her and if she complains or mentions the contract, tell her you will talk to her boss about her crappy performance.

Crappy performance is more than enough reason to break a contract.

Who lit the fuse on your tampon?

Yes, I DO know how real estate works, thank you very much. My initial comments were directed directly towards Whoozyerdaddy and his initial post, that I thought lacked any helpful information and didn't directly address the OP's concern. The fact is, there are a number of levels of recourse, and Whoozyerdaddy has followed up with such options.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: thetxstang

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy

Originally posted by: thetxstang

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Fire her.

Get a new agent.

Did you happen to read the part about how he's locked into a "standard contract for two more months?"

If she's not returning phone calls and ignoring requests for open houses and generally providing poor service he can cancel the contract. The only thing he's on the hook for are the people who have already seen the house. If one of those people buy the house she can ask for her commission. Otherwise, he can fire her and get a new agent.

The listing is with the broker and not the agent. So he may be able to have the listing transferred to another agent in the brokerage who is willing to work a little harder to sell the house.

He has lots of options.

Excellent advice. Much better than your original post that consisted of nothing but:

"Fire her."

"Get a new agent."

🙂

He said the exact same thing, just with clarification for the RE-impaired (and sorry, if you don't know that an RE contract is with the broker rather than the agent, then you, just like the OP, most certainly do NOT know how RE works).
The OP is flipping out unnecessarily. A house is almost never sold at an open house these days. And for all he knows, the agent had the weekend off, like he did. That does happen from time to time.

 

[dquan97]

Originally posted by: Vic
She doesn't return your calls over the weekend and you flip out? I'd fire you as a nightmare client.

Seems like the realtor didn't respond to an email sent on thursday. So no reply on thursday, fridays, the weekend, and part of monday until OP decided to call w/ an unknown ph#. Who knows how long the realtor would've blown him off.

If she really wants the listing, she would've at least replied something by friday, even if it's to say that she'll get back to them the following week.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: dquan97

Originally posted by: Vic
She doesn't return your calls over the weekend and you flip out? I'd fire you as a nightmare client.

Seems like the realtor didn't respond to an email sent on thursday. So no reply on thursday, fridays, the weekend, and part of monday until OP decided to call w/ an unknown ph#. Who knows how long the realtor would've blown him off.

If she really wants the listing, she would've at least replied something by friday, even if it's to say that she'll get back to them the following week.

Then he can fire her and get another. What is the problem? Ultra-high maintenance clients who call you every single day wanting to change something are always the skinniest deal in your pipe anyway.

 

[thetxstang]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: dquan97

Originally posted by: Vic
She doesn't return your calls over the weekend and you flip out? I'd fire you as a nightmare client.

Seems like the realtor didn't respond to an email sent on thursday. So no reply on thursday, fridays, the weekend, and part of monday until OP decided to call w/ an unknown ph#. Who knows how long the realtor would've blown him off.

If she really wants the listing, she would've at least replied something by friday, even if it's to say that she'll get back to them the following week.

Then he can fire her and get another. What is the problem? Ultra-high maintenance clients who call you every single day wanting to change something are always the skinniest deal in your pipe anyway.

Thank you for setting us us straight with your mastery on this subject matter.

Perhaps one day you may have a question you'll elect to post on ATOT. Hopefully someone will fee the need to jump in to inform you that you're "flipping out unnecessarily," that they'd "fire you as a nightmare client," and follow up by pointing out how little you know about the subject matter.

Cheers.