Expert: Dick Dennis - 7/9/2006

Question
i had my house listed with an agent for 6 months. they put it on the mls and then sat back. no open houses, no showings from their office etc.in total i had about 10 showings.. one offer -about 2 months ago that never came to an agreement. that potential buyer is still trying to sell their home 1st. my 6 month agreement expired at midnight. im considering getting a new agent. -including the one who brought in the 1st offer.  can i do this? is it legal. could they then go back to the potential buyer and possibly represent us both at a discount?  or could i represent myself to that buyers agrent. funny.. how my orig listing agent is suddenly all interested in my house -and of course trying to get me to resign for 6 months again.   thanks. dave.

Answer
Yeah, they do that. I am sorry to say too many of the real estate agents out there have a weird sense of what is offering professional service. If I were you, I would tell him to go fly a kite, based on what you told me.

You now may sign up with anyone you choose, even if the one you sign up with had previously shown your house and obtained an unsuccessful offer. But you really don't know if he will be any different in his service.

Buyers are scarce these days so you don't know for sure who will perform professionally. First of all, do not sign up for more than 90 days. That way you'll see the difference. He should do all kinds of things to expose your house to the market, not the least of which would be to lower your price to just below the going market. If you are not willing to do that, then you're going to sit without a sale again.

Make the agent earn the right to sign up with him/her again. You can tell who is good or not. When clients sign up with me for example, they see my ugly puss or my voice over the phone at least three or four times a week to let them know what is going on and what I am doing to market the property. That is the first sign you have a good Realtor working for you. In fact, that is a common denominator of finding a good worker no matter where you're located. But you can't stymie that person by asking him/her to achieve miracles with high prices.

I do wish you well.

Dick Dennis       dixiedee13@aol.com

www.OldProblemSolver.com