Dear Yo! Broker,
Last week I walked into an open house — for my own home. My agent was nowhere in sight. Instead, there was some sleepy looking dude at my dining table, working on his laptop. He barely looked up. When I asked about him the number of bedrooms in the house, he got it wrong. When I asked him where my agent was, his cellphone rang and he held up one finger, for me to wait.
My question is simple. How do I fire my agent?
Hi David,
It’s good news that you’re asking “how”. The fact of the matter is that you probably signed a 90 day or more listing agreement. And there probably isn’t a “dump” clause in there that allows you to part ways at will. You’ll find plenty of “gross” clauses, gross malfeasance, gross dishonesty, etc. This all means that you could sue. But the listing would have expired by the time you got any results, the listing will have expired.
The good news? Many agents and brokerages will cancel your agreement just to keep good will.
But maybe the better thing (they call it “win win”) is to talk to your agent. He clearly hired the wrong showing assistant to sit your open. But he may be doing other things exceptionally well. Don’t be afraid to insist he “show and tell.”
If they don’t listen… well, let’s hope that you signed a reasonably short listing agreement.
Best of luck!
Winston Cenac
Got an unusual real estate question? e-mail it to winston@bulldogrealtors.com.
Winston Cenac is the owner of Bulldog Realtors, a boutique real estate brokerage with 90 agents and offices in Venice, Santa Monica and West Adams.
