How To Fire My Real Estate Agent? 10 Things You Need To Know

4. Giving lousy advice — or none at all

Regardless of how experienced you are with buying a home, you should always be able to call on your agent for advice. Your agent should be able to look at your situation and help you determine what your best course of action would be. For example, if you have a limited income, they should be able to help you settle on a loan that’s within your budget.

However, if your agent gives you advice that isn’t helpful (“let’s just make an offer and go from there”) or vague (“lots of houses in the area are going for this price range; you should offer that”), then they aren’t someone who has your best interest at heart — and that’s not ideal!

A good agent will not only provide you with specific advice on what neighborhoods and properties will fit your budget, but they should also be backing up that advice with comparable sales. Look for someone who is able to both speak in specifics and back up their knowledge with data.

5. Limited network and resources

An experienced real estate agent should have an extensive network of professionals they can call on. These professionals include real estate attorneys, home inspectors, appraisers, mortgage brokers, and contractors, among other professionals — including other real estate agents, especially listing agents.

It’s a bad sign when a buyer asks the agent for a list of resources and recommended vendors, and the list consists of unreliable contractors or professionals with less-than-stellar reviews.

Buyers must feel confident in their agent’s recommendations because buying a home is a serious investment, and they have to be sure they’re working with the best in their respective industries.

6. Lack of ethics

When someone obtains their real estate license, they must follow a code of ethics. An agent pledges to put their client’s best interests first while still being respectful and honest to other participants in the transaction.

If you have an agent who is willing to mislead clients to get a listing, work as a dual agent without disclosing that they’re representing both sides (or at all, in some states), or reveal confidential information about their clients, they are acting in an unethical manner.

You should be able to trust your real estate agent to do the right thing, and if they don’t, you should find an agent you can trust.

Selling your house? 3 more reasons to fire your agent

Many of the reasons that cause buyers to fire their real estate agents also apply to sellers. If you’re selling your home and your agent is a poor communicator, is unfamiliar with the type of home you’re trying to sell, or is acting unethically, it might be time to end the relationship.

But there are some additional situations that are unique to sellers. Let’s take a look at a few.

1. Poor marketing

Selling a home in the 21st century means that you need to market your house. And that almost always means going digital.

A seller’s agent should ensure that a house is well staged, photographed well, and listed in the multiple listing service (MLS) in order to attract buyers.

Because most people begin their home search online — 100% of homebuyers use the internet in their home search — photos, videos, and 3-D walkthroughs are key marketing materials.

If your agent is taking poor-quality photos or otherwise failing to market your home digitally, it might be time to look for someone new.

“Everybody is looking at listing now online,” Mattson says.

“Your photography is going to be the No. 1 thing that’s going to draw people to make an appointment for your property.”

2. Encouraging you to take a poor offer

A seller’s agent should help their clients secure the best possible offer. If an agent is pressuring you to take the first offer — even if it’s below asking price and the home has only been on the market for a few days — it might be time to look for another agent.

One situation where this may occur is in a dual agent scenario. If an agent has a client interested in buying a house where they’re also representing the home’s owner, then they might encourage the seller to take a lower offer from their buyer in order to capture both sides of the agent commission.

“If they think their client is desperate to sell the property, then they may try to give a lowball offer to their own client as opposed to properly marketing the property,” Mattson says.

3. Your home isn’t selling as quickly as it should be

If your home is having trouble selling, then it might be time to take a look at your agent to see if they might be part of the problem.

An agent who is rude to prospective buyers during an open house, one who doesn’t put the effort into helping you stage your home, or one who didn’t conduct a proper comparative market analysis to help you find the right price might be a reason to look elsewhere.

How to fire your real estate agent the right way

Your real estate agent doesn’t have to be your best friend, but they should at least uphold their end of the relationship. If they aren’t, you don’t have to try to make the best of it. You have options.

Step 1: Did you sign an agent agreement?

It isn’t uncommon for real estate agents to ask their clients to sign a buyer’s agent agreement or a listing agreement for sellers. You should always read through any agreement carefully so you know exactly what you’re signing.

If you’ve signed a buyer’s agreement, it should outline the conditions for terminating the contract. This will usually include all of the acceptable reasons for terminating the contract — such as the ones mentioned above.

Keep in mind that ending the contract may result in being charged an early cancellation fee, which would be disclosed in the agreement.

For sellers, terminating a contract may be a little more complicated. While buyers may or may not sign a buyer’s agent agreement, sellers almost always sign a listing agreement with a listing agent.

This agreement will likely have an exclusivity clause, which gives one agent the right to try to sell your home and earn a commission from it. These contracts vary in the level of commitment they require from the seller. In some cases, you don’t have to pay a commission if you find your own buyer, while others give the listing agent exclusive rights to sell the home.

These contracts typically last between three and six months. If a listing agent doesn’t sell your home in that timeframe, the contract expires, and you’re free to look for other agents.

Your listing agreement may outline terms for terminating the contract, but others may not. It helps to ask for these terms to be added to the contract before you sign. That way, you know how to terminate the contract if you’re unhappy down the road.