Keep your Houston Realtor® on their toes

Last month we were contacted by a homeowner whose Houston home had been on the market for over six months without selling. Their listing contract with the previous Realtor® had expired without producing a sale and now they were looking for a different agent to help them with the process. From the start of our appointment, the homeowners were very (understandably) hesitant and skeptical and in order to get to the root of the issue I asked them about their experience with the previous agent. After a long sigh, they told me that after a fantastic listing presentation and subsequent signing of listing paperwork, the agent had "stuck her sign in the yard" and they never heard from her again until it was time to either lower the price or renew the listing. No feedback, no strategy, no effort. Their attempts to rescind the listing agreement were met with repeated rejection from the agent. They felt "locked into a dead end".

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This is a recurring story...

First, let me be clear. I believe that having a listing agreement in place is absolutely necessary for the protection of both parties. Clients need to have a written contract that outlines their Realtor's® obligations to them. Agents on the other hand need a listing agreement to ensure that their hard work is protected and that it will result in agreed upon compensation. For every story of irresponsible agents behaving (in my opinion) unprofessionally towards their clients, there is a story of certain clients refusing to honor their contractual obligations. These stories are the exception not the rule. The wide majority of real estate agents that I know are outstanding professionals that go out of their way to help their client's interest.  The wide majority of clients are happy to rightfully compensate their agents for their efforts.

With that being said, I believe that listing contracts need a "firing provision" to make them more customer service oriented. Here's the provision we put in our listing contracts:

"Every thirty (30) days of the duration of this listing agreement, there will be an evaluation meeting during which the Client shall have the right to cancel this listing agreement if the performance of the Agent is deemed unsatisfactory"

Why is this so crucial for the homeowner? It keeps their Realtor® on their toes, always working hard to provide the best service for the Client. Without such provision it is easy for an incompetent agent to get complacent and hide behind the fact that their Client has no cancellation option. In these times of a buyer's market, make sure that you hire a professional agent that is willing to back up their promise of customer service with a firing provision. It is the real estate equivalent of  "putting your money where your mouth is".

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