Should I extend the contract with my realtor?

[Magpie]

Our house has been on the market since 10/1/16.  We live in a rural university town with a population around 20,000 and there are currently over 200 homes on the market.  It is definitely a buyer's market here.  My husband has already moved to another state for a job opportunity so I am staying behind with our two school aged children trying to sell this house.  We have no desire to rent out our home for a myriad of reasons. 

We have already prepared ourselves that we will lose money on this house.  It stinks, but I can't help that the market tanked.  We just need to sell so our family can all be together again.  There have been a respectable number of showings, though none since before Christmas.  That is to be expected as we live in the midwest and this is traditionally a slow time for real estate.  My conundrum is we have some potential buyers who have seen the house twice and have communicated thru their realtor that they would like to make an offer.  This is great news, but we were first told this before Christmas and have yet to receive an offer.  The potential buyers are US citizens currently living abroad so their realtor has had difficulties communicating with them.  In addition, we were told they changed financing sources and I strongly suspect the buyer just received a written job offer from the employer here; I'm assuming a bank would require that in order to authorize a mortgage.  I should also mention that this buyer's job would begin in July so we'd probably not close until June.  Lots of ifs and uncertainties.

Our contract with our realtor expires on 1/31.  Naturally, he has asked if we would extend it.  My husband and I have discussed taking the house off the market for February and then relisting in March with a different realtor.  Nothing against our current realtor, but I would like to try someone else.  But- what happens if these potential buyers finally get their act together and make an offer in February?  Would I have to re-engage our realtor?  But then wouldn't I be stuck with him until closing in June?  Could we relist in March with a different realtor even with a pending offer?  I don't feel comfortable asking these question in my town.  It's a very small community and words spread like wildfire around here.  We don't want to damage any relationships we have here.

I would be appreciate any thoughts or suggestion this community may have.   

[Another Reader]

What is wrong with your agent? 

If a house does not sell, usually the price is too high for the location and/or the condition.  A new agent does not change the pool of buyers.  However, if your agent did not market the property well and another agent would, that would be a reason to switch.  Interview a couple of agents that seem like they would do a more professional job if you believe the current agent has not done the job.  Then decide if the problem is the agent or where the house is positioned in the market.

[Magpie]

I would like to use a different realtor and we will have to decrease the price again, but do I have any obligation to our current realtor if an offer comes after 1/31?

[Another Reader]

Read your contract.  Here, you have an obligation if the original agent showed the property to the buyer.  However, they generally become the buyer's agent and present the offer to your new listing agent.  Other states and local boards are different.

[ditheca]

I just sold my house after 7 months on the market.  The problem was absolutely my first realtor.  I won't list all the issues, but a bad realtor really sucks.  Mine didn't even tell me when the listing expired after six months and my home wasn't for sale anymore!

I fired the first guy, and my second realtor was amazing.  Fantastic staging, photos, and other marketing.  He walked through my neighborhood knocking on doors asking anyone friends that wanted to move to the area, or if they were renting had they considered upgrading to home ownership.  We had an offer within two weeks which he babysat it all the way to closing, even taking the fight to the title company when they screwed up repeatedly.

If you feel like you should switch realtors, do it.

[pbkmaine]

Switch.

[Nick_Miller]

Switch if you feel like your agent is not aggressively marketing the property. Also, find out what the typical days-on-market is, as well as the amount of inventory. If you already know those, would you share them with us?

For example, in my (larger) midwestern city, even in January, DOM average is like 10 days, and many homes are going in 24 hours. Our inventory is only 3 1/2 months whereas it's normally 6 months. So definitely a seller's market here, and if our house would have sat for a few months, then yes I would probably blame my agent, at least for not communicating the problems with pricing/condition.

And yes, your contract might have an extension for any sales that take place after the contract expires, IF the buyer was someone who saw the house while your original contract with the agent was in place. Read it and see!

[Magpie]

Over 200 homes on the market currently in a rural, isolated town of under 20,000.  That's over a year's supply.  Really terrible market if you're selling.  These buyers got their act together and made an offer yesterday.  The initial offer was not good but we are still negotiating and I hope we can agree to something somewhere in the middle so we can just get rid of this house and reunite our family.  We will lose money on this house but thankfully will be able to rebound from this financial setback.  I guess it's best not to dwell on that!

If this deal does not come to fruition, we will be switching realtors and relisting 3/1. 

[Miss Piggy]

I think most realtors would tell you that your first offer is most often your best offer. Given that, it's probably worthy of serious consideration.

[Magpie]

You are absolutely right, Miss Piggy.  We were able to negotiate a bit and have accepted an offer!  The price is less than what we had hoped but given this market I am glad to get it sold.  This was a much more stressful experience than the last time we sold a house.  But, the last time we were selling in a hot fast-moving market and I didn't have to keep a home clean with 2 young children.