As a seller, what do you do when you get that sinking feeling the agent you hired to help sell your house isn't cutting the mustard? What are the tell-tale signs and what should you do about it? Let's talk about the job not getting done first.

Let's face it...in this market many houses are not going to sell right away. It will likely take some time even if the home is priced well and shows beautifully. So let's assume you have priced your home competitively and are getting some showings. Just because the house didn't sell in a week does not, by itself, mean the agent is a slacker. But you are getting a feeling in your gut that your agent just isn't doing the job. What might give you a clue?

• Lack of communication - you don't hear from the agent by phone, email or in person. You have no feedback from showings, you don't know what is going on in the market with other homes, and your agent seems to have fallen into a black hole once the listing agreement was signed. When you do call or email, you get no response, or none for 24 hours or more. Are you feeling a search party is needed?
• There is little or no marketing - perhaps you saw a written marketing plan (but many times you don't), but you don't know WHAT your agent is doing to market your home. Perhaps s/he told you about the things they would do on the Internet but you have yet to see anything. Your agent said there would be Open Houses but there have been none to date. The sign is dirty or lopsided, and the brochure box you were promised is missing.
• Poor MLS listing - if you DO get to see the actual listing (many agents, unfortunately, don't show this to their clients) you find lots of typos, inaccuracies in the information about the property, and the photos are dark, lopsided, ugly, out of focus, unflattering, or simply limited in number...or worse, there are none. And you don't see the virtual tour your agent promised would get you lots of traffic. And when you look on Realtor.com you see mistakes and the same ugly pictures.
• Other promises made but not kept - the agent doesn't inform you when showings are to occur although that was your agreement. The agent promised to get feedback from showings but doesn't.
• On Vacation - You find out your agent went on a week-long vacation but didn't tell you who would be covering in his/her absence.
• Your questions don't get answered, or the information provided doesn't make sense. And you can't seem to get a straight answer from your agent about why there are no offers and so few showings.You don't receive a copy of the listing agreement and other paperwork you signed.
• Marketing materials are absent - the stuff your agent promised to leave at the house for showings haven't appeared, or are not what you expected. Plus there are mistakes and missing information on the feature sheets.
• No coaching or advice - Your agent doesn't coach you on how to stage your home or point out minor repairs that are needed.

This may not be everything, but you now have some doubts about what you are getting for the commission you agreed to pay. So now what to do you do?

My next post will provide some insights as to how to handle this situation, and perhaps how to avoid it altogether.