Nobody hires a real estate agent expecting to fire them.
Usually, things start out well.
There is a nice meeting around the kitchen table or in the living room. The agent talks about marketing, strategy, communication and all the wonderful things that are going to happen once the FOR SALE sign goes on the lawn.
Then three weeks later, the phone has stopped ringing, the house hasn’t sold, nobody seems quite sure what the plan is anymore and you find yourself Googling:
“How do I fire my Realtor?” and this article pops up!
Not an ideal situation, but glad you found us.
But before you start changing the locks and hiding the sign in the garage, there is a more important question:
Should You Actually Fire Your Real Estate Agent?
Sometimes the answer can be absolutely yes.
Other times, unfortunately, the agent may simply be the person standing closest when the market delivers news nobody particularly wanted to hear. And those are two very different things.
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First, Is It the Agent or Is It the Market?
This is where things can get uncomfortable. A house that doesn’t sell does not automatically have a Realtor problem.
- Sometimes it has a price problem. (Fix that by booking a home evaluation first!)
- Or a presentation problem.
- Or the market has changed.
- Or three nearly identical houses came up for sale around the corner at exactly the wrong time.
- Or interest rates moved.
- Or buyers simply don’t value the $120,000 backyard renovation quite as much as the person who paid for it.
An experienced Realtor cannot manufacture a buyer. We cannot change interest rates. We cannot force someone to love your kitchen (but we can sometimes change perspective!) And despite occasional expectations to the contrary, we have not yet developed the ability to control the Canadian economy.
What a good Realtor can do is interpret what is happening and adjust the strategy accordingly. That is where experience starts to matter.
If fifteen buyers have gone through your house and nobody has written an offer, that is information. If comparable homes are selling and yours isn’t, that is information too. If everybody loves the property but keeps saying it feels expensive, eventually we need to stop blaming the buyers for apparently holding the same incorrect opinion.
The market is communicating. Our job is to listen.
And sometimes our job is to tell a seller something they really don’t want to hear.
Good Realtors are not order takers. They are advisors. I have written about this before because it comes up constantly in real estate. Some of the most valuable conversations we have with clients are also the least comfortable ones.
An agent who tells you everything you want to hear is not necessarily providing good service. Sometimes they’re simply avoiding an argument.
Are you planning to sell your house and are counting on the absolute best results? Look no further than the posts below:
- Counting the Reasons To Sell Your Home With The Weeks Group
- A Complete Guide to Selling Barrie Real Estate
- What Is a Listing Description and Why Does It Matter?
But Yes, Sometimes It Really Is the Agent
There is another side to this.
If your Realtor has essentially disappeared since the listing agreement was signed, we have a different problem.
Real estate is a service business. Communication shouldn’t stop once the photographer leaves.
A seller should have a reasonably clear understanding of:
- What is happening with their listing
- What buyers and Realtors are saying
- What competing properties are doing
- Whether market conditions are changing
- Whether the original strategy is working
That does not mean your Realtor needs to call every afternoon just to announce that nothing happened.
But silence for weeks at a time? That’s different.
You should also start asking questions if the marketing bears very little resemblance to what was promised. Professional photography, staging advice, thoughtful positioning, pricing strategy, great listing copy and intelligent exposure all matter.
I have said this many times: marketing a home is not simply putting photographs on MLS and hoping somebody wanders by. The purpose of marketing is to create enough interest, curiosity and emotional connection to make a buyer want to experience the property in person. If the entire marketing plan seems to consist of MLS, a lawn sign and an Instagram post seen mostly by other Realtors, it is reasonable to ask what exactly Plan B is.
And preferably before Day 76.
No Strategy Is a Strategy. Just Not a Very Good One.
Markets change. Strategies should too.
The pricing and marketing approach that made perfect sense when your home was listed may stop making sense four weeks later. Maybe inventory has increased. Maybe a competing property sold unexpectedly low. Maybe showing activity across the entire neighbourhood has slowed.
Whatever the reason, your agent should be able to explain what is happening and what your options are. That doesn’t mean changing the price every Tuesday.
Sometimes the best strategy is actually to leave things alone. But there should be a reason.
“We’ll give it another week” is not a strategy unless someone can explain what we expect to learn during that week.
Experience is partly knowing when to act. It is also knowing when not to.
Communication Problems Usually Get Worse, Not Better
Most relationships don’t suddenly crash and burn over one bad conversation.
They deteriorate slowly.
A seller calls. The agent is busy. The seller sends a text. No response. Three days later, somebody from the team responds with, “Sorry, crazy week!” Then another showing happens, and nobody follows up.
Eventually the seller starts wondering whether anybody actually cares about the listing. That is when trust begins disappearing. And once trust disappears, almost every conversation becomes harder. If communication is bothering you, address it early.
Don’t quietly keep score for two months and then unleash a twelve-point prosecution one Sunday night. Tell your Realtor what you need. Maybe you want a weekly phone call. Maybe you want feedback after every showing. Maybe you simply want someone to explain what is happening instead of sending automated showing reports.
A good agent should be able to adjust. If you’ve clearly communicated the problem and nothing changes, that is much more meaningful.
The best way to “fire” the wrong agent is to choose correctly in the first place. How? Start by reading the posts below:
- What Does a Real Estate Agent Actually Do?
- How Does Real Estate Negotiation Work In Today’s Market?
- How to Find a Real Estate Agent
What About Bad Advice?
This is a bigger issue. Poor communication is frustrating.
Poor advice can become expensive.
There are times when sellers should seriously consider changing representation because they no longer trust the strategy or competence behind the advice they’re receiving.
Perhaps the Realtor doesn’t understand the local market. Maybe pricing recommendations seem to change depending on which way the wind is blowing. Maybe every unsuccessful week produces another excuse. Maybe negotiations are being handled reactively instead of strategically.
Or perhaps nobody can explain why the house was priced where it was in the first place.
Real estate pricing is not:
The neighbour sold for $1.2 million + your nicer kitchen = $1.3 million.
Unfortunately, houses do not work like spreadsheets.
Pricing involves competing inventory, timing, buyer psychology, recent sales, condition, lot, neighbourhood perception, interest rates, market momentum and how your property fits within the choices buyers currently have.
If your Realtor cannot explain the strategy in a way that makes sense, you are entitled to ask harder questions.
Before You Fire Them, Have the Conversation
This is the part people often skip. If the relationship is deteriorating, sit down and talk about it.
Not emotionally. Not through twelve increasingly irritated text messages. Have an actual conversation.
Something as simple as:
“We’re concerned the current strategy isn’t working. Can you walk us through what you’re seeing, what feedback we’ve received and what you think we should do differently?”
That question will usually tell you a lot. A strong Realtor should be able to answer it clearly. Maybe you won’t like the answer.
That doesn’t necessarily make it wrong.
How Do You Actually Fire a Real Estate Agent in Ontario?
This is where people are often surprised.
Technically, you usually don’t have a contract simply with the individual Realtor.
Your representation agreement is with the brokerage.
Under Ontario’s real estate rules, a seller representation or listing agreement is an agreement between the client and the brokerage. Ontario also allows both brokerage representation and designated representation, where one or more specific agents are identified to represent the client.
That distinction matters. If you’re unhappy with your individual agent, the solution might not necessarily be terminating the entire listing.
You may be able to speak with the Broker of Record or manager about changing the Realtor who is working with you.
With designated representation, RECO specifically notes that a brokerage cannot simply appoint a different designated representative without the client’s agreement. So before doing anything, find the listing agreement you signed. Yes, that document everybody enthusiastically initialled sixteen times while talking about something else.
Read it.
Specifically look at:
The expiry date.
Ontario representation agreements do not have one mandated standard length. The expiry date must appear prominently on the first page.
The termination provisions.
RECO says the agreement should identify circumstances under which it can be terminated and any penalties, costs or financial implications that may result.
The holdover clause.
This one matters.
Many agreements contain a holdover period that can create commission obligations even after the representation agreement has expired or been terminated in certain circumstances. There is no standard minimum holdover period in Ontario. The agreement itself determines the period and conditions.
That means cancelling one listing and immediately signing another agreement does not automatically erase everything in the first agreement.
If there is any question about competing commission obligations, termination rights or what a particular clause means, speak with the brokerage and, where necessary, your lawyer. This is one of those situations where ten minutes of proper legal advice is usually cheaper than confidently interpreting a contract yourself.
Cancellation and Suspension Aren’t Necessarily the Same Thing
Another important distinction: taking a property temporarily off the market is not necessarily the same thing as ending the representation agreement.
A listing can potentially be suspended or removed from active marketing while the contractual relationship with the brokerage continues, depending on the agreement and circumstances. So if the objective is actually to end the relationship and hire someone else, make sure everyone understands exactly what is being requested.
“Take my house off MLS” and “release me from my listing agreement” are not necessarily the same instruction.
Get it in writing. And keep a copy.
When You Probably Shouldn’t Fire Your Realtor
There is a funny phenomenon in real estate.
A house sits on the market for six weeks at $1,250,000 without selling. Suddenly another Realtor appears and announces:
“I think it’s worth $1,399,000.” Amazing!!
Apparently the problem wasn’t the market at all. It was a shortage of optimism lol.
Be very cautious about changing Realtors solely because someone tells you a more attractive number!! Happens all the time and it really frustrates us.
The highest suggested listing price does not automatically come from the most competent Realtor. Sometimes it simply comes from the person most desperate to get the listing.
The same applies to dramatically discounted commission. Cost matters. Of course it does.
But the fee you pay is only one side of the equation. The more important number is what ends up in your pocket!!
Saving $5,000 in commission while selling the house for $30,000 less or outside of your ideal timeframe would qualify as one of the poorer victories in real accounting.
And then there is the old:
“I already have buyers for your house.”
Maybe they do. Ask some questions.
- Who are they?
- Have they seen similar properties?
- What price range are they actually qualified for?
- If they are genuinely interested, why can’t they view the house while it is currently listed?
There are certainly legitimate circumstances where another Realtor may have a buyer. But don’t confuse a sales pitch with evidence.
Changing the Sign Doesn’t Change the Problem
This may be the biggest point of all.
If the actual problem is price, changing agents without changing the strategy simply gives you a new Realtor and the same problem. The photos might improve. The description might improve. Communication hopefully improves.
But if buyers consistently believe the property is worth less than the seller does, eventually somebody has to reconcile those two numbers.
The best Realtors I know aren’t the ones who avoid difficult conversations. They’re the ones who know when to have them and how to explain the reasoning behind them.
Sometimes that conversation is:
“We need better marketing.”
Sometimes it is:
“We should hold our position.”
Sometimes:
“We should take this offer more seriously.”
And sometimes:
“We are simply too high.”
None of those statements are inherently right or wrong. The value comes from knowing which one applies.
Hiring an agent, buying, or selling a house – it all starts with a basic understanding of the market and how real estate works. The posts below can help:
- A History of Barrie Real Estate: The Changes We’ve Seen
- What Do the Seasons Mean for the Barrie Real Estate Market?
- What Is the Role of AI in Real Estate?
When Is It Clearly Time to Fire Your Real Estate Agent?
Probably when trust has genuinely broken down and there is a substantive reason behind it.
Poor communication that doesn’t improve. Promises that were never delivered. Weak preparation. No meaningful strategy. Inadequate market knowledge. Consistently poor advice. Lack of follow-up.
Or simply reaching the point where you no longer believe the person representing one of your largest financial assets is capable of advising you properly. Those are legitimate concerns.
But don’t fire a good Realtor for telling you something uncomfortable. There is an enormous difference between bad advice and advice you don’t like.
After decades in real estate, I would argue that some of the best advice I’ve ever given clients began with a sentence I knew they weren’t going to enjoy hearing.
That is part of the job. Real estate relationships occasionally don’t work. People are people. But before changing Realtors, try to diagnose the actual problem.
Is it the agent? The communication? The marketing? The strategy? The market? The price?
Or simply a difficult truth nobody particularly wants sitting at the kitchen table?
Figure that out first.
Then decide who needs to go.
Are you planning a move and want to do whatever it takes to get the best value from your transaction? Whatever your next steps may be, our Barrie real estate agents are happy to help. Reach out to us today at 705.305.4174 or email hello@weeksgroup.ca to begin a conversation.
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