Bristol Connecticut Real Estate Listing Contract Length
April 28th, 2007 Connecticut, Deeper Thoughts, Family Life
How long should your listing contract last? It’s a good question and the answer will depend a little on where you live. Elizabeth Winetraub makes a good point that the slower the market is, the longer the listing length should be.
The golden mean for Bristol seems to be about a 90 day length.
Less than 90 days and the agents can feel nervous about putting their full commitment into selling the house. Unless its a raging hot market, which we don’t have right now (it’s good, but not “HOT!”) shorter than 90 doesn’t make much sense.
Likewise going longer than 90 days starts becoming bad for the seller. If they become unhappy with the agent, then it can take a long time to reach the end of the listing to hire a new agent.
I spoke with a seller today interested in hiring me after having no showings for the first three months of their listing. It’s not going to expire until late July. Thats right, three months no showings (it’s badly overpriced) but the seller is locked into a 180 day listing contract. Ouch. Not over much I can do with that right now sorry Mr Seller.
Don’t sign for 180 days though. Sign for 90 days and resign for another 90 days if you want to stick with your agent for 180 days. At least if you did that you have an easy out after 90 days. If you have a less than stellar agent and six months rolls by before you can hire a good one, the Days On Market damage has been done.
Sure any agent will likely tell you “just let me know and I’ll let you out of the contract at any time”. What nonsense is that. You’re meant to be getting representation to protect you against lousy stunts like that. Have them write that down and attach that to the contract as a rider then.
“Um, my broker doesn’t allow that sorry.”
“Reeeeaaaaally? So what you’re saying is you won’t let me out of the contract if I ask.”
“Oooooh you are a clever one aren’t you. This is going to be fun.”
“You didn’t answer the question.”
“Didn’t I? Maybe I did and you just weren’t listening.”
[Thinks] I should have gone with the guy that offered the cardboard boxes to start packing with.
PS Bedazzled is down to $1 used on Amazon. It’s one of my favorite movies. The orginial version with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore is great too.
April 28th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
1. Your affinity for Bedazzled is interesting- you may be alone in that (hence $1 bargain bin).
2. “Smarmy” is my favorite word to use for Realtors that use the smarmy politician talk as you illustrated above.
3. I agree that Listing Agreements should be for a reasonable time period- seriously, who WANTS a listing for that long anyhow? Realtors provide a service, NOT traps, right?
April 29th, 2007 at 8:05 am
It’s all supply and demand. There are about 240 used Bedazzled DVDs because it was so popular, so prices fell.
May 1st, 2007 at 6:02 am
Athol,
Great advice! I don’t care what the market is like, this isn’t about the market — it’s about service. Are you doing what you promised? If so, then why would you need to go beyond a 90-day contract?
Congrats on your mention in the Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnival!
May 1st, 2007 at 10:36 am
Thanks Toby!
May 1st, 2007 at 11:47 am
[...] Athol Kay “Real Estate Listing Contract Length” at REagent in CT [...]
May 1st, 2007 at 11:47 am
[...] Athol Kay “Real Estate Listing Contract Length” at REagent in CT [...]
May 5th, 2007 at 4:44 am
Athol - You are not alone! We are huge Bedazzled fans. I like the drug dealer personality the best, but my husband loves the basketball star. Now here is your test…do you know where to find the extra cut scene on the DVD? The test of a true fan…
May 5th, 2007 at 5:52 am
Crud I don’t actually.
Have you seen the original one? I still laugh everytime I think of Dudley Moore checking out the pillow during the 7th and final wish.
May 17th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Sorry to get this to you so late…to get to the extra sin that was cut out (the reason why one of the sins is the fast food joint):
1)at the menu just pick the first character
2)on the next page pick “special features”
3)on this new page click down to the button on the bottom right that says “more”. This will take you to a second page where she is dressed like an angel
4)don’t click down, but instead click to the right. On her shoulder a red devil should pop up. Hit enter and enjoy the deleated scene. You have to watch it a couple of times as there are so many funny things they say you’ll miss the first time. It is a longer clip so hand in there!
Hope you enjoy!
May 17th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Thanks Jennifer, I’ll look for it!
August 27th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
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September 3rd, 2007 at 8:32 pm
[...] Bristol Connecticut Real Estate Listing Contract Length How long should your listing contract last? It’s a good question and the … April 28th, 2007 Completing The Transaction, Philosophy, Bristol, Connecticut Athol … [...]