Can You Cancel Your Listing?

I don’t know.  That’s a legal question and the answer will depend on the specific listing agreement you signed.  The more important question is: Why do you want to cancel your listing?

The answer is usually ‘no activity’ or ‘no communication.’  Let’s take those two things in order.

If your house is not being shown, if your open house is the loneliest place in town, you have to ask why.  First, look at the market.  How long does it take a properly priced listing in your area to sell?  Is it 30 days or 100?  Right now, our Oahu days on market is healthy:  less than 30 days from listing to accepted offer.  But your specific neighborhood could be different. Have a conversation with your agent, get the facts, and adjust your expectations.

The next thing to consider is the product.  By that, I mean your house.  It is a product now, one that has to compete with similar products on the market at the same time.  How does it stack up in terms of curb appeal?  Does it show well?  And most important, is it properly priced?  It can be very difficult for home owners to see their houses through a cold buyer’s eyes. History and emotion cloud the vision and the run-down-fixer-upper that’s priced 10% over market looks like a bargain-priced-palace to the seller.  Shake yourself out of that stupor!  Call your agent and ask them to show you six homes any potential buyer who might look at yours would also see.  Then come back to your house, take a careful look and talk with your agent about how to be more competitive.

By far, the biggest reason homes aren’t shown and don’t sell is price.  Did you take your agent’s advice on pricing at the time of listing?  Or did you insist that you wanted to start higher?  (after all, you could always come down)  Take a moment and watch this short video about pricing and see if it resonates with your situation:

Now let’s talk about Communication.  Your agent should be talking to you every week whether there is anything to report or not.  You should be reviewing market activity together once a month.  If this isn’t happening, call your agent and communicate your expectation for staying in touch.  If things don’t change, call the agent’s Broker.

My final and most important piece of advice is this:  you can avoid all of these problems by choosing the right company.  When you get ready to list, talk to Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties .  We do it differently and better.  All you have to do is look at our website to see how important happy customers are to us.  Testimonials are everywhere as are pictures of homes they’ve sold and how much those sellers have saved.  If being well-taken-care-of is your goal, you can’t do better than Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties!

Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties is a full service real estate company that provides exceptional service while charging less than ordinary Realtors.  We’ve been successfully helping buyers and sellers all over Oahu for more than 12 years and we’d be delighted to help you achieve your housing dreams.  Contact us at (808) 593-8811, or visit our website.  

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