Can I List With Another Agent If My House Does Not Sell?

Only out of the heads of sellers comes a question like can I list with another agent if my house does not sell? I seem to be hit with a lot of odd questions lately. Another seller yesterday enthusiastically mentioned that she found a tenant to rent her house (meaning she does need to sell now) and would I prepare all of the legal paperwork for free? She was very worried about getting sued by the tenant. Because tenants have all of these god awful rights now.

Holy shit! Am I a fairy godmother?

Last time I looked in the mirror, I saw a Sacramento Realtor looking back at myself. Realtors get paid commission when they sell a house. We don’t work on rental properties. And we do NOT prepare legal documents without a law degree. Maybe she’d like me to prepare her family’s will, too, while I’m at it. But I said none of those things, ‘cuz why. What I said was you are so lucky we have a property management company!

The seller who asked can I list with another agent if my house doesn’t sell wasn’t really paying much attention to how his question would be received. Now, another agent might have answered that question with a response that says absolutely and let it go. They do nobody any favors with that approach.

But not me, because I feel a desire to educate and enlighten. Yes, I will go there.

I explained that if his house doesn’t sell, another agent won’t be able to help him, especially not when he’s already hired one of the best agents in Sacramento. If his house doesn’t sell, it will be because buyers no longer want to pay what it is worth or the market has tanked. It will have nothing to do with me.

He responded by disclosing he’s been burned in the past. See, call me out on stating the obvious, but isn’t that purpose of hiring a top producer? So you won’t get burned? Damn those scum-ball agents messing it up for the rest of us. I promise automatic cancellation for all of my sellers if any are ever so upset they want to cancel the listing, which has never happened. Knock on wood, LOL.

I just told him he’s safe because in my 40+ years of selling real estate, not one client EVER accused me of burning them. But I am not unsympathetic regarding his former situation. Further, it’s sad that sellers have to ask this kind of question to start with.

But that’s what we are up against it. Former bad experiences that clients survived with some agent who screwed them over. Well, that kind of lowlife agent is not me.