How long should you keep your unsold property with the same agent? In a perceptually softening market, it is not uncommon for a listing to linger on the market for quite some time. I recall back in the late 1980's, when the market was softer than a freshly roasted marshmallow, we had a saying that it was always best to be someone's First Love, Second Wife/Husband, and Third Listing Agent. It seemed that such a designation got the results one was looking for. I honestly don't know about the Second Wife/Husband part, but I do agree with the other two designations.

I know from personal experience that listings have a tendency to get stale, or perhaps attitudes about particular listings grow old with time. I know that this can be a common occurrence with a number of agents I have witnessed with respect to their marketing efforts. It seems that fresh out of the gate, the enthusiasm is high, hopes are higher, and marketing plans presented to any given seller are pie in the sky. Hope does spring eternal, but should an agent not find a buyer, I often find that the priority given to that listing does indeed shrink over time. This fact is evidenced by the dwindling number of open houses that agent may hold, a reduction in advertising, or a general malaise about the property that is reflected also in the gusto in which the agent attempts to conger up with other agents who might have a buyer for such a property.

A handful of real estate agents might offer the seller an unrealistic listing price, in the hopes of bringing that price down, over time, to a point where the listing will garner the attention necessary to get the listing sold. Unbelievable, I know, but some listing agents actually do this. Their goal is to pile their inventory high while giving false hope to a seller. Agents may find this tactic to be very short sighted, as an unmovable seller, with regards to price, will only cost the agent money in terms of administrative work, and advertising costs. This kind of approach is a disservice to a seller as the home would have no real chance of selling in any given market.

Based on my experience, I believe it is fair to give a listing contract with any particular agent about 120 days. Personally speaking, unless I am making some headway in the number of showings I am procuring for a seller, I don't know that it is in his or her best interest to keep their listing with me. I am human so I too may grow tired of any given condo or townhouse I may be hired to list - not in many cases, but once in a blue moon, my hopes do begin to fade. Trying in time to prompt a seller to reduce his price is sometimes a lost cause. They may reduce their price once during my tenure as their listing agent, though continual prodding may only serve as path to self destruction. The seller may well grow tired of my suggestions, and move the listing to another real estate agent. Then, and only then, do I see that reduction in sale price which I have been suggesting for quite some time.

As the price drops on any lingering piece of real estate, the interest in such- from the listing agent and other buyers alike, does indeed rise. And sometimes it takes the third listing agent to finally get it through the sellers head that a significant price drop is needed to selling his or her home. Some sellers need to hear the message over and over again, and from a variety of sources (aka: listing agents). Picking up someone else's failed listing is sometimes like finding a lost $20 bill on the ground. It may be wrinkled, dirty, and perceptually tired, but my enthusiasm for the find is no less diminished, and often more valued than the other twenty dollar bills I have in my wallet.