How to (Gently) Fire Your Real Estate Agent and Relist Your Salt Lake City Home
So, your listing expired. Or it's about to, and you've been quietly dreading the call where your agent asks if you want to renew.
Here's what I want you to hear before anything else: you are allowed to leave. It is not rude, it is not dramatic, and it happens more often than anyone in my industry likes to admit. You hired someone to do a job. If the job didn't get done, you get to hire someone else.
Most sellers assume they're locked in, or that leaving means a fight, so they sign another six months with the same agent who just cost them a summer.
Let's make sure that isn't you.
First, was it the market or was it your agent?
This is the question everybody gets backwards, so let's be clear about it.
Homes in Salt Lake County are taking roughly 42 to 50 days to go under contract right now, up from 30 to 36 a year ago. So the market did slow down.
But if your home sat for 90 or 120 days in a 45-day market, something else is going on. And here's the part nobody wants to say out loud: that part was up to your agent.
Pricing the house was their job. Getting it photographed so it stops the scroll was their job. Knowing who the buyer was and putting it in front of them was their job. And when it wasn't working, telling you so was also their job.
So, here’s how to tell if you have the right agent (or not):
Did they show you actual sold comparables before you set the price?
Did the listing photos make you want to see the house?
At week two, did they bring you showing feedback and a plan, or did you have to chase them for an update?
Did they explain about how they are going to market the home and what’s going to change after a couple weeks?
Did they ever tell you something you didn't want to hear?
When you asked what was happening, did you get an answer or did you just get reassured?
Here’s where I invite you to take a look at what those five questions have in common. Every single one is about whether your agent was actually working for you. If yes, the market is just tough, and you can trust this person to help you rethink your re-list. If not, I just don’t think another round is going to change the equation. It may be time to hire a new agent.
If it was your agent, here’s how to know when you can exit gracefully.
There are three different ways a listing comes off the market, and only two of them mean you're free to go.
Expired. The end date written into your listing agreement came and went. You're done, automatically, and nobody has to sign anything.
Withdrawn. Your home came off the MLS, but your listing agreement is still alive and you are still legally represented. A lot of sellers think withdrawn means out. It does not. If your agent "pulled it for now," ask directly whether the agreement is still in force.
Cancelled. You and the brokerage agreed to end it early, in writing. More on how to word your email to the agent gracefully later.
When your agent takes the listing off the MLS, that only changes what the public sees. It does not end the contract you signed with the brokerage. The contract only ends when you and the brokerage both sign a cancellation form.
So if your agent tells you they will cancel the listing, ask them to send you the signed cancellation form so you can make a clean break and move on.
What you should know about the protection period.
Most listing agreements include a protection period. It means that for some window after your listing ends, if a buyer your old agent introduced to the home comes back and buys it, you can still owe that brokerage their commission. This is the clause that turns into an ugly surprise months later.
Here's the good news, and it's specific to how Utah's cancellation form is written. The standard UAR cancellation form releases both parties from the protection period by default when you sign with a new brokerage. There is a field that indicates how many months it’s kept alive.
So before you sign anything: look for that box, and know whether it's filled out. If it is, ask why, and ask for the list of buyers it applies to in writing.
One more thing most people don't realize. Your listing agreement is with the brokerage, not with the individual agent. That means if you like the company but not the person, you can ask for a different agent inside the same office. And if your agent won't release you, the principal broker is the one who can.
Please Note: This is general information, not legal advice. The actual terms are in your agreement, and it's worth reading the page you signed.
How to leave gracefully
If you’re ready to go, all you need is an email with the following four sentences:
"Hi [name]. I've decided to take a different direction with the house, and I'd like to cancel our listing agreement. Could you send me the cancellation form, or point me to whoever at the brokerage handles that? I appreciate the work you have put in."
That's it. Send it, keep a copy, and give it a few business days.
If you don't hear back, contact the principal broker directly. Every brokerage has one and their name is on your paperwork. Most of them would much rather release an unhappy seller than have one telling the story around town.
Here are two things not to do:
Don't go quiet and wait for it to lapse. You lose weeks you don't have this time of year, and you're still represented the whole time.
Don't sign with a new agent while you're still under contract. That's the situation where people end up owing two commissions on one house.
What to look for in your next listing agent
Now that you’ve learned what a poor fit can cost you, here’s what to look for in your next agent.
Ask these, and ask for real answers:
What were your average days on market over the last twelve months, in this price range?
What happens in the first two weeks after we go live?
Who do you think buys this specific house, and how will you reach them?
Show me the sold comparables you'd price this from, and walk me through how you got to the number.
When it isn't working, what will you tell me and when will you tell me?
That last question is the one. Any agent can promise you a number. What you need is someone who will tell you the truth in week two, before it costs you a season.
If someone gets uncomfortable when you ask for their days on market, that's your answer and red flag.
About relisting: your house has a history now
Be aware that when you come back on the market, buyers' agents can generally see that your home was listed before and how long it sat. Coming back at the same price two weeks later just confirms what the market already decided.
So come back with something actually different. A price that reflects real closings in your neighborhood in the last 60 to 90 days. New photography. The repairs that were making buyers wonder what else you'd been ignoring. Give the market a genuine reason to look again.
Five ways I help my sellers get offers in 30 days or less
Since you're deciding who to hire next, here's exactly what you'd be getting from me.
I price it right on day one. Because a home priced above the search filters your buyers are using never shows up for them at all, and a listing that ages starts attracting lowballs instead of offers. I'll show you the sold comparables I used so you can see how I got there. What I find works best is to actually list your home slightly under its value, this draws attention and usually gets multiple offers which increases competition and the price to its actual value.
I get it ready so buyers can picture their life in it. Clutter out, personal items away, the small repairs done, the space staged so the photos stop the scroll. And I'll tell you honestly what isn't worth doing, because money spent on the wrong prep is just money left on the table.
I know who's buying it before we list. First-time buyer priced into the neighborhood, a couple trading up out of a downtown condo, a solo buyer who wants your walkability. That answer shapes the price, the prep, the photos, and where I put it in front of people. I market straight to that buyer. Instead of listing it the generic way and hoping the right person happens to scroll past.
I will tell you the truth in week two. Not week eight. If something isn't working, you'll hear it from me while there's still time to fix it. I send marketing reports weekly so we can see how it’s being received by the market, and each 2 week segment I re-review my strategy to see how we need to pivot.
And for my LGBTQ+ clients, I handle the parts that shouldn't be your problem: knowing who is coming through your house, keeping showings controlled, and making sure bias doesn't quietly show up in an appraisal or an offer without somebody catching it.
Recently I sold a home that the previous realtor had on the market for over 130 days with ZERO offers! As I talked with the sellers they shared experiences about never hearing from their agent, they are given no direction, and they aren’t getting the help they need. They even told me about when they were getting the home ready to list they asked about staging and decorating and where they should place things. Their agent told them the photographer would guide them on that. They felt so frustrated and stuck.
I was in shock! A photographer’s job is to take photos, not stage a home. I felt for them as they weren’t getting any support. I’m so glad they cut ties with their agent and had me list their home. They were so impressed with the staging I brought in, the small touch ups we did and how amazing the home looked. We had our first offer within 18 days and closed within 50 days!
TL;DR - The Short Version
If your listing expired and you aren’t sure about the agent you started with, you're allowed to leave. Pricing, marketing, and telling you the truth were all your agent's job, so if your home sat 90 days in a 45-day market, that's worth calling out. If the listing is expired, it means you're free automatically. If it was withdrawn, it means you're still under a contract. To cancel your listing properly, ask your agent for a cancellation form for a clean break. Check whether the protection period box is filled out before you sign, since that's the clause that can cost you a commission months later. Your agreement is with the brokerage, not the person, so the broker can release you if your agent won't. Ask your next agent for their days on market and what they'll tell you in week two. And when you relist, come back with a real change, because buyers can see the history. People do relist successfully, if they have the right strategy and the right agent in place.
If your listing just expired and you want a straight read on what happened and what your home could actually do, book a free Q&A with me. It's a no-pressure coffee or tea chat at KAPRealEstate.com/book.
Bring your questions and I'll give you a real picture, no pitch.
Kevin A Petersen is an LGBTQ+ affirming real estate agent serving buyers and sellers throughout the Salt Lake City area. Schedule a no-pressure conversation about your home buying goals.
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