Special Telephone Techniquesration date, they don’t have to fire anyone... you’re
fired automatically. The reason that the seller doesn’t
cancel with a verbal cancellation listing is because
they feel uncomfortable firing you, or they may be
satisfied with the job you are doing for them.
Ask your broker if they allow this type of listing
agreement. If they don’t, ask if you can offer a per-
petual listing agreement with a 30-day or 60-day
cancellation notice. This would require the seller to
give you a written notice 30 or 60 days in advance of
the expiration of the listing. The listing would carry
forward until the seller gives you a cancellation no-
tice in writing.Handle Short Listing Requests
Many sellers feel that in order to get you motivated to
sell their home, you must be in a hurry to do so. That being
said, the best thing that they can think of is to ask for a
short listing. Sellers, especially FSBO sellers, feel that a
short listing will secure them from being “stuck” with an
incompetent agent. They also feel that, since the listing is
short, that you will feel a sense of urgency to sell the prop-
erty. There are ways to combat this dilemma:
- Canceled listings look bad.When a listing gets can-
celled or expires, it looks bad to buyers and to buy-
ers’ agents. Think about when you run comps for a
CMA, the expired listings are a telltale sign that the
property was either priced too high or something
was materially wrong with it. It is important to let