Dear Steve,
My real estate broker says I can only terminate my listing contract if I promise to not re-list with another broker. This doesn't sound right. What can I do?

Dear Rachael,
Your broker might, technically, be right depending on what your listing contract stipulates. You don't specify its duration, but if it's considerably more than the 90-day maximum that consumer attorneys and real estate advisers suggest -- and you've got months left on it -- you might be able to make enough noise to get out of it. Obviously, once such an exclusive listing agreement expires, you are free to go elsewhere.First, you should examine your listing contract for clarity on what can or will happen if you terminate early.

That should be spelled out pretty clearly.But, there is at least one thing to try before completely cutting the cord. Unless you're working with an independent broker, your listing belongs to a real estate company, not the specific agent with whom you've been dealing. You may want to request a sit-down meeting with the agency manager, or the actual broker, to express your concerns. Perhaps you can agree on a different salesperson who can handle your account in a way that satisfies your dissatisfaction.

Or the manager or broker may be able to simply void your listing agreement -- few agencies want to sustain overtly unproductive relationships with clients.Let me ask you this: Are you doing everything in your power to help the agent show and market the house? For example, the pricing of a home is often a sticking point in seller-agent squabbles. You may already know the current buyer's market is not the best time to try to sell, especially with higher-than-market listings. In all but a handful of areas, you'll probably get scratched off most home-tour lists pretty quickly using this strategy. After all, one of the things you are paying for when you hire a Realtor or agent, assuming you execute a sale, is pricing and marketing expertise.

Before you make any moves, ask the agent for a summary of the marketing endeavors done on your behalf. It should be pretty comprehensive. In fact, you should have been getting regular updates on these efforts all along.Let's assume for now that you've got legitimate beef. You don't mention the region where you live, but in most states, an agent is obliged to demonstrate "duty of obedience," which means obeying all the clients' lawful instructions, plus adhere to a "duty of care," or "duty of competence" ethic, by representing the client's interest with professionalism, diligence and reasonable technical knowledge. Of course, there's a lot of ambiguity built into in those terms.

One more thing: If your listing contract is set to end reasonably soon, start interviewing other agents right away so you're ready to leap into action the day after it expires.Good luck -- or should I say, better luck -- with the next agent.