You're totally within your rights to drop a realtor that hasn't performed for you, as you say you signed no contract. We've actually been in that position before and just told the realtor politely that they weren't meeting our needs. No need to elaborate, if she asks for reasons, just tell her that there is a break down in communications and her understanding your wants and needs. She should be professional enough to understand that. She also doesn't want to have any ill will if she's a professional.

One important point, clearly tell the "old" agent you do not want her services, better in writing.
She may send you a listing that the "new" agent also sends you. If you buy "that" home, she will be more upset, than you firing her.
Simply, politely tell her you are not a match. Be friendly, but clear, do not involve yourself in a long discussion. When you see her smile, say hello.

Be clear. Thank her (in writing) for her attention, but state that you do not require her services.
Be cordial, but firm.

In your firing letter you might take the "blame" for it not working out by pointing out that you are probably an above-averagely hard-to-please client what with all your very specific needs, and need to have previews because of the travel time. Of course, I think it's her job to to do these things...... But at least you'll have a some formal closure and you can go on and find the house you need and not cringe when you see the first realtor around town later.

HTH,

Molly~

cmarlin's point is a really important one. If the first realtor keeps sending you listings, she may be hoping to get a piece of the pie if you buy--whatever the circumstances. So you need to tell her very clearly that you do not want to work with her.

Don't worry about the future relationship. If she's professional, she's even more interested in cordiality than you are. If she's not professional, then others in your new community already know that.

Good advice already -- I think the key phrase is that you two "weren't able to communicate clearly enough about your real estate needs" (that lets her blame it on you - so what?) and to thank her for efforts. Then add something to the effect that you are "releasing her from any obligations to you so she can spend her time on clients with a higher likelihood of success."

Glad to hear her replacement has been more effective! I know you've been searching for a while, and something's gotta be out there...

Thanks all for your input. Do you think e-mail will be ok?

I'm thinking of steeling Sweeby's words and say something like the below:

Hi xxx,

We would like to thank you for your time and effort in trying to help us find a home in the area. However we feel we weren't able to communicate clearly enough about our real esate needs so we've decided to realease you from any obligations to us so you can spend your time on clients with a higher likelihood of success.

Thanks Again!
xxx & xxx xxxx

Is this good? (Thanks sweeby for the words). I couldn't come up with anything that didn't sound accusatory on my own because I'm still frustrated as to why she couldn't just look at the list of criteria and then compare it to the listing before sending. If you say minimum 7 acres, why send 5 listings with less than an acre??

I think honesty is the best policy. If I wasn't doing something right (ie listening), I would want to know so that I could fix it. Tell her exactly how you feel.

lyfia,

We had the same problem with a buyer's agent. She sent a total of 40 listings (in 8 months) that also ignored our minimum criteria. At least 5 acres with woods.

Since you mentioned you are moving to a small town, it might not hurt to let this person off the hook cheaply, without providing any criticism. What would be the point? How does this sound?

Hi xxx,
We appreciate your time and effort in trying to help us find a home. We found a house on our own that suits our needs exactly. My husband has a relative in the real estate business who has agreed to assist us for a flat fee. Please accept this check ($25-50.00?) in appreciation for the listings you have provided up until this time.

Thanks again.

Best wishes
lyfia

I disagree with the last few posts. The letter should be clear and concise, but not rude, and shouldn't include any half-truths or outright fabrications. There's really no point beating around the bush because she'd doubtless going to hear via the grapevine that you're working with someone else. But not only are you likely to run across her in the community, but it's also even possible that you could wind up buying a house represented by her agency. So you do need to be tactful

Dear X,

Thank you for your efforts in finding a home for us to buy. You have sent us quite a number of leads, but none of them have panned out. While it would have been wonderful if your work for us had proven fruitful, we feel a strong need at this point to move forward with our search, as I'm sure you can appreciate.

Accordingly, since we have decided to try our luck with another agent, please cease your efforts on our behalf.

Best Regards,
etc

Best to be straightforward without being rude. I like the one that feedingfrenzy wrote, but I would be even more direct. After "none have panned out," I would add something along the lines of "...because few met the criteria we discussed."

Just tell her you no longer need her services and then thank her for her time. Two sentences. Done.

You don't need to tell her the reason. In fact, you are making up a false reason just trying to be nice.

a realtor that I had known in the past moved right across the street from me last week. I live in a good sized beach community in a neighborhood where we don't have that many people moving in and out. If you are moving to the country you are more likely to see her at the market, the baseball game, etc. or since she's not a good realtor maybe she is going to dental school --and one day somebody with a drill will be looking at you and it will be her!
So in a note to her --be brief, be firm and thank her for her time. Because you never know what the future holds.

I would just say, "I'm working with someone else now. Thanks for your time earlier, but I'm returning these listings to you; I haven't looked through them."

Don't give reasons, it just gets messy and awkward.

I don't think it's a lie, or even a half truth. A diplomatic euphamism, perhaps, but true, and sufficiently comprehensive.

Communication is a two-part process: What the speaker says, and what the listener hears. And to say "We weren't communicating effectively" is just as true for "You're not listening!" as it is for "I can't utter a coherent sentence."

For whatever reason, Lyfia was NOT able to communicate successfully to that Realtor what it was she was looking for. I suspect the communication difficulty was much more on the 'listening' end since she's been pretty clear about it here, and the 2nd Realtor seemed to get it. Or perhaps that Realtor just didn't think anything exactly like that was available, or didn't want to work hard enough to dig it out...

Thank you for your time. We will no longer be needing your services.
Sincerely,
XXX

I would NOT say anymore than that. These things can get messy when potential commission is at stake, especially if she works for a RE firm with a boss who wants his share.
Keep it simple and FIRM. Done. You owe her NOTHING.

Thanks all for the advice. I'm not going to lie and I really don't want to be accusatory either. I just want to stop getting her e-mails and phone calls about properties that has no relevance to what we are looking for. It's like she just likes quantity over quality. She has taken us to view about 10 properties, and while we're there and we have seen enough ie not for us. She keeps pointing out oh that is nice or this is nice and most of the time we don't agree and just look at each other an roll our eyes. We've even said in a few instances that we don't think it is nice because of this or that. We went and looked at a property that needed to be torn down and rebuilt (an owner built house) that the rafters were spaced to far apart so the roof was wavy and the foundation had 1/4 inch to 1/2 slope in spots, and sheet rock was used on the outdoor porch ceilings and we are telling her that it is too much work to fix it and that we want to just do some cosmetics ie paint and light fixtures. OK ready to move on. No she goes on and on about how it is priced right and would it really be that much work etc.

We told her Yes when you will be commuting 3 hrs a day that is the last thing you want to spend your weekend doing. Guess what the next house is that we see. Another one that needs a lot of work. The new realtor is great in that he weeds these out so even if the listing sounds interesting and the pictures look like we want to see it, he's already weeded out a couple that we wouldn't like.

I think I will just use musicma's words.

Oh BTW I don't think Sweeby's response would be a lie at all. It is true that there is two to the communication and I know from work that depending on who I talk to I have to speak differently to make sure the person understands what I want.

However I'm not getting paid by the realtor so I don't want to have to deal with that and figure out how to communicate what I need. If she can't understand a simple written list with must haves then it's not worth it to me.

Good choice. Less is more.

I wouldn't put it in writing. Ask your new agent how to handle it. Real estate agents tussle over commissions frequently, your new one probably knows exactly how to ensure he gets the whole enchilada.

I already did it. I'm not worried any about comission to the old one at all. She hasn't sent anything that we would be interested in at all, which was the problem.

"Ask your new agent how to handle it. Real estate agents tussle over commissions frequently, your new one probably knows exactly how to ensure he gets the whole enchilada."

LOL! Now THAT sounds like good advice!