What If My Realtor Is Not Doing Their Job? How to Know and What to Do About It.

If you are in the middle of a real estate transaction and you are the one calling your agent more than they are calling you, if showings are not being scheduled, if feedback from showings is not coming back to you, if you have no idea what is happening with your listing or your purchase and nobody is telling you, you are not imagining it. Something is off. Here is how to assess the situation honestly and what you can actually do about it.

What You Are Entitled to Expect From Your Agent

Whether you are a buyer or a seller, there are baseline expectations that any agent working in your interest should be meeting. For sellers, that means proactive communication after every showing, regular updates on market activity and feedback, honest conversations about pricing and strategy, and active marketing that goes beyond just listing the home on the MLS. For buyers, it means timely responses to questions, homes being scheduled efficiently, clear explanations of every step of the process, and an agent who is advocating for your interests in every negotiation.

You should never be wondering what is happening with your transaction. If you are regularly in the dark about the status of your listing or your purchase, that is not acceptable and it is not something you should just tolerate.

Signs Your Agent Is Not Doing Their Job

They take more than 24 hours to return calls or messages without explanation. They cannot tell you what feedback buyers are giving after showings. Your listing has been live for two weeks and they have not had a single strategic conversation with you about how the market is responding. They are surprised by things that a proactive agent would have flagged to you days earlier. They tell you to be patient without giving you any data or strategy to back that up. They seem more focused on keeping the peace than on actually advancing your outcome.

Any one of those things happening once might be a bad day. Several of them happening consistently is a pattern and a pattern is information about the level of service you are actually receiving.

How to Have the Conversation First

Before you take any formal steps, have a direct conversation with your agent. Tell them specifically what you are experiencing and what you need from them going forward. Be concrete. Not I feel like you are not doing enough but I have not heard from you since the last showing five days ago and I need a weekly update call and feedback within 24 hours of every showing. Specific expectations are easier to meet and easier to hold someone accountable to than vague frustration.

Some agents genuinely do not know how much communication their clients expect because they have never been told clearly. A direct conversation sometimes resolves the issue entirely. If the agent responds defensively, dismisses your concerns, or the behavior does not change after the conversation, you have your answer.

Can You Fire Your Agent?

As a buyer, if you have signed a buyer representation agreement, review the terms of that agreement carefully. Most buyer representation agreements in Texas have a defined term and may or may not include an easy termination clause. Contact the agent's broker and explain the situation. Brokers generally want to resolve client complaints and in many cases will release you from the agreement if the relationship has clearly broken down.

As a seller, you signed a listing agreement with a defined term and specific terms around cancellation. Again, the right first move is contacting the broker. If the agent has genuinely not been fulfilling the obligations outlined in the listing agreement, you may have grounds to be released. Document everything before you have that conversation.

What to Look for in Your Next Agent

The best protection against ending up in this situation again is asking the right questions before you sign anything the second time. How will you communicate with me and how often? What does your marketing plan look like specifically for my home or my search? What happens if I am not satisfied with the service I am receiving? An agent who has clear, specific answers to all three of those questions before you sign is an agent who has thought seriously about the client experience and not just the transaction.

The Bottom Line

You are not obligated to stay with an agent who is not doing their job. You hired them to represent your interests and if they are not doing that you have every right to address it directly, escalate to the broker, and if necessary find someone else. The discomfort of having that conversation is temporary. The cost of staying in a transaction where your agent is checked out is real and it shows up in your outcome. Do not let politeness cost you money.