Expert, localized Los Angeles answers provided by Heather Roy

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One-Year Listing

  I have a friend who signed a listing contract with an agent for one year starting April 2007. She is one third of the way into this contract and has since become pregnant. She has also dropped her price by $10,000. Based on her situation, can she take her house off the market, cancel her contract, and stay where she is until next year after the baby is born, and relist the home (not necessarily with the same agent) and go back to asking for a higher price than what she is asking for right now? The purpose of her sale would be to move closer to both she and her husband's job which is about 1 1/2hrs from her present location.
 
  Your friend has the unquestioned right to cancel the listing and take her house off the market.  She might be asked to repay the broker's out-of-pocket expenses like advertising. 
    Edith
Originally published on August 20, 2007
 
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