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There's lazy and there's stupid. Your house needs to be priced realistically, number one. Then, depending on other factors, your agent might need to step it up to market it.
Is a bad realtor, someone who'd accept a bonus as a buyers agent even though their new CLIENT found the place online then randomly called them, and could really use the bonus money for closing costs?!?!?
Is a bad realtor, someone who'd accept a bonus as a buyers agent even though their new CLIENT found the place online then randomly called them, and could really use the bonus money for closing costs?!?!?
No, not really. Not really close.
A bad agent may screw up the paperwork so you don't get the house, whatever the commission payment is.
A bad agent may try to dissuade you from that home you selected, and sell you one of their own, or their own firm's listings out of self interest.
A bad agent may fail to tell you there is a bonus prior to you making a decision. (A little more relevant to your question.)
A bad agent won't respond to you evenings and weekends while you are stressing about the transaction.
A bad agent may fail to represent you properly regarding inspections and repair requests.
A bad agent may miss deadlines in the transaction and cost you time, money, effort, or loss of the transaction.
On and on, but the decision to not give up compensation does not make anyone a bad agent.
When a seller is ready to sell the house and need to clean up their yard, you'd better be careful some realtors recomend his/her favorite gardners because the realtor have commission with them. For example, the gardners often give a big discount to the realtors because the realtors introduce big jobs such as cleanup, landscaping to attract potential buyers. Be careful most realtors's priority is money, easy money.
I've had experiences with a couple really good realtors and one bad realtor. The bad realtor was representing me as a buyer, though, so that isn't too pertinent to this thread.
I'd say that you need some evidence that the realtor is marketing your home, is trying to network with others regarding your property, and if it isn't selling is sitting down with you to figure out what changes can be made. If the realtor's attitude to list your place and then sit and wait for an offer, they are just along for the ride and you need to cut them loose. That is no better than the insurance agents who make a rider commission off of you for life just because they wrote you a generic friggin life insurance policy.
I think realtor's commissions will go the way of stockbroker's commissions soon. It used to be that to do anything in the market, you had to pay a stockbroker a 5% commission. Imagine having a decent nest-egg, $200K or so, and paying $10,000 to a guy just for hitting a button to place a trade for you. I witnessed it as an intern at a large brokerage house. Today, you still have the option of full-service, but the commissions are much more negotiable and competative due to the online marketplace.
Granted, a good realtor adds value and should by all means make some money. I have no problem with a hard-working realtor making a nice income. None at all. But should the commission be this 6-7% fee that is has been forever, regardless of if the house is a condo, a mansion, sells in a day or a year? I don't think so.
The above was posted in 2007, 4 years ago. I wonder if the poster is still waiting for "realtor's commissions to go the way of stockbroker's commissions"???
And to the poster who suggested you not use your Realtor's gardener because he gives a discount...wouldn't that be a good thing that your Realtor referred you to her gardener since you, the seller, will be paying the gardener???
My husband's cousin sold his house quickly by himself. Had a great real estate lawyer and sold the house at a good price. Did the research and bought a new house from that sale.
I would do FSBO now in a heartbeat, having seen what houses go for and done a prodigious amount of reading. Plus, I took a real estate licensing course years ago (missed the last session, decided didn't want to be an agent) and have a pretty good idea of what an agent is supposed to do. Why not do it yourself? I would!
How do you know if your realtor is doing a good job and working hard, or if he is lazy and needs to go?
Feedback please.
In my opinion, a good agent is the one who knows the market well. And this agent will actually think about whether they want to work with you or not.
If you are expecting unreasonably high price for your home in an unreasonable amount of time, a good agent will actually pass on the opportunity to work with you, while you may just consider them bad and 'lazy'.
How do you know if your realtor is doing a good job and working hard, or if he is lazy and needs to go?
Feedback please.
It's usually easy to tell when it's time to fire a Realtor and look for a new one. How to be a Bad Realtor
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Is a bad realtor, someone who'd accept a bonus as a buyers agent even though their new CLIENT found the place online then randomly called them, and could really use the bonus money for closing costs?!?!? 
