Answers by Brian Side

One additional angle to keep in mind is the financing side of the transaction, because lenders treat this very differently than buyers and sellers often expect. Furniture is personal property, not real property. Appraisers are valuing the house and the land, not the contents inside it. Because of that, lenders generally will not allow furniture to be included in the value of the home or financed in the mortgage. If a contract shows $20K allocated to furniture, underwriting may require that to be removed or separated from the purchase price. In some cases it can even complicate the appraisal if it appears the price of the home is inflated to cover personal property. Since you don’t actually want the furniture, the practical solution may simply be to accept it as part of the deal and deal with it after closing. There are many charities, churches, and local nonprofits that will pick up furniture for free, and some buyers end up donating it or selling pieces locally. Your Realtor should be able to point you to organizations that handle pickup. If you want to be a bit tactical about it, another approach is to get the house under contract first, then allow the lender’s guidelines to drive the conversation. Once the file is in underwriting, lenders often flag personal property in the contract and require it to be removed or adjusted. In that scenario, the lender essentially becomes the neutral party explaining that they cannot finance $20K of furniture, which sometimes gives everyone a clean way to restructure the deal. At the end of the day, it still comes down to a simple question: is this the hill worth dying on? If the seller refuses to move and the house is truly the right one, the furniture may just become a logistical issue you solve after closing. If not, you hold your line and keep looking. That decision usually depends less on the furniture and more on how much you want the house.

The other response is good advice. One additional thing I would make sure of is that you are not only released from the listing agreement itself, but also from any survival or protection clauses in the contract. Many listing agreements include what is called a “protection period” or “tail period.” That means if the agent introduced a buyer to the property during the listing, they may still be entitled to a commission if that buyer purchases the home within a certain time frame after the agreement ends. Sometimes this period can be 30, 60, or even 90 days depending on the contract. So if you are asking to cancel, make sure the written cancellation specifically states that: • The listing agreement is terminated • You are fully released from the agreement • Any protection period or trailing commission rights are waived, unless there are specific buyers already identified in writing Also, I would strongly recommend getting the release in writing and signed by the brokerage, not just the individual agent. In most cases the contract is actually with the brokerage, not the agent personally. Until you have that written release, assume the agreement is still active. A good agent should have no problem providing a simple mutual cancellation and release form if both parties agree to part ways. It keeps everything clean and prevents headaches later.