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Is four years too long to spend with a realtor?

My husband started a new medical practice in Rochester Ny back in 2020. So we rent a condo there for him. Our family home is in PA with 3 years left for our last child to graduate HS before I move permanently to NY. We have been working with the same realtor in Rochester since 2020 have made multiple offers over the 4 years to no avail. He’s nice. My husband likes him. We mostly find our own listings to view online, occ he sends an email with a listing. But I’m frustrated! I don’t know what to do here. We made an offer last year on a house that would work for us for full price $895,000. The seller turned down our offer saying he now wanted 1.2 million because he thought he would get a bidding war. He didn’t get any other offers, so he took it off the market. He put it back in the market this June for 1.1 million. We did not know it was back on but I feel our realtor should have known and told us. It sold a few days later for $900,000. Only $5,000 more than our previous offer! This past week called our realtor to ask about an home that just came on the market wanting to know the area ext, our realtor sent us an email back saying it looked perfect for us. He Set up a showing for 2 days later we were so excited and planned to do whatever we could to get this one. Then the next day we were notified that an offer was accepted so no showing. We were heartbroken..until my husband mentioned this area to a co worker at the hospital who said oh yeah that house is 1/4 mile or less from A Nuclear Power plant. What?? How could our realtor not know this info? We would never been ok with a nuclear pop so close to a development and not have gotten excited then heartbroken then confused here. I feel like our realtor should have told us about this before the showing was even set up as I asked about the area since it was in Ontario and not Rochester. Something def feels wrong here. I know we have 3 years left to find something but we do t want to be stuck on that 3rd year, plus me having to look everyday on Realor.com, I gave a job myself and college kids, a hs kid, it feels like I’m the realtor not him. And neither is us are getting anywhere!!

Asked by Jenny | Rochester, NY| 07-04-2024| 464 views|Buying|Updated 1 year ago

Answers (3)

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Amanda Courtney

REP Realty Group · Fort Myers, FL

(13 reviews)
That depends on your goals and the relationship! If you’ve been working with a Realtor for four years and haven’t reached your goal yet, it may be time to reassess. Sometimes long-term relationships make sense — like if you’re investing, renting, or buying multiple properties — but if progress has stalled, have an honest conversation about next steps or a new strategy.
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10-30-2025 (5 months ago)··
Tom MatthewsRising Star18 Answers
Tom Matthews

Gibson Sotheby's International Realty · Boston, MA

(108 reviews)
Jenny, Sorry to hear of your frustration! There are big changes coming to the real estate industry on August 17th and now you could potentially be responsible for the real estate fee. I would ask this question, would you pay for the services you are getting if you found your dream home? If the answer is no then you should interview new agents. To give you perspective since 2020 I helped 77 buyers find homes so you should really think about interviewing other agents!
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07-27-2024 (1 year ago)··
Khem KadariyaNovice2 Answers
Khem Kadariya

Real Broker NY LLC · West Henrietta, NY

(12 reviews)
I’m going to assume you’ve already found a home by now, but four years isn’t really the issue. It comes down to how the experience felt. From what you shared, it sounds like you were doing most of the work, finding homes yourself, and still missing opportunities. That’s not how it should be. A strong agent should be proactive, keep you informed on relisted homes, move quickly on showings, and guide you on things like location before you get too invested. The missed $895K home and the situation with the area you asked about are both signs of a lack of follow through. It’s not about whether your agent is nice. It’s about whether they’re actually helping you win. At this point, it’s completely reasonable to either reset expectations with them or talk to another agent and see if the experience feels different.
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03-20-2026 (1 month ago)··
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