Can I market a property? Am I allowed to do so?

[Patrick Boutin]

Hello everybody,

I have a question that I am hoping to get some advice on.

I have two small properties I am trying to sell with the help of a local Real Estate agent. Unfortunately, these properties need quite a bit of work. Because of this, I fear the realtor isn't too motivated to get them sold (which I can understand as there isn't a whole lot of money he can make).

He has told me the properties are listed on the local MLS which I cannot verify. What I know, is that I have searched for both properties on realtor.com, zillow.com and trulia.com and haven't been able to find either of them...

In the meanwhile, having recently discovered BP and having listened to a lot of great advice thru the podcasts I have gotten a few ideas on how to market them.

Please let me be clear that I am not trying to stiff the agent. He has been very helpful with selling other smaller properties however I fear that if I keep depending on him, this could drag on for much longer and could potentially cost me more money.

My question is therefore the following: Am I allowed to market the properties and more importantly if I did and found a potential buyer, do I have to give the agent a commission?