Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: take a house off the market

It depends. I would want to see the contract.

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Re: take a house off the market

There are about three more-or-less standard kinds of listing agreements in use for single-family homes. Anything else would be rare, other than the check-the-box alternatives for certain items. Ordinarily, the owner cannot be forced to sell, even upon presentation of a full-price and unconditional offer, but the broker will have earned a commission and will probably sue (successfully) for the commission if he or she isn't paid the commission, whether or not there is a sale. The commission is earned when the buyer is found, not when the sale closes - usually.

Next time you have a discussion with your Realtor, ask to be shown the specific provisions in your listing agreement that would "force" you to sell - more likely than not, it's going to be "force you to pay an earned commission." In a minority of cases you may be in a contract that truly gives the broker an irrevocable power to commit you to a sale.

Of course, having to give up a 6% commission rather than go through with a full-price sale may not seem like much of a choice.

I should add that if you enter into a contract of sale with a buyer (as distinguished from a listing agreement) the buyer can enforce the purchase contract and oblige you to complete the sale by going to court and getting a decree for specific performance.