The realtor has (most certainly) already paid some fees to list the property in MLS and other advertising. even if they haven't shown the house they have probably spent time and some money listing it. Maybe you can get out by paying a lesser fee. Try and negotiate. They certainly don't want to eat their costs because you changed your mind (regardless of the reason). They also don't want to back out of the contract to have you list the house with another realtor or buy owner. So:
Perhaps there is a way to draft a contract stating you aren't going to sell the house via a competing realtor in the next xxx months (if you do decide to sell the house you'll go back through them). I don't know if that's legal or not, but, worth looking into... You'll probably STILL have to pay some of their current costs to get out of the deal, but, $7000, I hope not!
If they won't let you out of the contract, you still have other options:
1) Definitely Contact a lawyer for legal advice, I don't know what is or is not legal.
Is there a fee you pay regardless of whether or not the house sells? If not:
2) Make your house difficult to sell (don't do the things that make the house easy to sell). Keep it dirty/unpresentable so the buyers don't want to pay the asking price. My guess is that you don't HAVE to lower the asking price to sell, but, I guess it depends on the contract with the realtor.
3) Take your time "thinking" about offers. Even if a buyer offers you the asking price, do you have to accept it? If not, don't! If you do (check with lawyer) you can still make it difficult to go to contract, by making the closing date far off / inconvenient to the buyer.
If there ARE fees regardless of whether or not it sells, make the realtor do their job and see if you can get a good price for the house. If you found one house you liked, there's gotta be others out there you would also like. Don't give up!
