Sales Hot in ‘Big Chill’

I am an active, professional real estate broker and work hard to meet my clients’ needs and provide accurate information on the marketplace. Your reporting in “The Big Chill” (Jan. 14) by David W. Myers has erroneously created a perception that we are not selling homes.

According to you, if homes do sell, they sell for $100,000 less than asking price, and every seller has to give a trip to Tahiti to get the home sold. This is not correct. In our board in Glendale we had more sales in the last quarter of 1989 than we had in the same quarter in prior years.

The main difference today is that we now have twice the number of homes for sale. This is truly an advantage for the buyer, who has twice the selection of properties. In addition, sellers may carry financing, pay closing costs or negotiate their prices now where they would not have previously.

A buyer today is missing an excellent opportunity to purchase a home on his terms. This may not be the case in a few months during our peak selling period. There will be even more buyers, again increasing the demand and reducing the supply.

In addition, it is apparent that columnist Robert J. Bruss has not worked with a professional realtor recently, nor has he listed or sold a property with one in many years. His recommendations regarding disclosures have some of my clients so frightened they are reluctant to sell.

His advice to list only for 30 days with a broker is also not the way to effectively market a property. None of the successful, knowledgeable agents I know would work under those conditions. Would Mr. Bruss? Isn’t he allowed to handle a lawsuit through to successful close?

A realtor is being hired for his/her expertise, including the time it will take to sell a property. In most cases this is controlled by the sellers’ asking price.

JENNIE MANDERS

Los Angeles