Bleeding Hearts

Some real estate agents are certainly wearing their bleeding hearts on their sleeves. First, there was a letter whining about how the slump in the market was caused by the people who write articles about the falling prices, and now someone calls people who offer low prices for homes “bottom feeders” and worse.

Give me a break! For 20 years, I’ve watched the agents hype the market and tell people that the price will only (and always) go up, so they should buy houses for investment, and buy as soon as possible because they will never be able to afford one if they don’t buy now. Greedy sellers got obscene prices and greedy agents got large commissions, crying, incidentally, when anyone suggested they take less than their usual 6%.

Well, I’ve got a hot tip. Like gold, the real estate market got overpriced and the boom is over. People aren’t scavengers--they’re offering what they think the house is worth to them.

If you don’t like the offer, it isn’t an insult. Just say, “Thank you, I’m not interested,” instead of calling them names and acting like a spoiled child.

Do I hate real estate agents? No, I worked with two. They are honest and hard-working, and we found the house we wanted.

JAY BISNO

Culver City