Agent Defends Keeping Home Neat

I am responding to the letter of Barbara Selleck (Aug. 23). She was responding to a great article (“Keep Home Orderly but Still Have a Life,” Aug. 2), that explained to sellers how important it is to keep their homes in a different manner while on the market than they would normally. Two lines in Selleck’s letter made it quite plain to me this person has never sold a house in a buyer’s market.

She writes: “When are agents and brokers going to start working for their client instead of their own self-interests?” Pardon me? Our own self-interests? Am I missing something here; aren’t our self-interests the same as our clients, namely to get the house sold for the highest price in the shortest time? How does giving a seller recommendations to make their house look the best for the buyers serve us and not our clients?

The next scary line is: “The potential buyer must also be flexible for what he sees when he gets there.” Ms. Selleck, that is exactly the point. The buyers aren’t flexible. They won’t buy what they can’t see. If they see a big house, crowded with furniture, they will see a small house. And in THIS market, they will simply go to the same model down the street, where the seller listened to their smart agent and put the house in order, and buy that one. Maybe you haven’t read the paper lately, it is still a buyer’s market.

The evidence is clear. In my city, we have approximately 1,500 houses on the market, and approximately 150 sell each month. That means 90% do NOT sell. Only the best priced, best looking ones sell. There is no hidden agenda here. We want the same thing our clients want, for their homes to sell!

DAVID DANIEL, Moreno Valley. The writer is a real estate agent.