‘Hot Property’ Triggers a Mixture of Response

Since you receive so many letters asking why you continue to run the “Hot Property” column, and you continue to do so, how about a column like this:

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith, regular, ordinary residents of Los Angeles, were finally able to purchase their own home after 10 years of saving up for the down payment. The Smiths, a college professor and a secretary, purchased the home in the Van Nuys area for $250,000. The home has two bedrooms, one bathroom and is 1,700 square feet, on a lot of an extravagant 5,000 square feet. Said Smith, “If only we had been able to save for 50 more years, we might have been able to afford a home like those described in the ‘Hot Property’ column.”

Especially when the entire section is devoted to forestalling foreclosure (Dec. 14), don’t you think this type of reporting has seen its time come and go?

LAUREL M. CARPENTER

Los Angeles