Listing Agents Need High-Level Skills

In the Sept. 21 “Real Estate Q&A;” column, Robert J. Bruss (“It’s Better to Transfer Listing Than to Cancel It”) answered a letter writer who had not received promised open houses and advertising promised by the listing agent.

The writer had four months to go on the listing. What should be done?

Bruss suggested that canceling a listing even for a good reason causes hard feelings with the agent and therefore the writer should try to transfer the listing to another agent in the same office. He also acknowledges that the listing agent is a “numbers agent” who lists and collects a percentage of the commission when some other agent sells the home.

It is hard to figure why Bruss would think that a successful lister (who was on a three-week vacation in Europe) would not have the support of her broker. The only reason numbers listers are prosperous is that the homes they list sell. And that is because they know how a home must be priced and how it must be presented.

Good listers are a key factor in selling a home.

DWIGHT CATES

Ventura