Short-Term Listings

Robert J. Bruss, in his Real Estate Q&A; column, continues to express opinions that are written from his ivory tower perspective of an attorney rather than using logical good sense necessary for a working real estate broker. Bruss has, on many occasions, encouraged sellers to list for only 30 days. I own a very successful real estate office and spend over $50,000 a year to advertise our listings, including full-color magazine ads.

The vast majority of our listings are for 90 to 120 days, which gives me the incentive and the ability to spend the time and the money necessary to get these properties sold. I find it hard to believe that if Bruss were earning his living selling homes rather than writing about it, he would accept a 30-day listing.

In his Dec. 10 column, he attempted to answer a homeowner’s question regarding his fear of selling their present home and not being able to find another home to buy. A logical answer to this problem, which Bruss never came close to alluding to, would be for them to list their home with the reverse contingency of “sale subject to sellers purchase and escrows to close concurrently.” Although this may somewhat adversely affect the saleability of their home, many buyers are willing to enter into this type of contract, usually with a 30- to 60-day time limit for the seller to locate their new home.

JOEL R. KUSHELL

La Mirada

Kushell is president of Westworld Realty.