Letters to the Editor

Re: ''16 Minutes' spoof continues discounter debate' (May 29)

Dear Editor:

I guess it is yet another example of the two-edged sword that is social grouping and marketing that this non-issue is now causing headlines. No matter what one spoofs, it offends some small section of the population, who then is suitably outraged and extracts apologies from parties who are simply having a little fun at someone else's expense -- not some puny little person, but a corporation with plenty of resources that could fire back with its own funny repartee.

Real estate is a livelihood, but that doesn't mean it's a sacred cow, does it?

If men facing possible imminent death from our foreign enemies can joke about their predicament, doesn't it make us all seem sort of irrelevant to get our noses out of joint over a little bit of humor and satire?

My only comment is that any real estate professional who willingly allows anyone to syndicate his or her listings to a party who might use them to reduce that agent's income should be worried about a lot more than some satiric humor.

Like all businesses, real estate will not protect itself by passing rules. That's been tried. The only way to protect one's self interest is to do the job better. That's where we should focus our attention, not on a smug bunch of computer guys who claim everything is an attempt to exclude them from an open marketplace.

Mike Parker
Blackwater Consulting
Corona del Mar, Calif.

Re: 'The painful appraisal' (May 30)

Dear Editor:

Why ask the Realtors to take a hit? They brought ready, willing and able buyers to the table. The difference in selling price and appraisal can be negotiated between buyers and sellers rather than a new second appraisal. Maybe they could split the difference, too, in addition to the other suggestions. This is where Realtors earn their money. Not by giving up commission because of a lower appraisal but by resolving the problems in a transaction.

John Goldhammer
Windermere/Baldwin Properties
Hillsboro, Ore.

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