Paul Larmer’s blatant attack on Realtors in the
most recent High Country News makes me wonder
exactly what he was thinking when this dribble was deemed
printworthy in a publication with such high journalistic standards
(HCN, 1/23/06: For sale: The West). My “mug” is one of those that
he would recognize in area publications “hawking” real estate. To
be sure, not every real estate broker is conscientious about
environmental issues or gives financial support to worthy
organizations that work to protect precious natural resources, but
I do, and several of my colleagues do as well.
Larmer’s comments about real estate professionals “cheerfully
touting the classic Western charm of a bungalow that you know for a
fact has a rotting foundation and floors” are particularly
insulting. There are safeguards built into the law that protect the
buyer as well as the seller in a real estate transaction. In
addition, the buy/sell contracts themselves are laden with rights
of inspection and appraisal that serve to guarantee the buyer
certain safeguards when purchasing real estate.
I
don’t know what bug crawled up Larmer’s “foundation”
but his overall accusatory tone regarding real estate professionals
was totally unwarranted.
Zach
Mann
Broker Associate, Re/Max
Paonia,
Colorado
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Larmer’s generalizations unfair.
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