Professional aid makes it easier to sell a house

The subheading "Selling a house without an agent has its advantages" on The Sun's article "Maximizing your profit" (Dec. 15) was very misleading.

The article cites the case of a couple in Canton who supposedly went the route of "selling their house on their own."

The facts are as follows: The couple listed their house with a discount broker who is a member in good standing with the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors Inc. As a result of the listing, which included an open offer to pay a commission and a selling bonus, the house was sold by another agent, who represented the buyers.

I fail to see how this set of facts can be translated into a headline about the advantages of "not using an agent." And in an ironic final twist, the article closes with a statement from the seller about homes that have generic "For sale by owner" signs seeming to languish on the market a long time.

Buyers and sellers alike are well-advised to work with a trusted, knowledgeable and reputable professional to assist them with the complexities of purchasing or selling real estate.

Jan Hayden

Ellicott City

The writer is president of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors Inc.

The Sun's article "Maximizing your profit" could easily have been titled "Maximizing your liabilities." Both sides of the story should have been discussed. And just because there are fewer homes for sale in certain neighborhoods does not mean that real estate has become easier to sell.

Selling and buying real estate remain quite complex. Fifteen years ago a sale contract could be five or six pages long. Today such a contract is rarely fewer than 20 pages.

Finding a person who says he or she wants to buy your home is the easy part. Finding a qualified buyer willing to pay top dollar as well as navigating through negotiating and ratifying the contract, financing, settlement attorneys, inspections, title work, insurance, settlement date arrangements, document recording and settlement are the hard parts.

Realtors handle all of these details so the transaction goes smoothly and you get top dollar for your home.

Scott Sanders

Bel Air

The writer is an agent for Long and Foster Realtors.

Real estate brokers charge way too much

Kudos to The Sun and writer Anne Lauren Henslee for the article "Maximizing your profit" (Dec. 15).

The Maryland Association of Realtors claims that selling a house requires the expertise of a trained professional. But selling a house is not a complicated process. Anyone with an eighth-grade education can fill in the information on a pre-printed contract for sale as well as a so-called professional real estate agent can.

The fact of the matter is that real estate agents really don't sell houses; houses sell themselves. A seller can easily sell a house in today's overheated market without the services of a real estate agent. And the most important advantage to sellers is that they save the 6 percent commission.

Real estate commission rates are negotiable. And when home sellers are educated about these facts, the rates will become more reasonable.

Frank Soltis

Bel Air

The writer is an agent for For Sale Buy Owner Real Estate Services.

Greed corrodes Bethlehem Steel

Jay Hancock hit the nail on the head with his column "Sparrows Point needs more than words to win the battle" (Dec. 22).

The United Steelworkers of America has from the very beginning tried to make Bethlehem Steel Corp. understand that its greatest asset is its employees.

The people on the mill floor, with their expertise and dedication, produced the best steel in the world. But because of the failure of upper management and the board of directors to manage investors' money, the company has been put at a loss.

Their greed has destroyed Bethlehem Steel.

LeRoy McClelland Sr.

Essex

Thurmond does some good at last

Regarding the resignation of Trent Lott as Senate Republican leader, I'd say that finally some good has come from the long political career of that national embarrassment, Sen. Strom Thurmond.

Bob Gray

Baltimore

Maglev could make city important again

The Sun's article "Deficit derails D.C.-Baltimore maglev plans" (Dec. 15) again emphasized the negative aspects of maglev -- namely using an "untested, unproven technology" with a high price tag ($4.4 billion).

But just as Baltimore's early embrace of railroads helped make it an important city in the 1800s, the maglev line would have the same much-needed effect now. And by linking Baltimore to the Washington area's stronger economy, maglev would bring us benefits that cannot be ignored.

Anyone who drives on either city's beltway or the connecting corridors can appreciate the need for less congestion. And the maglev line could eventually make Baltimore a major hub in a longer Eastern Seaboard maglev system, increasing the city's significance.

The long-term results would far outweigh the cost.

James Bauernschmidt

Severna Park

Arab terror makes Bethlehem gloomy

I find it disturbingly ironic that the main point of the article "In Bethlehem, Christmas is muted by war" (Dec. 25) was that Palestinian-Arabs near Bethlehem were unable to celebrate Christmas.

If many of the residents of Bethlehem had not turned a blind eye to terrorism, perhaps Christmas there would have been a little different.

Palestinian terrorism is responsible for the collapse of tourism in Bethlehem, which is probably the main reason most Arab residents of the city were "gloomy."

Martin Goetz

Baltimore

Refuse to let fear ruin the new year

We have been fed fear daily for the past year. We have had terrorist alerts, smallpox paranoia and the president and his Cabinet warning us daily that we should live in fear of Iraqis and Koreans and each other.

In the meantime, funds for every known service to help the common person from drug treatment to child abuse centers to homeless shelters to education are being decimated in deference to arms, bombs, vaccines and anti-missile systems.

For the new year, my resolution is to reject the daily paranoia fed to us by corporate news services and the government.

I will live my life as I always have. I will walk or drive or fly where I need to go. I will love easily and work hard and eat well and sleep deeply. I will be kind to the fellow men that our government has forgotten.

And I will not live in fear.

Michael S. Eckenrode

Baltimore