"Of the two leading real estate firms in our town-Adams Realty and Fitch Realty-Adams Realty is clearly superior. Adams has 40 real estate agents; in contrast, Fitch has 25, many of whom work only part-time. Moreover, Adams' revenue last year was twice as high as that of Fitch and included home sales that averaged $168,000, compared to Fitch's $144,000. Homes listed with Adams sell faster as well: ten years ago I listed my home with Fitch, and it took more than four months to sell; last year, when I sold another home, I listed it with Adams, and it took only one month. Thus, if you want to sell your home quickly and at a good price, you should use Adams Realty."
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.
The homeowner who wrote this very biased letter to her friend is of the opinion that Adams Realty is superior over Fitch Realty because the former has more full-time agents, and its revenue last year was two times that of Fitch. The assumption made here is that the full-time agents are fully empoyed throughout the week, and each has assigned properties to sell or buy, whereas the part-time agents in Fitch are less effective due to less time spent in trading in properties. Full-time agent merely means that they are paid a salary at the end of the month, whether they have sold any property or many properties. Full-time staff also cost more to keep on your payroll, at least this is the case in Singapore. Employers have to be pay a percentage of their monthly salary to a retirement account which earn interest for the fulltime staff and they can withdraw at the age of 65. This adds hefty sum to having ful-time staff, if they do not earn over and above the % which empoyers pay towards their retirement each month.
The other assumption is also that the full-time agents sell more than part-timers, and hence it's better to have fulltime staff. This cannot be further from the truth. the amount of sales aperson makes depends on many factors, one of which is, the salesperson said the right thing, the customer was looking for a propery exactly like the onw he showed. the salesperson clues in exactly into what the buyer wants. Therefore, a part-timer who pays attention, understands what the client wants and has that particular property to show, had a clear advantage over a full-time agent who does not have all those elements coming together to close a deal.
The other assumption was that Adams' revenue was more, and hence superior, is incorrect. Adams' has a higher fixed cost because of full-time agents. This will eat into the net profits of the company. Fitch with a smaller staff, coud have more efficent staff who bring in more sales and a more efficient use of expenses. That firm does not need to incur CPF(retirement account) for its agents, so there would be ampe amount of savings there, too, which woud add to their profit.
The difference in revenue is only $20,000, and if the expenses of Adams is higher than that of Fitch's, the percentage of gross profit over revenue would be higher for Fitch.
The example the homeowner gave his friend, is not a fair one because there are soem questions to be aske about both the homes. Many factors affect how easily, or difficult it is to sell a house. It's location, was it in the city, or suburb, did it have convenient amenities around. what kind of home was it? A big house would appeal only to big famillies. An apartment would be favoured by people who like convenience and security in one spot. What was the economic climate of that time? An expensive home would be more difficult to sell in times of recession, than a small apartment.
For all the reasons above, it the friend of the owner would have to bear in mind all these considerations before using Adams Agency.
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.
The homeowner who wrote this very biased letter to her friend is of the opinion that Adams Realty is superior over Fitch Realty because the former has more full-time agents, and its revenue last year was two times that of Fitch. The assumption made here is that the full-time agents are fully empoyed throughout the week, and each has assigned properties to sell or buy, whereas the part-time agents in Fitch are less effective due to less time spent in trading in properties. Full-time agent merely means that they are paid a salary at the end of the month, whether they have sold any property or many properties. Full-time staff also cost more to keep on your payroll, at least this is the case in Singapore. Employers have to be pay a percentage of their monthly salary to a retirement account which earn interest for the fulltime staff and they can withdraw at the age of 65. This adds hefty sum to having ful-time staff, if they do not earn over and above the % which empoyers pay towards their retirement each month.
The other assumption is also that the full-time agents sell more than part-timers, and hence it's better to have fulltime staff. This cannot be further from the truth. the amount of sales aperson makes depends on many factors, one of which is, the salesperson said the right thing, the customer was looking for a propery exactly like the onw he showed. the salesperson clues in exactly into what the buyer wants. Therefore, a part-timer who pays attention, understands what the client wants and has that particular property to show, had a clear advantage over a full-time agent who does not have all those elements coming together to close a deal.
The other assumption was that Adams' revenue was more, and hence superior, is incorrect. Adams' has a higher fixed cost because of full-time agents. This will eat into the net profits of the company. Fitch with a smaller staff, coud have more efficent staff who bring in more sales and a more efficient use of expenses. That firm does not need to incur CPF(retirement account) for its agents, so there would be ampe amount of savings there, too, which woud add to their profit.
The difference in revenue is only $20,000, and if the expenses of Adams is higher than that of Fitch's, the percentage of gross profit over revenue would be higher for Fitch.
The example the homeowner gave his friend, is not a fair one because there are soem questions to be aske about both the homes. Many factors affect how easily, or difficult it is to sell a house. It's location, was it in the city, or suburb, did it have convenient amenities around. what kind of home was it? A big house would appeal only to big famillies. An apartment would be favoured by people who like convenience and security in one spot. What was the economic climate of that time? An expensive home would be more difficult to sell in times of recession, than a small apartment.
For all the reasons above, it the friend of the owner would have to bear in mind all these considerations before using Adams Agency.