Real Estate Comparison
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 argument compares two real estate firms: Adams Realty and Fitch Realty. The author advices a friend to choose Adams Realty to sale a house, because he/she is sure it is better agency. The author opinion is based in several factors, such as number of employees in two firms, average house price and also his/her own experience with mentioned companies. However the author makes several unwarranted assumptions which make the argument unconvincing.
The argument assumes that having more agents shows the superiority of a firm. Thus due to argument as Adams Realty has 40 agents and Fitch only 25, the first firm should be better one. However there is no information about professionalism of agents. It could happen that agents of Adams realty are not as qualified as ones in Fitch, so to manage the same work Adams Realty had to hire more employees than Fitch Realty did. The argument also mentions that many agents of Fitch Realty work part time, assuming that there is not much work to do, so they can afford themselves to work part time. But it could also be that this employees work better and they manage to do their job in less time.
Another unstated assumption the argument makes is that houses in Adams Realty have higher prices than that in Fitch Realty. As an evidence the author mentions that the average price in Adams Realty is higher than that in Fitch Realty. However we know that having higher average does not necessarily mean that all houses have price near to that average. There can be houses significantly cheaper than the average and expensive than the average. Thus here we also need to know the price range in both firms in order to have better apprehension about prices.
Author's opinion is also based on his/her own experience. He/she had listed houses both in Adams Realty and Fitch Realty. A house listed in Adams took less time to sell and had better price than that listed in Fitch. Here author assumes that both of his/her houses had the same quality, same equipment and amenities. But what if his house listed in Fitch Realty was succumbing the one in Adams Realty. In this case it is normal that it took more time to sell this house and it was cheaper.
The argument makes number of unstated assumptions which seriously undermine its validity. Unless these assumptions are addressed adequately, the argument will be weak and unconvincing and we can not surely admit that Fitch Realty is yielding Adams Realty.