Feedback on AWA Argument Task Please!

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Hi all. I just posted an issue essay I wrote for the GRE AWA section. Below is an argument essay I wrote. Please let me know if you see any areas of improvement. Thanks!

 

Argument: The following appeared in a letter from a homeowner to a friend.

"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.

 

My response: There are several inaccurate assumptions that the homeowner makes in the letter to their friend. Because of these assumptions, it can not be concluded that in order to sell your home quickly and at a good price, you should use Adams Realty.

First, we cannot assume that because Adams has more real estate agents than Fitch does, that Adams is a better real estate firm. The quality of the real estate agents could be more important than the total number of agents that a firm employs.  For example, what if the full-time agents at Adams have less education and knowledge, and are therefore of lower quality, than the part-time agents at Fitch? Also, the agents at Fitch might not have to work full-time hours because they are more efficient in their work compared with the agents at Adams. If these conditions were true, then it would be better to use Fitch’s real estate agents instead of Adam’s.

The second reason why this argument is unwarranted is because it uses average home sale price as an indicator of the quality of the real estate firms.  The homes that Fitch sells could be smaller, so that could explain why the average home prices are less than the homes that Adams sells. Just because the homes that Fitch sells are smaller and less expensive, we cannot assume that Fitch is not a good real estate firm. In fact, if a homeowner is looking to sell a smaller house, they might seek out Fitch Realty because of their expertise in the area of selling smaller homes.

Third, even if Adams did have better real estate agents and a higher average home sale price, the third reason why this argument is illogical is because of the assumptions around the timeframe in which the homes were sold. The homeowner states that when they listed their house with Fitch, it took four months, and when they listed a different home with Adams last year, the sale took one one month. However, the economic conditions could have been completely different ten years ago compared with last year. If the economic conditions ten years ago were poor this would lead to less buyers looking for homes. In turn, this would cause to an extended sale time.  If this were true, then Fitch could be just as good or better than Adams.  Another reason that could explain the difference in sale times would be the quality and appeal of the homes. The house that the homeowner sold with Fitch ten years ago could have been a dilapidated shack and the house they sold last year could have been an updated mansion.  The latter house would be more desirable to prospective homebuyers, which could explain the difference in sale times.

Because the argument made by the homeowner makes several inaccurate assumptions, it fails to make a convincing case that Adams Realty would sell one’s home quicker and at a better price than Fitch Realty.