Q : Some months ago, you wrote that sellers should never sign a listing contract with a real estate agent that lasts for more than 90 days. We are planning to put our home on the market, but one of the agents we interviewed wants us to sign a 180-day listing because she says it’s taking much longer for homes to sell than it was a year ago. Is this a legitimate reason for us to accept a 180-day listing, or should we stick to your 90-day rule?

A: Home sellers should never sign a listing agreement with a real estate agent that lasts for more than 90 days, regardless of whether the local market is red hot or ice cold.

A 90-day listing contract provides an agent with plenty of time to effectively market a home, even if sales in the neighborhood are cooling. Equally important, a 90-day limit also gives sellers the freedom to fire an agent at the end of three months without owing a commission if they’re unhappy with the agent’s service and want to find a new agent who might do better.

If the agent who wants a 180-day listing seems like the one who can do the best job of marketing your home, simply tell her that you must insist on only a 90-day contract but will renew the agreement for an additional 90 days if you’re satisfied with her work – even if the property hasn’t sold at the end of the first three-month term. Such an agreement should encourage the agent to work hard to sell the property within 90 days, while safeguarding your right to easily get rid of her if she doesn’t.

Q: We signed a contract to purchase a home in May, but our home inspector said there was a problem with the power unit for the heating and cooling system. The sellers already had purchased a one-year homeowner’s warranty policy on our behalf as part of our sale agreement, so they had the warranty company’s representative come out and look at the unit. The rep left a confirmation of his visit and noted that the unit was “in good condition,” so we closed the sale, but the unit broke down a few weeks later. We immediately filed a claim with the warranty company, but it won’t pay because it says the power unit had a “pre-existing” problem, even though its own representative looked at the unit before the sale closed and said it was working well. What can we do?

A: Most home-warranty companies quickly pay to repair relatively “little things,” like a dishwasher that breaks down shortly after the new owner moves in. But some are more reluctant to pay for bigger jobs, such as repairs to a heating and cooling system that can easily cost more than $3,000 or $5,000.

Your best weapon in forcing the warranty company to pay up now is the note that its own representative left after inspecting the unit before the sale closed. After all, if the receipt from the warrantor’s own rep notes that the unit was “in good condition” shortly before the home sale was completed, the company can’t really wriggle out of paying you now by saying there was a pre-existing problem.

Send a copy (not the original) of the note and a final demand for repairs to the warranty company, preferably by certified mail. Also call your state’s insurance department or consumer-affairs department for help in settling the dispute.

You probably will have to take the matter to small claims court if the home-warranty company then continues to refuse to reimburse you for the repairs. The judge probably will rule in your favor, especially after you produce the paperwork showing that the company’s own representative declared the unit in good condition before the sale closed but then denied your claim after the power system broke down a few weeks after you moved in.

– David W. Myers is a 20-year veteran of the newspaper and magazine business, having previously covered real estate for the Los Angeles Times and Investor’s Business Daily.