I curious what peoples thoughts are on Brokerage Firms that store front locations. Do they actually generate any additional business for the brokerage company or do you think they serve only as window shopping. With sites like StreetEasy is there any need to walk into a brokerage office these days? Are these offices just Street Level billboards, and are their rents justifiable by the business and... [more]
I curious what peoples thoughts are on Brokerage Firms that store front locations.
Do they actually generate any additional business for the brokerage company or do you think they serve only as window shopping. With sites like StreetEasy is there any need to walk into a brokerage office these days?
Are these offices just Street Level billboards, and are their rents justifiable by the business and brand awareness that they generate?
Also, I'm curious what people think of the actual office space and experience once inside. I went into Halstead's UWS office and got a great feeling from the receptionist as well as the overall look and feel of the office; very professional, I wanted to give them my business. Contrast this experience to the Elliman office on the UWS, the place is tiny and you see the agents desk from the front window, the place looks a little messy and dingy too. The receptionist was somewhat rude and as a result I didn't even feel like waiting to speak with an agent whose listing I saw in the window.
Anyone have a similar experience or insight into brokerage store fronts?
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Response by front_porch
almost 15 years ago
Posts: 5314
Member since: Mar 2008
Let me start by saying I'm an agent, so I'm interested to hear customer stories.
For my part, I think office space is like any other part of one's branding -- it works with your market positioning.
I work for a small brokerage company that is positioned as a neighborhood boutique -- we've been in Chelsea for decades, and we do mainstream downtown business, plus we have some high-end customers that tend to come in via referral, often through the tech and/or entertainment industries.
My high-end customers have never set foot in my office, which is second-floor space (above a diner); I go to them.
The mainstream customers are a different story: during the boom, our competitors who had fancy storefronts took some business away from us. However, during the bust, two of them (JC De Niro and Coldwell Banker) shuttered completely, in one case actually blaming their high rents.
So we integrate that history into our positioning -- we are prudent managers who will be around for our clients' next transaction as well as their current transaction.
The people this resonates with are the ones who call us.
ali r.
DG Neary Realty
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Response by falcogold1
almost 15 years ago
Posts: 4159
Member since: Sep 2008
the residential re industry in Manhattan had some amazing times (champagne days and caviar dreams).
they invested some of that money in creating a highly visible presences in the form of ground floor offices. I believe this is simply the result of an industry flush with cash and an attitude that the party would never end. The broker makes the broker, not the walls.
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Response by truthskr10
almost 15 years ago
Posts: 4088
Member since: Jul 2009
A city like this has all kinds of customers with all kinds of needs. I can think of several reasons an office may be helpful.
Tourists, particularly now with the exchange rate may stroll in to see what's available. Or someone keyed into a specific neighborhood. How about parents with their kids ready to go to college. Parents liking a face and a tangible establishment they walked into to run around the city with their child and find them a home.
Think of Streeteasy as what ATMs were/are to banks and their branches. THey didn't eliminate bank branches though there was a time we all though they would.
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Response by ab_11218
almost 15 years ago
Posts: 2017
Member since: May 2009
they work best for the clueless. the people who are walking around and like the neighborhood and then see an RE office. they look at the listings and then come in. they are shown some crazy overpriced properties and then one that's just overpriced. they buy the last one.
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Response by huntersburg
almost 15 years ago
Posts: 11329
Member since: Nov 2010
Definitely go with the brokerage firm with the blond receptionist and definitely avoid the one with the "New York accent"
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Response by huntersburg
almost 15 years ago
Posts: 11329
Member since: Nov 2010
Oh, and ab_11218 is on the right track, but sometimes the real bargain is the one that is second to least overpriced, like on the wine list.
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Response by NYCREAgent
over 14 years ago
Posts: 156
Member since: Sep 2010
My experience is that they don't generate much business. For every walk-in, there are 10 previously scheduled appointments.
Scott K
Bond New York
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Response by fhsack
over 14 years ago
Posts: 129
Member since: Jan 2009
I have never been to either of the offices my broker was/is affilliated with. She changed firms halfway through the process. I met her at an open house that she was hosting and felt that she was a good personality fit for me. Things worked out like a charm and I am a new owner in the Sutton Place area. I will be using her when I put my old apartment on the market - and I still have no plans to visit her office.
Truth be told, I still really like to browse the real estate listings that I see in the window of the Halstead office.
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Response by KeithB
over 14 years ago
Posts: 976
Member since: Aug 2009
I work with buyers and have no office and very little overhead. The savings are passed onto my customers. RE brokers really don't need office space in 2011. They need clients and access to information via an internet connection. I have a G2 phone and an ultra portable Pavilion dm 1 laptop, business has never been better and I have never been happier.
Sorry, but that is just an ignorant comment. Some people like the personal touch of going to an established office and meeting an agent in person. It's also safer and more convenient; based on my recent experience meeting so-called "brokers" who posted listings on CL, I prefer not meeting a stranger on a dark corner or better yet, having them not show up and tell me to check out the apt on my own - the doors are unlocked, walk right in!
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Let me start by saying I'm an agent, so I'm interested to hear customer stories.
For my part, I think office space is like any other part of one's branding -- it works with your market positioning.
I work for a small brokerage company that is positioned as a neighborhood boutique -- we've been in Chelsea for decades, and we do mainstream downtown business, plus we have some high-end customers that tend to come in via referral, often through the tech and/or entertainment industries.
My high-end customers have never set foot in my office, which is second-floor space (above a diner); I go to them.
The mainstream customers are a different story: during the boom, our competitors who had fancy storefronts took some business away from us. However, during the bust, two of them (JC De Niro and Coldwell Banker) shuttered completely, in one case actually blaming their high rents.
So we integrate that history into our positioning -- we are prudent managers who will be around for our clients' next transaction as well as their current transaction.
The people this resonates with are the ones who call us.
ali r.
DG Neary Realty
the residential re industry in Manhattan had some amazing times (champagne days and caviar dreams).
they invested some of that money in creating a highly visible presences in the form of ground floor offices. I believe this is simply the result of an industry flush with cash and an attitude that the party would never end. The broker makes the broker, not the walls.
A city like this has all kinds of customers with all kinds of needs. I can think of several reasons an office may be helpful.
Tourists, particularly now with the exchange rate may stroll in to see what's available. Or someone keyed into a specific neighborhood. How about parents with their kids ready to go to college. Parents liking a face and a tangible establishment they walked into to run around the city with their child and find them a home.
Think of Streeteasy as what ATMs were/are to banks and their branches. THey didn't eliminate bank branches though there was a time we all though they would.
they work best for the clueless. the people who are walking around and like the neighborhood and then see an RE office. they look at the listings and then come in. they are shown some crazy overpriced properties and then one that's just overpriced. they buy the last one.
Definitely go with the brokerage firm with the blond receptionist and definitely avoid the one with the "New York accent"
Oh, and ab_11218 is on the right track, but sometimes the real bargain is the one that is second to least overpriced, like on the wine list.
My experience is that they don't generate much business. For every walk-in, there are 10 previously scheduled appointments.
Scott K
Bond New York
I have never been to either of the offices my broker was/is affilliated with. She changed firms halfway through the process. I met her at an open house that she was hosting and felt that she was a good personality fit for me. Things worked out like a charm and I am a new owner in the Sutton Place area. I will be using her when I put my old apartment on the market - and I still have no plans to visit her office.
Truth be told, I still really like to browse the real estate listings that I see in the window of the Halstead office.
I work with buyers and have no office and very little overhead. The savings are passed onto my customers. RE brokers really don't need office space in 2011. They need clients and access to information via an internet connection. I have a G2 phone and an ultra portable Pavilion dm 1 laptop, business has never been better and I have never been happier.
Keith *broker
http://www.theburkhardtgroup.com/about.php
re: they work best for the clueless
Sorry, but that is just an ignorant comment. Some people like the personal touch of going to an established office and meeting an agent in person. It's also safer and more convenient; based on my recent experience meeting so-called "brokers" who posted listings on CL, I prefer not meeting a stranger on a dark corner or better yet, having them not show up and tell me to check out the apt on my own - the doors are unlocked, walk right in!