Does it matter what broker I use to sell?

It's all about the eyeballs - list your apartment with the company who will get you the most eyeballs of real buyers (who can qualify for a loan and pass any board review you might have.)
Because of the oligarchy that rules Manhattan brokerage (meaning there is no MLS system like the rest of the country), in NYC it's more important than other parts of the country to pick the right brokerage company (an of course the right broker within that company).

hmm interesting so seems to REALLY matter? when i was looking for 1 yr before i bought my place i definitely found that i preferred reputable brokerage places like brown harris and for some reason found places like ardor sub-par. but i wasnt sure whether that was naive of me or whether others feel the same way....

and how do you really define "right broker?" reasonable pricing?

thanks much!!

I strongly disagree. It is about the individual broker you work with and what s/he contracts to do for you and his/her personality. Relying on the name of the brokerage means little in this age. Perhaps in the past, but not now. I don't give a darn about BHS if the broker will only hold one open house a month. I'd rather a small organization that would do an open house every weekend until the apartment sold. Advertising in the NYT is also something I'd insist on and want details of type of ad and what it would say.

Between the NYT and streeteasy, there is little more the big houses offer that distinguish them from one another or smaller agencies in real terms for the vast majority of sellers. If you have a specialty property (a $32MM townhouse or apt) disregard all I say because I have no idea how that world works. But for 95%+ of sales it is about the agent.

The agent has to be likable, sincere, know when to shut up and listen, assess and respond to the needs of prospective buyers, behave honestly at all times and never once intentionally mislead--once their credibility is gone the buyer doesn't want to deal with the agent making the unit that much harder to sell--so find one you think is a normal person. That will take some WORK! but they're out there.

I work, by choice, for a small neighborhood firm. Why am I there instead of Corcoran or Elliman? 1) I'm directly mentored by a very senior person and 2) this is a career switch for me, and after working for Fortune 500 companies, I pledged to myself that I would go to as few meetings as possible.

So I agree with Kyle that it's much more about broker than neighborhood. I find some of my competitors at larger firms every bit as knowledgeable and helpful as I am; I can't stand others, and think they're overpriced, overpromising suits. The big firms have fantastic websites, but they can also tie their agents' hands in terms of marketing, and some people are creative and some are not.

That said, if you have "vibes" about not liking an individual firm or liking one, then trust your gut about that. If you're a first-time seller, interview three agents (I'm not pitching, I don't like working uptown) and that will give you a good sense of what different agents offer. One good question is to ask what properties they have worked on recently that are like yours ("do you sell prewars? do you have a lot of clients in Carnegie Hill? What about the special challenges of marketing a duplex? etc.)

ali r.
{downtown broker}

The major firms spend a great deal of money on branding, and on advertising their exclusives. In deciding between small and large firms, you may want to consider how this money is spent, and why.

Since most sales involve brokers on both sides, money spent advertising individual listings and maintaining an expensive Internet presence might seem largely wasted. Yet the major firms (and their respective brokers) continue to drop glossy inserts, buy column-inches in the Times and upgrade their web sites. I can think of several possible explanations:

A) Advertising sells apartments. These people are professionals, they know what they're doing, and they carefully target advertising dollars for maximum effect. Although advertising may be irrelevant to most sales, ads do influence some buyers (whether or not they have a broker). Plus, the few transactions on which the firm avoids co-brokering are so lucrative that the investment pays off.

B) Ads may or may not work; nobody knows. In the absence of good metrics, the big houses are reluctant to take the risk of major change. Inertia and fear are powerful forces in a large organization.

C) Image is what sets the big firms apart. A big advertising budget may not sell many apartments, but the other majors spend that money, so each one has to keep up with the Corcorans, Ellimans, Browns, Harrises and Stevenses. It's a type of brand management - marketing as opposed to sales. Also, by spending big money on "presence", the majors maintain high barriers to entry into the top tier. Corcoran's web site and newspaper inserts may cost a fortune in absolute dollars, but it's a relatively modest sum for a firm that can spread the expense across so many listings/sales/agents.

D) The ads, inserts and web sites aren't aren't really targeted at buyers. They are targeted at the next seller. (This idea is closely related to the branding concept in C.) A Corcoran broker pitching a listing can show the seller how beautiful her apartment will look on the Corcoran site. A Sotheby's broker can flaunt a glossy magazine where the seller's decrepit classic eight will recapture its faded Architectural Digest glory. These are powerful closing tools.

There is no single explanation, of course. Reality is likely a combination of these and other factors. The bottom line is that the big firms have brands. Know those brands, and determine whether any of them is likely to help sell your particular apartment. You still have to find the right broker, but at least picking the right brand - or no brand at all - can help narrow your choices.

When we selected our broker last fall we interviewed 3 agents from three large firms. These were all firms that had offices in our neighborhood (UWS) and the agents we interviewed had also recently sold in our building. This was important to us because we wanted someone who had worked with our board previously and understood the strengths of our building and could effectively communicate that to potential buyers. We also spoke to the Board president to get his recommendation, so you might consider that, as well, if you have a good (approachable) Board.

We made it clear up front that we wanted our apartment marketed agressively and this will really come down to you. I have found that our agent is willing to hold an open house as often as we want and will show the apartment at literally any time day or night (seriously, you will likely have evening showings because people like to come after work). So, I would say if you get the right agent, you and your schedule will likely be the limiting factor in how frequently the apartment is shown. Some agents have teams so you will have to assess whether that works for you, or if you prefer the attention a "sole proprietor" will give you.

On the brokerage firm question, my recommendation would be to study how the individual firms market apartments. I have found that some smaller firms have web-layouts that are less than optimal. For example, I find the Ardor and Stribling sites clunkily designed. The floorplan links are difficult to find and I don't like how small the interior pictures are. So I would look at those and see how you would feel about them if you were a buyer. This is really important because you should be aware that most of the major brokerages have severly cut ad spending in the print edition of the NY times. We are listed with one of the "big three" and there are literally certain Sunday editions when advertising is not allowed. It is allowed on NYtimes online, but not in the print edition. If this is important to you, you should check with the policy. What this means is that the firm's website becomes that much more important in marketing your apartment and the website should be professionally designed and easy for buyers to use.

Finally I would just say that being at a big firm doesn't necessarily make you a good agent and just because you are at a small firm, doesn't mean you are bad. There are good and bad at all size firms. But I do think the bigger firms probably have a better chance of casting a wider net.

nyc10028 - I'm not a broker - broker's at big firms are going to say that you should pick the best firm. Broker's at small firms are going to say pick the best broker. They are going to "talk their book."
You should pick the best broker at the best firm who will agree to take your listing. The best brokers at the best firms may not even be willing to take you on as a client, but it's worth a shot.
Good luck.

nyc10028- it absolutely makes a difference what firm you use to sell your apartment & like Ali & kylewest said which individual broker you use. There's a lot to address & I'm going to start with the issue of which individual broker to use & then discuss the difference among the firms.
Elliman has over 1,400 agents, Corcoran over 800, BHS over 300 etc, & not all those brokers will be right for you or your apt & not all of them are good. A Corcoran broker that sells in Tribeca who knows nothing about the UES/gets nose bleeds if they go above 14th street is NOT going to do as good a job as a broker who lives on the UES and has sold in the area (regardless of what firm that broker is with). You really need to choose a broker who is a familiar with your neighborhood, building & comparable buildings/apartments. It has be someone who is going to give your apartment time & commitment. If they have 15 exclusives chances are your apartment will not be their top priority, they won't have open houses very often and they won't have time to accommodate all the requests for appointments.
When you interview brokers you should ask them:
1) how often they will hold open houses
2) who's going to be showing your apt/holding the open houses- them or an assistant?
3) What's their marketing plan for your apt/what are they going to do to get it sold
4) Why should you choose them over someone else? (If they can't convince you, don't choose them)
5) How familiar/experienced are they w/ your neighborhood, building, type of apartment etc.

(I've worked for both the smaller, boutique firms & the "big" ones & the big firms def. have their advantages). Their websites get more hits, brand recognition among potential buyers, large marketing/advertising campaigns, etc. I work for one of the big firms & we recently implemented an innovative online marketing campaign with all the major RE websites including streeteasy, Zillow, Trulia, NY Post, NY Times, Curbed, etc. Smaller firms aren't doing things like that b/c they don't have the money & resources to. We're doing a lot to promote our exclusives within the company, having special open houses for our brokers for our properties that are "priced to sell".
Ultimately, you should choose a broker & a firm that you feel comfortable with (you'll be dealing with them for the next 6 months), that listens to you & will get the job done.
sanzaroot@gmail.com

These are all well made points, but I'd like to add a few more: In a large firm, every agent has an ad budget. If they exceed that budget, they have to pay out of pocket. Ask the people you are interviewing how much they will spend to market your apt. Will they advertise in the NY Times Print every week? (I hear that many big firms are discouraging their agents from placing ads in the Times and encouraging them to use Craiglist instead).

I co-own my own firm. I use whatever tools I have to market my listings. In addition, we are the decision makers, so we can be more flexible with commission schedules. I spend more on my brochures than 95% of other firms, large or small. Ask to see the kind of brochures the agent will use. I employ a professional photographer and floor plan designer for every single listing. In addition, the person showing my listing is either myself or my partner, not a recent college grad with no knowledge of the apartment or the market in general.

As far as exposure, while there is no MLS per se, we all have access to a system which effectively functions as an mls. REBNY rules state that we send out our listings to other firms within 24 hours. When I get a listing, I make sure that 10,000 other agents are seeing it the same day.

As my partner likes to say, the only difference between our firm and a large corporate firm is the high speed copier (and layers of management bureaucracy).

What about using a smaller agent and cobroking with a large firm? One of the threads earlier today said that the large firms are now willing to do cobrokes. What is the drawback of having two firms working for you?

Nshipley - I have a serious question about the brochures, ads, photos, floorplans etc.:

At the end of the day, are these tools primarily meant to sell your exclusives, or do they mostly help you pitch other listings and persuade buyers to work with you on their searches? I would think there must be some combination of these benefits, right? Not a rhetorical question. I'm genuinely curious how you, as a principal in a small business, measure the paypack on your marketing dollars.

lo888- do you mean co-exclusive? (All large firms co-broke- we are required to by REBNY laws).

Soph - you are right. I meant co-exclusive.

lo888: Unless your apartment is in the multi-million price range, I doubt a co-exclusive will be an option. If the brokers are willing to do it, the main disadvantages for you might be less negotiability on commissions and another bunch of cooks in your kitchen.

lo888- co-exclusives are rare & anytime I've come across them I had this weird feeling that the owner was probably friends with agent from the small firm & was uncertain about going with a small firm but wanted to give the biz to his/her friend. I could be wrong but that's the impression I get. I'm really not sure how many brokers from big firms would agree to a co-exclusive b/c even at a 6% commission they'll wind up w/ a 1.5% that has to be divided with their firm. Plus, how do the showings & advertising work? i think co-exclusives cause more confusion (appearing multiple times on nytimes.com, brokers unclear of who the primary broker is, two diff. ppl handling offers & negotiations, etc.).

West 81: I think it's both. When I advertise in a glossy (say for example HOMES which comes out monthly from the Times),that is branding and it's to attract new customers, not necessarily for that listing. It's a far more general (and expensive!)premise.

The reason that we spend so much $$ on each listing has to do with the immediate marketing of that listing, but it also sets us apart from others. As a small firm, I need to show that we have the resources and the competency to stand out. It might be overcompensating, but we're happy to do it.

When someone sees one of our brochures, it's pretty recognizable. I like to think that helps us as a firm, but it also helps with the property that we are trying to sell.

But of course, every listing that we have gets us customers and also gets us the next listing. That's just good business.

I can't measure the payback of our marketing dollars, because it's always been how we choose to sell ourselves as a firm. We have a website which gets a couple of thousand hits a day as well. We make sure that people know how to find us, and when they do, they will know what to expect.

Here's a horribly managed open listing, complete with two different prices depending on which link you follow. Neither of the firms is a powerhouse, and I think it shows:

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/383898-coop-129-e82nd-upper-east-side-new-york

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/384315-coop-129-e-82nd-street-upper-east-side-new-york

As a seller, I can only handle constant contact with one person as I schedule showings and explain myriad issues of the apartment and buildling. I think you're asking for chaos with an open listing or co-exclusive -- too many cooks in the kitchen.

Thanks, nshipley. I've been impressed by the quality of RAND's materials, which is why I asked.

I can't speak for Nan, but I'd say in general print advertising is to make the seller happy and to brand the agent's own business. But so, for that matter, are open houses. In general, if someone is serious about buying an apartment, they will make an appointment and take time off from work to see it.

However, good sales is, for lack of a better word, very iterative. You put an ad in the Times and you see who that brings you; you create a web site or v-flyer for the property, and you see who that attracts, and you adjust. You find the micro-community of agents most likely to bring you your buyer (even in a world of data aggregators with listings splashed everywhere, the vast majority of deals are still co-brokered) and you listen to what their clients are seeing and what their feedback is, and you react.

So it's not really about what marketing channels you choose to use -- because any of them can be made to work -- it's about how you measure how well they're working, and what you do on round two, three, etc.

ali r.
[downtown broker}

my 2 cents on the subject:

http://www.theburkhardtgroup.com/about.php

nyc10028,

A lot of what's said above is pretty spot-on I think. You should focus foremost on the actual broker him/herself. They will be the ones showing your apartment, and you want it well represented. That said, I think each brokerage offers something unique as well, and from a buyer's standpoint, that can make a difference from person to person. During any of my searches, I just found it much easier to have a professional-looking listing. Ardor and other brokerages have pretty terrible sites, and though that doesn't dissuade me from checking out a promising-looking listing, it also made it much harder to gauge quality from a few poor photos and a bad (or non-existent) floorplan. You'll find those on BHS listings too from time to time, but it's less common with the larger houses.

thank you all so much for feedback!! i didn't really expect to interview brokers and follow through with other comments posted here, but it does make sense and this will be my approach! cheers!

soph with all due respect, " (All large firms co-broke- we are required to by REBNY laws)." bs, just because some ppl belong to REBNY doesn't mean a hoot, i know some ppl do not and yes at "large" firms