What is benefit of using a broker if I find apartments myself? (or downside on not using broker)

No advantage unless there is some information about the building that your broker has which is not readily available on the web.

If u are good at negotiating and confident at knowing the real market pricing, i think there are no reason to use a buyer broker UNLESS you have a very good buyer broker who you could trust with your life

I've done deals with both brokers and on my own. There is no real upside to having a broker if you are doing all the legwork yourself but you have to be really comfortable neg on your own - and truthfully, many people are not very comfortable or very good at that. But if you are one of the ones who can do it - its fine.

If you are finding better apartments than your broker is ... no matter how much you may like her, she's not earning that commission. Just make sure you break up with her now - otherwise she will feel entitled to a part of any deal that you close.

scoots, I don't quite agree. a broker can't really tell what I want, where I'll be willing to trade priorities. My broker is constantly amazed at what I show interest in, and I don't blame him. A dump that needs a total reno? No problem if it's priced right, is 50% larger, and in my top location. I have 100 exceptions I might make to my "ideal" apartment. I look at the listings, make my choices, ask for his input, and let him set up everything in three hour chunks of time. I see MANY apartments, and I do open houses on my own as well, taking my broker back with me of course if I have any real interest.

He'll shoot me e-mails if he finds something particularly interesting. He will relay my offer without telling me I'm crazy. And I usually get what I want, so he must be presenting my case fairly well.

Sorry - what part do you disagree on? And how many bids are you placing/having accepted?

Why would you use a broker, AR? Sounds like you're doing most of the work.

I never found much value in having brokers trying to find places fore me: after a couple of months of research I was better than any broker at hunting down the apts that were worth visiting.

Where i found having a broker useful was in figuring out what i could afford based on my financial situation, which coops would let me in, and also do due diligence on the places I was interested in (are the views protected? are there downsides i am overlooking?). My broker would go visit places i was interested in and give me a full rundown of the building, environment, board, etc...

Where having an experienced broker saved my life was during the negotiation phase: our broker navigated us out of a messy situation (almost in contract on one place when the place we had wanted came back on the market), and in the end got us the apartment we wanted.

Whether this is worth 3% of the sales price can be debated, but there is value in having a good broker representing you, esp since you pay for it anyway. Hopefully this model will change...

scoots, that the broker will necessarily find better apartments than you can. in the last process I got three bids accepted on my terms (i walked away from two of them in the contract signing process), out of three bids submitted.

10023, i ask for mortgage contingencies when everyone says they are impossible, for example. i've made offers with far less reserves than buildings like. i've made bids that the other broker said will not be accepted. and then at the end of the day it was. i'm happy having my broker convey that kind of information, I would not like to do so myself. real estate is a game for tough negotiators, that's just not me.