Open house /listing threads

Riversider: Oddly, some Streeteasy posters prefer candid discussion of specific NYC properties to hand-wringing over the investment strategy of the Kenosha, Wisconsin Unified School District.

Anyway, your basic premises are all wrong. Lots of websites "interfere" with retail operations, including the car dealership you give as an example. Ever visit Edmonds.com or the local Better Business Bureau site? And nobody here is "getting in between a buyer and seller". Their negotiations are private. A buyer can read Streeteasy or ignore it.

Riversider, a seller can't offer a property publicly and at the same time avoid public discussion of the property. That should go without saying.

A wise seller would take this dissection of the property (and its marketing and pricing) as an opportunity to learn. That assumes, of course, that the seller wants to sell.

Seems like you're hitting at the heart and soul of the Streeteasy underground. If you feel critical analysis of properties here is somehow disrespectful to the seller imagine what eliminating it would be to the buyer. Hard to quantify the effect of all this chatter but I for one believe it is healthy. A good property, priced well, might just owe a quick sale to SE. On the other hand, you have Rebecca's open house yesterday.

Go watch the Top Gear review of the F-150 on You Tube if you think this sort of critique is somehow unique to SE.

Lots of websites "interfere" with retail operations, including the car dealership
Disagree, Edmunds doesn't get involved in specific transactions. It's one thing to discuss a neighborhood or development. This is arguable picayune and some of the comments are ornery.

To take a recent example, at 444 CPW, the broker must've tried to delicately let the seller know that their object should be to present an apartment that's broadly appealing and appropriately priced. This seller has nevertheless chosen to offer up a shrine to their own particular taste in wallpaper, in bric-a-brac, and for vast expanses of dark veneered plywood. Nothing wrong with that, but the seller needs to know that they've limited their market to buyers with either the same taste or a bulldozer.

Riversider: When a reviewer criticizes the 2009 F-150, he doesn't need to specify a particular VIN, because the product is generic. By describing the class, he effectively describes every member of the class. Apartments - especially pre-war apartments - are non-fungible, so most commentary is naturally property-specific. It isn't transaction-specific, though. The comments are seldom aimed at a particular buyer, unless the buyer solicits them.

Given that lying is a routine business practice it seems that properties that are almost always not described properly are fair game for outside analysis. As I have said in other posts, i don't think it is an exaggeration that over the years less than 10% of the properties that i have been shown resembled in any way the original listing.

Following you auto example (about which I think w81st make an excellent point) it would be a situation where you went to look at a V*8 crew cab truck with four wheel drive and discovered that it was a six cylinder with manual transmission and rear wheel drive. Over the years, it is clear to me that real estate agents routinely count on wearing down buyers/ renters.

SE represents the best opportunity to avoid wasting huge amounts of time running around looking at places only to discover that vast amounts of square footage are mysteriously not there, not to mention absent views, garbage renovations, etc.

Given that lying is a routine business practice it seems that properties that are almost always not described properly are fair game for outside analysis.

Philantrhopy?

nope...payback for years of frustration.

nope...payback for years of frustration
This is my point, The motives are misantrhopic with the most likely goal to interefere with a business transaction.

so...if an agent is materially misrepresenting a particular property and a poster of SE points that out, you consider that to be interference with a business transaction.?

i guess i'll discontinue posting on the properties that should trade soon thread as that might unduly cause someone to need to raise an offer to get the deal done. wouldn't want to interfere in the oh-so-transparent world of real estate sales.

so...if an agent is materially misrepresenting a particular property
Vigillante justice?

"Misanthropy is a general dislike, distrust, or hatred of the human species or a disposition to dislike and/or distrust other people's silent consensus about reality. The word comes from the Greek words μίσος (misos, "hatred") and άνθρωπος ( anthrōpos, "man, human being"). A misanthrope is a person who dislikes or distrusts humanity as a general rule."

dislikes or distrusts humanity as a general rule?

please explain the linkage in your mind between this and going to an open house and posting that the square footage is inaccurate and that, in fact, there is no river view.

now, posters here are shooting people?

let the buyer beware and to hell with everyone? does that kind of sum up your posiition?

let the buyer beware and to hell with everyone

Send a letter to the real estate board if you believe a broker is acting unethically or don't use them.

"A vigilante is a person who violates the law in order to exact what they believe to be justice from criminals.

Members of community watch programs and others who use legal means of bringing people to justice are not considered vigilantes."

are you suggesting that posting here is unlawful?

I used to have social-calling cards that simply had my name above the word "misanthrope"

sending a letter to the real estate board is equivalent to throwing it in the river. why bother?

AH, i've had a couple of friends who actually had cards made up for fun.

my favorite was "Skeptic and Jew"
another was "Minor Government Functionary"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPrIk0w5Fi4

my favorite card of all time was "expert"

Is trashing a new development the same as trashing an open house?

This post starts out warm and fuzzy, but then in the last sentence things take an ugly turn. Can't remember who wrote this.

"I visited Rushmore sales twice. The building looks very nicely done. Extell clearly chose quality designers and architects, but I was really put off by a few things. First the Corcoran sales people are very opaque in their presentation especially when the sales effort first started and they absolutely refused to provide the prospectus without first signing a sales agreement. Corcoran stated the same policy to me when I visited another of their locations. Many of these sales people believe they are doing you a favor by allowing you to buy an apartment. They should have more respect for their clients. Real estate for many is the single biggest investment they will ever make. The marketing firm which handled Trump Place was much more professional, open and courteous. I hear too much bashing of Trump on these websites, Hudson Waterfront and Trump have produced several world class buildings on Riverside Blvd. The real problem with Rushmore is that's its just priced too high relative to the competition. The views on many of the units are not as good as what you could get in nearby buildings and Rushmore is not located in the Upper West side. The buildings prices were aggressive when first set and conservatively 25% above market. I can't see how a gulf that wide is negotiable. One could walk from a deposit and buy a nearby apt and still come out ahead. Sure these apartments have brand new sub zero appliances but that's too easily duplicatable by visiting your neighborhood P.C. Richards. Paying 2.5 million for a 1500 square foot apartment with a view of a concrete lot outside ABC studio is just nuts."

Is trashing a new development the same as trashing an open house

good point. comes close.

should we guess?

Can you guess what Riversider's favorite card might be...?

ah....the pot calling....

this stuff never ceases to amaze me.

i wonder if it is disrespectful to the deceased to discuss the condition of an apartment in an estate sale?

talk about misleading: imagine you leaved in kansas and you looked at this.

http://www.columbussq.com/#/home

well certainly its disrespectuf to discuss the condition of the deceased.

lived, that is.

isn't it disrespectful to tell other people what they can and can't do?

following your advice, if you don't like it you should write a letter to street easy or simply not use SE.

Sometimes the "critics" don't bother to see the property. They judge finishes from the photographs in the listing. I find it stupid at best and malicious at worst.
The premise is "everything is pirece of shit because ... because I can't buy it."

pirece=piece.

really...check out the link for 808 columbus below---tell me that is a fair representation of the situation on 100 & columbus.

Have to add another prevailing premise:
"Everything is a piece of shit because I know nothing about it."

Being a critic is as easy as falling off a chair. The real talent is in seeing past the flies and the stench and the comments to hopefully discover hidden potential lurking within. I love to see places publicly trashed -its the best tool. These places immediately go on my watch list.

sums it up...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPrIk0w5Fi4

spin, exactly. one person's estate-condition horror is another person's golden opportunity. at a fair price, of course.

hey we saw the clip the first time.

isn't it disrespectful to tell other people what they can and can't do?

following your advice, if you don't like it you should write a letter to street easy or simply not use SE.

Hah!

"Victim" is a curious choice of words. Rebecca hijacked an online formum to picth her shitty listing. What the hell did she expect?

Riversider is almost as pathetic as the poster a few weeks ago who thought that SE should censor any bearish comments on here and listen to their bread and butter (aka brokerage firms who advertise). That is how the NYT real estate "editorial" was run for years and they lost all crediblity.

Hmm. I've definitely held back on commenting about some OHs because of the underlying tragic circumstances. Usually, estate sales belonged to someone who lived a long and hopefully happy life in that apt, so I don't feel bad about commenting on those.

I don't know anyone whose decision to buy a specific place was affected by the SE diatribes. They are what they are: idle ventings. Which is just fine and very entertaining.

our decision to sell and the asking price was heavily affected by streeteasy.

why do we get these anti-free speech/pro brokerage threads once every few weeks. they are kind of transparent no

I like to think a buyer or seller does her homework, and SE is one of the ways they learn. The fact, though, is that we're here because we care about this stuff, while most people don't, and we're preaching to the choir. Exceptions aside.

slow day for broker...actually slow month.

I had a card that said my name on top and underneath that:

"International Pleasure Seeker and Supplier"

I'm assuming this thread was prompted by the caning agent Rebecca has received after spamming the board with her overpriced CPW listing.

Well, this isn't a paid advertising board, it's a public discussion forum. Hence, one can expect a discussion to ensue. If one can't take negative comments, one should think twice before seeking free publicity by posting one's listing here.

And come one--'trashing' a listing on a discussion board isn't going to prevent it from selling if it shows well and is priced correctly. If someone's showing a pig pen filled with clutter and stinking of cat pee, or asking a ridiculously high price, well, they're gonna have a hard time selling anyway, SE trashing or no.

^^^ come on, not one

Riversider, does this mean if I was to look to buy a used car and asked for a Carfax and it had negative comments that would be disrespectful and interfering with the sale? You sound like you voted for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the election in Iran.

Riversider, does this mean if I was to look to buy a used car and asked for a Carfax and it had negative comments that would be disrespectful and interfering with the sale

No, but bringing a stack of Carfax reviews to a used car lot and handing them out might be...

what's your rank in the thought police? captain? major?

what about going to the car dealer with all the info provided by edmund's web site relating to actual prices and insisting on getting that price?

so...in the thought police...all web sites that have comments relating to commerce are disrespectful and interferring?

please...post a new you tube not the same one again.

what about going to the car dealer with all the info provided by edmund's web site relating to actual prices and insisting on getting that price?

If it's for youw own use no problem, If you proceed to provide it to other customers, I think the dealer would take measures. But feel free.

so...if a friend asked you to print out a car fax, would that be over the line, captitano?

Look, if you show up at an open house with a jar of roaches and let them loose in the kitchen so the place looks infested one might be able to argue that you're 'interfering' with the owner's attempt to sell. Ditto if you stand outside handing out fliers about how shitty the building's financials are or how the toilets are always backing up.

But posting opinions about decor, layout, price, etc. on a public forum is a completely different story. Anyone who believes this 'victimizes' sellers is simply out of touch with reality.

squid, I dont understand your comment. If the financials are bad or toilets back up, why couldn't you let people know-sorta as a public service. This is different than causing a problem-e.g., letting bugs loose.

I feel bad coming to this thread late but, my favorite biz card had the guy's name on it and under it said,"Be the Ball"

spinnaker1: "Being a critic is as easy as falling off a chair. The real talent is in seeing past the flies and the stench and the comments to hopefully discover hidden potential lurking within. I love to see places publicly trashed -its the best tool. These places immediately go on my watch list."

You've got me pegged. Much better at seeing what's wrong than at figuring out how to fix it. I bought one of those great-bones wrecks, but aside from cosmetics (now faded) have done diddley with it. You, on the other hand, can manage a project.

NWT - I just do it all myself rather than pay people to learn on my project. That's the only way to manage a reno, just kick everyone out. This gives you freedom to morph the plan at will as you go along. Have you ever seen that documentary on Picasso? Fascinating to watch the layers of experimentation that went into his works. I'm like that. ; )

Hey, at least you're proud of your good deal, right?

I think riversider must be new to online forums. Once you get to know a crowd online, there are always folks who get a kick out of being the first to comment on or to review an event whether it be an open house, a concert, or a restaurant's opening. Call it excitement, but I don't find it disrespectful or controversial to comment on advertisements, oh I mean listings. It's a part of living in the 21st century, and if you find it distasteful, well you don't have to participate by reading the forums.

I'd love to hear from sellers who discovered that their listing is being/was trashed and/or praised online. Did your broker alert you to it? Were you shocked? Did you think the comments were valid? Did you change your terms?

Even though at the bottom of every comment box there is a notice that reads "Sorry, no more anonymous posting." (oops streeteasy actually misspelled anonymous, I'll email them), there is a great degree of anonymity here. Every criticism of a listing or negative open house review must be taken with a grain of salt until you get to know the poster.

You guys should look at the myriad discussion sites for "the worlds oldest profession". There, the product is actually the person, and they are a hell of a lot "more personal" and nastier and graphic than SE ever has been. And talk about interfering with transactions........

oh, and please draw as many parallels as you can about slightly over-the-hill women standing on street corners waiting to meet strangers and **** them.

30yrs, i think i'll pass, but interesting analogy.

valldejuli, we had a thread not long ago where we had some criticisms, and the owner/broker fixed what could be fixed and calmly explained the rest. it was great, and probably benefitted the seller (the floorplan improvement was significant and necessary).

See, I think that's great too, that's the very best outcome of criticism.

Spin, to be fair you have come clean as to you renovation abilities. Most of us, with a hammer in our hands, become an insurance risk and a liability to our family members. Once during my youth I installed my own 'in window' air conditioner with just that kind of do it myself sprit. NO ONE WAS INJURED. It was a pre-war building (civil war) and I did not know you have to tip the A/C away from the building so the condensation dips. for extra safty I tilted it towards the building. Everything was going just fine. Now what I did not know is all that water was pooling in the wall space and collecting above the ceiling of my downstairs neighbor. It took two especially hot humid summers but my efforts were not for nought. That whole ceiling came down in one big piece. I never saw anything like it except for WWII movies when the Allies were moving through bombed out french towns.

Que sera, sera.............

The current real-estate market has brought out the worst in people," says David Gibbons, director of community relations for Seattle-based Zillow.com, a real-estate site where people can comment on discussion boards.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122481699525965769.html

aboutready: you're no fun anymore ;)

30yrs, i just need to consume more wine. it brings out the best/worst in me.