Sherri Benton from Douglas Elliman. Good or Bad?

wow, you really like to trash people's reputations don't you.

Post your name, coward.

why don't you post your name #3?
Practice what you preach!

I am not trying to destroy people's lives #4.

Neither am I.
But irresponsible brokers must be outed as they can destroy or hurt their customers lives.

We dont know she is an irresponsible broker, we just have your BS gossip.

It is sad that websites that start out trying to promote healthy intelligent helpful exchange of information somehow degenerate into this nasty purposeless ugly thing that helps noone and just trashes everyone.Is this what happens to human nature, this kind of bully bashing mentality where people just say ugly things protected by their anonymity? I am a broker, and I don't give a damn how many of you don't like us in general...It should not stop an intelligent exchange of ideas or info. But just bashing someone for no reason or trying to elicit threads for no reason than to bash someone is just pathetic.

Well lets get this kangaroo court on the road!

Vote: Good or Bad?

Does this look like an honest face?

http://www.prudentialelliman.com/mainsite/agents/agents.aspx?BID=SB

Hang 'em!

#8...I have learned so much from this website that I just ignore the negative comments. I'm a buyer..not a broker or seller.

#12- #8 here. Don't you find the negative comments and general pointless ugliness is obscuring the helpfulness more and more by the day?Just for myself I used to try and post helpful responses on most threads (unless the op actually started by insulting brokers) and now I find that some threads are so overflowing with nastiness that I just shut them and don't bother. If I extrapolate from my behavior I can only assume that the nastiness is creating an atmosphere less apt to invite helpfulness.

I agree with you #13 (im a buyer, not seller or broker) but this site isnt meant for brokers to showcase their wares or another advertising medium for you. We can hear enough of what you brokers have to say by making a mere 30 minute appointment with you and then hear a bit more on all your voicemails left for us.

This is a place primarily for individuals, not professionals, to exchange what we feel to be issues facing us in the market and ideas that come across, for people putting their a$$ on the line with a potential purchase or sale. You're in it for a living and know that customers will come and go till the end of time. We (the customer) have to live with our decision for many years following closing.

We already know what you think, and often its not always in our best interest although thats your credo from the NAR. Technology now allows us as customers to come together (we dont have the luxury of an NAR) and "talk amongst ourselves".

So yeah, bashing people publicly who did no wrong is not right, but if they did do wrong (and although you may doubt it, brokers dont have a bad rep for nothing) this is our turn as customers to come together.

Maybe we need a National Association of Customers????

#14--#13 here. I hear what you're saying, and for the record I KNOW why brokers often have this rep--trust me, I too have had to deal with those brokers that paint us all with a bad brush. I am surprised that you appear to prefer not to hear what real estate professionals have to say about things. I can't see how this could be perceived as showcasing my wares, or an advertisin medium for me or any of us, given that most of us never put our names down. How on earth does it behoove me to explain closing costs, coop rules, land leases, good school areas or anything else on this board except that it is an information board and I like to help people and share my expertise?We, too are interested and knowledeable about the issues facing you in the market--many of us are buyers as well, and many of us take our roles as (in part) advisors to our clients very very seriously. And there ought to be a place where people "out" brokers who do not behave correctly, however most of what I have come across is based on assumptions without even contacting the broker in question to hear their side of the story. Do you really think this is fair? I don't even thoink this is helpful for the consumer because it creates a climate of such distrust and fear.But that is not even the nastiness I primarily notice--I just mean the general idiocy that has pervaded the boards lately

i want to hear from brokers as well as individuals who share their experiences, not with brokers, but with the buying process.

most brokers a scum not all but i haven't met one good broker yet, but i still have faith.

Our broker lied to us.

Now, could you post a name of a male broker with the same impunity?

Is there one profession that have bad apples. I can't think of any?

Is there one profession that doesn't have any bad apples. I can't think of one?

#21 This isnt about a few bad apples, this is about an entirely corrupt industry (although I do reserve judgement on this particular broker because I do no know her and the thread does seem a little unfair)

I have been reading this site for several months now, and this particular topic seems inevitably to come up. A lot of buyers are suspicious, some very suspicious, and a minority of buyers are actually mad -- often I suspect it has nothing to do with the broker they are working with. I am a buyer myself, and on the other side I am also a seller, since I am moving back to the city, where I used to live, and have sold my place where I currently live. For that sale I went FSBO to someone in my building but only after having met with two brokers and gotten excellent, honest advice from one of them, who really knew my market and who even actually *encouraged* my to go FSBO if I could. His view was that some highly desirable properities / neighborhoods sell themselves and that I should go for it if I wanted to (mind you I was also letting him show it exclusively a couple of times because he had a buyer and was offering a low commission in that specific case, and he is now the broker representing my buyer in that buyer's sale of his own unit). The other broker had a slightly more sour personality but also gave me some very solid advice about pricing and made it very clear that I had higher expectations than I should have. And I ended up taking less than I expected but still did very well. Both brokers were happy to meet and "interview" the property in order to get the listing but also understood my decision to sell to someone in the building (which happened very quickly, so nobody did any real work). Meanwhile in NY I have been looking for real estate and working with a broker, first at a distance and then in person. And I have to say that after a lot of email and face-to-face and open house tours, I have a positive impression of all the brokers I've dealt with. My own broker has been great: straight-forward, candid, unbothered by a lot of requests and indecision, very fast to make contacts / submit offers / get information, not threatened by my own research and suggestions. It has been a good collaborative process, and I've appreciated her experience with the city and the process (she is older, which I personally think is very important, as in a doctor: you want experience more than anything). She isn't surprised very easily and takes everything in stride. On the other side, every single broker (maybe one exception) I've met at open houses has been warm, professional, even friendly, and non-pressuring. Whether I went with my broker or alone to the OH, I had some great conversations; most were "guides" to the property, most lived in the building, all of them were "people" people who enjoyed conversation about the process, neighborhood, backgrounds, etc. My feeling is that you should open up a little bit and enjoy the process and talk to the people; most brokers enjoy their jobs and property in general and appreciate the little details of a place. My broker showed me one place where the owner was also a broker; we arrived early and she was still there, but rather than being awkward it went incredibly well; she was very easy going, gave us a great tour of the property and the building with some excellent suggestions, communicated with our broker that she was negotiable on price -- just a welcoming, informative visit. I also went to the crazy OH at 2 Prince this weekend, and my impression is that the primary broker was handling it very, very well. A stressful situation with hundreds of people going through; I watched as a woman tried to negotiate loudly in front of everyone, declaring how it was way below her pricepoint, he should just tell her what she should offer, etc. and he definitely kept his cool, always professional and polite and not testy but at the same time firmly and clearly explaining the situation (multiple offers already at ask and over, going to a best-and-highest final bid, etc). Then he answered my questions and actually stood without talking with me for a few minutes just letting me take it all in, and then offered some more information: very polite and professional. Other brokers at other places were also warm, friendly, helpful. So I'll get flamed for this, but I think that the problem is *very often if not more often* with the *buyer* and not with the broker!

#23, no one is going to read that. No one cares about your opinion. Your opinion doesn't matter. You are useless in this world. No one likes you. Go crawl under a rock. Loser.

#23--How refreshing to read a well thought out post from the vantage point of a non-broker that is not filled with insults. Someone like this is apt to get the very best performance from any broker he/she chooses to use.Good luck #23!

#24 why are you on this board. please go away. if you did i am sure we would have a better board

#26 go read a different board if you don't like it. I can do whatever I want.

#23 to #24: you make my point for me.

#24/26 has an infantile personality, what? I agree with #23. I don't know why brokers are so reviled in New York City. I spent decades in Los Angeles where they are respected professionals. Actually, I just thought that perhaps it's the prices. In most other parts of the US and the world you get ten times as much space for your money so the buyers take out their wrath & confusion on the real estate industry.

23 here: I agree that it's the prices but really it seems to me that its the competition because of the prices and the lack of transparency and the general demand. And this is where bad brokers can increase the pressure and muddy the water. My sense is you do your research thoroughly and you choose someone with whom you have a good rapport and who has good judgment. I think that if you are firm and clear and if you remember that your broker is in the business of selling property -- no broker is in the business of not selling property! -- and you know what you want and why, AND you are willing to be realistic and to accept some compromises (that is very important in my view but also the most difficult part) then you will have no problem.

Yes, it's your broker not your psychiatrist you're dealing with!

Lets open up the discussion a bit.

Do the brokers on the board feel that a flat 6% fee to represent a seller is fair? Three issues here:

1. Variations in sales price posing a problem in the form of gargantuan compensation for minimally incremental workload when looking at two different properties at both ends of the price spectrum.

2. Conflict of interest and devotion of resources when representing a pair of sellers, one with a $3.7m home and one with a $450K home. Realizing the broker does not keep the whole commmission and must split with the firm, first home results in $111K commission and second home with $13.5K in commissions. Of course this figure is lower when having to split with a buyers broker which brings us to the next and last issue (for now).

3. Can selling brokers admit that they are drawn to working with a buyer that does not have a broker with them? Of course some brokers will say that it is easier when the buyer has representation so the process goes smoothly, but honestly for that extra 1.5% commission (which we've shown can be significant), living in the world we do, that brokerless buyer looks mighty attractive! And for shame, as the customer trusts you to have OUR best interest at heart.

BTW, I am also poster #14.