Elliman Broker Shawn Felker

CC,I really hope it doesn't. Let's raise the level back to intelligent conversation, guys.

say what you want but this taps into a deep pool of long time anger that goes way beyond this agent and this appointment.

If it goes beyond this agent, let's start another thread that address the issue in a more general way. This feels like stone throwing in the middle ages.

I also want to point out that by reducing the potential pool of qualified renters/buyers with this "go jump in the lake" attitude, brokers deliver less money to the owners who engage them.

The flip side of this, when brokers successfully manage and cultivate a large number of qualified renters/buyers, is the bidding war that ensues when a property is underpriced (including in rentals). ...impossible if it's a "tree falls in the forest" event.

sorry mimi.

I have no vested interest in this broker or brokerage firm, or this property or this renter or anything in particular, but since some nasty people with agendas who probably belong in some small town gossiping about what Jessica Fletcher did today - keep posting, well, let me say again

I'm going to have to go back to my original post and say no one likes a whiner. But who knew that would apply to so so many more people, including Shawn for his reply, including columbiacounty, including all the rest of you obsessed over this.

Who is "Jessica Fletcher" ... is that Shawn Felker's drag persona?

Re: Broker anger. I called to see an apartment and when the broker got back to me -- four days later--she immediately told me that the owner would not consider any less on the asking price-- or at least not more than a 1 -2% discount. When I said I was surprised since the asking price was almost 30% over the 2007 sales price. She dismissed me in a very curt way -- "Well, good luck to you" and hung up.

I have been in sales (not RE) for years. I am stunned that any salesperson would deter qualified buyers with a quasi price negotiation on the phone-- before the buyer ever got to SEE the product. I am a buyer that can pay cash for the apt. and she not only doesn't know, she doesn't give a damn. At least Shawn pretended to care. This broker couldn't be bothered on any level. alanhart, this "go jump in the lake" attitude makes me want to rent. if this apartment sells at a major discount, i wonder if the owner would want to know how the agent precluded buyers from seeing the apt. one week into the listing.

Keep it up EPCC. We're on the third page of posts, and with you stoking the fire I'm sure this will continue to many hundreds of posts as I predicted when this all started.

Jessica Fletcher is Angela Lansbury on Murder She Wrote. Since I didn't grow up in Cabot Cove, Maine, or its equivalent elsewhere from north to south, that's the best I can do when talking about gossipy little people. The other thing that comes to mind are the society that supported JonBenet Ramsey.

apt23, there are uncommercial jerks throughout all of live's venues and stages. Bad business sense <> unethical. Also, it could mean that the broker is representing some jerk owner and doesn't have the clout to get the owner to be more realistic about price or where the market is. ... and is tired about taking calls from realistic buyers (e.g. you) only to have to go through the nonsense with his client. Still doesn't give much cred to the broker, but ultimately, the person who sells is the owner / client.

Thanks kylewest

Epcc; I truly appreciate your point. Even so, there was a more subtle way to communicate the sentiments of the owner and earn her commission without basically hanging up on me. How about: "you know, I want to tell you in advance that the owner is determined to stick to his price so the apt may not be for you. however, if the price drops i can certainly call you immediately". And, if I loved the apt, who knows, I might have paid up. I'll never know, and neither will she.

Anger towards brokers?
To say this is to hate all salesmen/women in any industry.
The problem here is that the RE frenzy drew to it charlitans and losers that are now slowly being weened away. We also have a situation were, for the most parts, RE brokers are selling to newbies...emotional newbies with 'decision making disorders'. At a certian point they might say anything. The one thing we like on this chat board is grouping up and kicking some ass...Brokers end up being that 'skinny spastic broken eyeglass wearing studdering inhaler sucking allergic to everything moma's boy' that lives down the block that everyone can 'take', even your little sister. so when you need a little practice and you don't want anyone swinging back...
Do you think brokers go home at night and cry themselves to sleep singing,'It's a hard knocks life for us' from the broadway musical Annie?

Again, there is a big difference between gross incompetence and shady ethics.

I'm not suggesting you do business with either.

But I don't know, every day there are annoyances at home, at work, between home and work, with family, with friends, with colleagues, with business acquaintances, with one time dealings, with the Metrocard machine, the damn newspaper isn't always in front of my door, the water in the shower gets hot when someone flushes, I wish that the tissue box at home would have yellow tissues when they are running low like they are in the box at work, the office building security guard asks for my ID even though he's seen my face for the past half dozen plus years, damn smokers are under the awning when its raining which it has all summer, in order to use the carpool lane at the GWB toll booths you have to go in the slow cash pay lane, I have to go all the way over to York Avenue to get an MRI instead of closer to where I live or work, Blackberry Enterprise Server was slow last Thursday ...

Epcc: I am a meditator--daily for 16 years. None of life's little hiccups bother me. Someone taking 6% with a (contractual) understanding of performing a service at a high standard and then not coming anywhere close to delivering that standard is another matter -- not because it is bothersome but because it is Wrong. It is tantamount to theft.

Should I call up the owner and say," I can pay cash for your (overpriced) apt. Who knows if I would like it enough to buy it but we'll never know because the agent refused to show it to me. Was that your intention? " I wonder what the reaction would be. If I were the seller, I would want as many qualified buyers in the apt as possible. I would even accept unqualified buyers if it made it look like there was overwhelming interest.

"My point isn't so much that all brokers are worthless, as much as things change, industries change, and I expect RE to change, big time, over the next several years. And I don't think it would be a bad change if the number of brokers was scaled way back, just like the number of bankers is being scaled way back."

"The problem here is that the RE frenzy drew to it charlitans and losers that are now slowly being weened away. We also have a situation were, for the most parts, RE brokers are selling to newbies...emotional newbies with 'decision making disorders'. At a certian point they might say anything. The one thing we like on this chat board is grouping up and kicking some ass...Brokers end up being that 'skinny spastic broken eyeglass wearing studdering inhaler sucking allergic to everything moma's boy' that lives down the block that everyone can 'take', even your little sister. so when you need a little practice and you don't want anyone swinging back...
Do you think brokers go home at night and cry themselves to sleep singing,'It's a hard knocks life for us' from the broadway musical Annie?"

I know I've said here before there was an article not too many years back in the NY Times RE section which stated that there were something like 10,000 deals and 27,000 licensed agents in Manhattan, meaning, even if there were 2 agents on every deal, that's still less than one deal per year per agent. Do you know why they have "Deer Season"? It's not to allow guys to be cruel to deer: it's to thin out the heard, because if not, ALL of them would starve because there's not enough food for all of them. Unfortunately, no one is going to be kind enough to allow "Broker Season", and many long standing, reasonably ethical brokers will starve and get washed away with the riff-raff.

Off topic: my ex-who-I'll-never-get-over was in Annie in the chorus and sang that song.

Lastly, I think, when I read this board, that the standard for ethical behaviour is WAAAAAYYYYY slanted in terms of anything Brokers do is worthy of beheading, and anything Buyers do is ok "because all brokers are scum anyway. I know during my career the number of times I've been stood up by Buyers with no call or excuse is an order of magnitude, probably 2 orders of magnitude, than the other way around. And in terms of knowingly wasting the time of someone who you KNOW you areis going to make DAMN SURE will never earn a nickel, even though the only nickels they earn are on a commission basis, seems to be foregivin in likewise manner.

I also think it is unforgivable to stand up a broker. But every broker I have dealt with has taken my cell. There should be no mix ups.

i personally hate to be late for any meeting much less not show up at all.

But, this is not about personal choice.

This is about a way of doing business and an attitude towards customers and clients.

" I also think it is unforgivable to stand up a broker."

No. "Unforgivable" is molesting a child. Stealing from charities for holocaust survivors. Murdering your sister because she was raped by someone in your village and now your family feels shame. Ordering genocide.

Let's keep this in some perspective, huh? There is little you could do to a broker or a broker could do to you that rises to "unforgivable." We're talking business practices here and courtesies--not crimes against humanity.

kylewest: point made. poor choice of words. my point is that broker's can avoid the problem of no shows to a certain extent by thorough business practices -- emails confirming the appt. with the info, a confirmation call on the morning of the showing, etc. buyers should be civil and respectful of the broker's time but there will always be an occasional no-show --AND that is simply the cost of doing business. But in no way should occasional no -shows be an excuse for a broker to be cavalier about the client's time.

i can't tell you how many brokers return calls multi-days later, are confused about the nature of the call or whether they have returned this call before and are apologetic about repeating themselves. I played a voicemail from a broker for my sister who trains executive sales staffs for major corporations and she was hysterical laughing and wants to me record them all so she can use them in her classes. We are not talking about tupperware here, these are multi-million dollar products. Clearly the industry needs to weed out some of non-professionals.

I had a very professional broker sell my last apartment. Dealing with brokers over this past month of my search, I realize that I was extremely lucky to have her - though I vetted many before choosing. I think many owners would be appalled at what goes on re: the sale of their apt.

There's also a big difference between, say, forgetting to return a call and returning a call only when it's in the broker's interest. Hence the many stories of no returned calls by brokers during the go-go days, switching to out-of-the-blue pestering a few months later.

brokers... dont even get me started. There are a few professionals, but for the most part? pond scum.

btw god bless the excellent broker who sold my apt in aug/07

in interview she said that the one thing she considered most important about her job was to be available and organized for frequent prompt showing..i remember her saying that the last thing she wanted was to miss our buyer cuz she didnt return a call or was late to a showing...she recommended putting a reasonable price on the apt and avoiding gimmickry..no redecorating to "stage" based on some idiot's concept...no price low and start a bidding war crap..just pull the place together, get rid of all clutter, get ads out there, price reasonably and start showing asap..and she sold my apt in the nick of time..so pleased to pay her her commission, especially now when I see the money she saved me by operating effectively on my behalf...

professionals, especially those selling me things, who treat my time as less valuable than theirs get no business from me and warrant flamage...seems like that's ahppened in this case

Ubottom, sounds like we used the same broker. And I sold in June 08....yikes. Talk about doing right by me. Put it on in April, got 3 (legit)offers, closed at full ask!

being a professional salesperson doesn't mean taking every potential or actual customer's sh*t. quite the opposite. You treat them with respect, and they treat you with equal respect. the customer is most definitely NOT always right, and grovelling for their respect is a poor way to build your business.

on another point, how come the other 2 interested parties managed to find their way into the apt w/the assistant, but the original poster wasn't able to?

So now renting an apartment is supposed to be like a giant rats-in-maze contest?

printer: it's not about taking shit....its about converting that shit into a customer. and...if you stand up a customer, do you really think that the customer is giving you shit or expressing real frusrtation?

obviously standing up a customer is a big screw up, and one that would be awfully difficult to dig yourself out of. i wasn't referring so much to this particular case, just to the general notion that 'the customer is always right'. b/c he's not. and you don't want to chase after every person, b/c you don't want everyone as a client/customer - many are more trouble than they are worth, and can have a negative impact on your ability to provide the proper level of service to your good customers/clients.

that's how you know you've arrived as a salesman of a service - when you start telling people, kindly and tactfully, that no, i don't want to work with you.

"no redecorating to "stage" based on some idiot's concept...just pull the place together, get rid of all clutter, get ads out there, price reasonably and start showing asap"

Good advice. I know some witch who got OBSESSED with the staging idea. Problem is, she had tenants living there, and she come in and ask them to rearrange their stuff! Horrible, horrible! This was in 2006. Her place? Still unsold!

I think that if you contract with an owner or developer to sell their real estate, then you are required to take sh*t from any qualified buyer/client that could be brought to close. The owner/developer doesn't care that you are offended by profanity, they want the sale and you should remove yourself from the process, the contract -- and perhaps the industry -- if you can't deliver.

If you don't want to work with a difficult owner/developer, well different matter. don't sign the contract.

printer: you know you've arrived when you're closing big sales and making big money.

And leave him tied to the front door. Aye ye ye

I'd also like Felcher to be gender tested.....

Hell i'd like everyone here to be gender tested.... West81.. did a number on us : )

w67thstreet, I congratulate you on a relatively restrained and coherent post. Especially after several days away.

Oh but the irony about talking about a 3 legged chihuahua.

Spoke too soon, "Hell i'd like everyone here to be gender tested.... West81.. did a number on us : )"

This week, am I male or female, now that you've decided I'm not AgentRachel?

"Here is the rub that all the re brokers don't get, why in this day and age when I can buy a laser measurer for $10 and at a min. a layout and pictures don't cost a nickle more to out up,"

there is a firm which gets a reasonable amount of "press" here who doesn't have floorplans on a good deal of their listings. I personally find this annoying.

here's a Shawn Felker listing -- what's up with the pricing strategy (increasing from $5.9 to $10.5 mm this year)?

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/445607-townhouse-17-bank-street-west-village-new-york (current listing)

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/374777-17-bank-street-west-village-new-york (prior listing)

W67 and no pig -- how do you find each other so quickly , even after vacation time off from this site. Are you one in the same? Or are you so obsessed with each other that your computers are fine tuned to flash searches? Either way -- fun but bizarre.

It is bizarre!

"here's a Shawn Felker listing -- what's up with the pricing strategy (increasing from $5.9 to $10.5 mm this year)?"

I could be wrong, but it looks to me like the price increase came under the prior broker?

Still, how anyone could've upped that much in such a short time is beyond me. And also (admittedly, I don't really know that market at all), isn't even the $5.9 a stretch?

looks like they just got rental tenants. their need to sell might seem less pressing. still...

This happens all the time. I wouldn't take it personally.

w67, I believe your post better belongs to the "are all new yorkers exhibitionists" thread.

Mimi. I'm already there :). This was a test for shrimpie. I needed to know if she really is psychic. My money is on UWSismylabia. : )

shawn: still in biz?

For a spouse and child abuser who has been downgraded in life to renting in an asbestos filled apartment building with transparent windows in the bathroom, you sure do know how to pick a fight with someone you've never had dealings with.

Oh, and yeah, if you scroll over "ignore this person" you'll see that I'm a "new" poster.

your point?

you;re ridiculous. this is an anonymous board but you don't want to reveal your anonymous self? hilarious.

lordy, i'm worried. should i have anything to do with cc? some people on a website have repeatedly posted unsubstantiated claims that he has committed heinous crimes. seems kind of like slander that would be not protected if he were to sue. gee, what does my husband like to do in his spare time? that's right, he LOVES cases involving confrontational issues. that would be fun, just for sport. and with the recent case history, well, maybe you should make sure that your accusations are in order.

no no ... everyone hates ONLY ME.... biggappinghole... new poster or another alias..... cue shrimpie?

is shrimpie on vacay?

can't wait to visit at your summer place.

but the people who hate you revel in revealing themselves over and over. i seem to have the opposite of a secret admirer?

aboutready, its a good thing that your husband is a lawyer and not you.

First, the accusation would have to be untrue. And it hasn't even been refuted in two attempts above.
Second, columbiacounty would have had to previously identify himself (as in real person).
Third, columbiacounty would have to face some damage as a result.
And there'd be some combination of 1,2,3 before anyone would respond to a subpoena.
Fourth, your husband (or one of his associates who would be thrilled) would have to decide spend some of his time pro bono on a losing, ridiculous case. Is that really wise for a lawyer in a partnership in today's law firm economic environment? Ask him.

always love going to hawaii in winter, something about leaving absolute zero and then landing in that warm tropical breeze.. the other thing is there is no daylight savings.. so you can pack in so much more than nyc in the winter.... just shoot me an email.

CC, getting the Cal 2-30. Should be good for Thursday nite races. Beautifully redone by a just laid off carpenter... gotta love this recession. I'll shoot you an email w/ link with pics. next week.

Once again, nice REO on 220RSB... my wife likes the pool there : )

biggappingho.... you are one in the same.. your syntax and grammar cannot be hidden... and the fact you regurgitate the same info on ar, cc and myself.. only points to one sad and lonely broker...

very nice...i'm envious.

as to the gapster: as noted earlier, you are ridiculous. haven't you already used this identity too much? what is your issue, you moron?

biggap, you really think that all law suits are based on merit? give me a fucking break. all you need is cause to sue, and the action commences. and you really think the accusations against cc are true? one strike down.

slander is interesting these days. let's just say that a child were to inadvertently see what was on a screen about papa? or a wife? and if the case fails, in the meantime what does that do?

actually, you would be surprised at what attorneys would be interested in pursuing in today's law firm economic envirnoment. and i don't have to ask him, i talk to him about his cases just about every day.

lol, good one.

It's like people who think they get somewhere in a conflict because they have their lawyer send a letter on their letterhead. To which the best response is ignore.

Three other points:
One, in any action, you personally would not remain anonymous.
Two, even if the accusations were untrue, columbiacounty would hardly be a sympathetic plaintiff considering his earlier post today was intended to instigate trouble, and is pretty transparent at that.

Three, if columbiacounty were not a spousal and child abuser, don't you think the spouse or child would know this? How does your example, "let's just say that a child were to inadvertently see what was on a screen about papa? or a wife? " make any sense?

And lastly for good measure, if the accused can simply deny and have credibility in his denial (simply say it is untrue and that the accuser was anonymous might work, oddly though he hasn't denied) then how can a plaintiff support a damage claim?

well...you are a fruit loop for sure.

"if the accusations were untrue?" you're nuts, for sure.

what earlier post was meant to instigate trouble, fruit loop?

show yourself or shut up.

Still no denial. Interesting

biggap, thanks for showing your ignorance of the law. carry on.

lol, and you are a lawyer because you discuss cases with your husband. Please ask me your questions about oncology.

why are you afraid to show us your actual anonymous self?

Still no denial. Interesting

denial of what? you? you're a fucking moron. no question of that.

Still no denial. Interesting.

as my mother died from cancer, and was a child from a family of ten, eight of whom died from cancer, i know quie a bit more about oncology than you might think. fuck off.

Well, you are a lawyer by proxy, an oncologist by proxy. You are a smart cookie. Vicariously.

big yap: you should talk about proxies. keep it going, stupid.

I'd say that it's always better to keep one's legal and oncology knowledge as distant as possible. unfortunately i lost my mother to complications from lung cancer when she was 53. i was 26. i'm a very smart cookie, and a sad one.

I'm sorry to hear about your mother early passing.

biggap, thank you.

group hug...

my biggest fear is to leave too soon b/f the children can handle a passing of a parent.. there is a time and a place for everything, but a passing of a parent at an early age is.... just sad...

cue awkward silence..... good nite all.....

w67th, group hug.

I'm a landlord, and would never even take an application from soneone who acted with the rudeness
and pushiness Mr. Felker reported. It also seems to me the renter's reaction was grossly inappropriate:
we all make mistakes, and everyone, especially brokers, sometimes has unexpected scheduling problems.

Mr. Felker had the grace to call and apologize; the renter should have had the grace to accept his apology.

rb345--If Mr Felker apologized with the snarkiness he demonstrated on this post -- sorry about wasting your oh too precious 30 minutes attitude-- I would react badly also. Perhaps not with the language but nevertheless, I would certainly let my displeasure known. For the lack of professionalism and also for the rudeness.

If you are a landlord, you certainly don't want to work with high powered, successful people, because most of them value their time. So perhaps you are a landlord of a lower standard of apartment and this would not be a problem for you. If you had this broker representing your property, how many qualified buyers would you allow the broker to deter before you did find it to be a problem. How many could you lose before bankruptcy. It is one thing if a prospective tenant had a criminal record. Someone reacting to an insult in another thing. If you have the courage of your conviction, please drop your anonymity and let us know who you are. I may be renting if I can't find the right place to buy and I don't want to rent anywhere the landlord has so little respect for the tenant.

As a landlord, do you value tenants who show a cavalier attitude toward timeliness? Say, a couple of months late with the rent and a sincere proforma apology? If I were a landlord, I'd then plan on the tenant being four months late the next time (with a sincere proforma apology, of course).

btw, that last post was directed towards rb345, not apt23

Why is this whole thing the broker's fault?

If you are short-term renting, this is going to be lowest priority. The short-term renter knew it. And should have some patience.

ok...here we go again. and again and again.

marcoratesic: you seem to be a new poster? why now?

So many people have an opinion. Few have actually met Shawn or even seen the apartment in question. I say, let it go and apologize to Shawn.

Why does this thread have a record number of newly-created, one-time posters? And note, they are the ones not letting this thread die. Guess the 300th post is only a little bit away.

289

Gballer: You are "Acluistic" -- Unable to get a clue.

lol kylewest

lol apt23

Felker's got friends!?! Who'd a thunk it?

This is a really great photo: http://racked.com/archives/2009/08/25/rackedwire_satans_tenants_in_the_garment_district_more_uws_whole_foods.php

While, in a sense, I regret further extending this foolish stream of rants with yet another note-- I feel compelled to speak up, per my own experience with Mr. Felker. I've bought and sold my own properties for years via Shawn and he's always been 100% reliable, responsible and professional. He's NEVER missed an appointment and- to the contrary- has OFTEN gone above the call of duty to appease me whenever I made requests that were a bit extraordinary.

Throughout the years, I've met several of Shawn's friends-- and quite a large few of them also met him via either a purchase or sale of an apartment. This speaks mounds to his professional caliber as well as his ability to make & keep friends throughout years.

On a moral/ethical level-- I COULDN'T POSSIBLY DISAGREE MORE with the terrible comments made on this blog. He is for certain one of the kindest, most generous, most loving people I know.

It is extremely unfortunate that a single (apparent) misinterpretation has lead to all of this inflammatory slander. The thought that millions of prospective buyers/sellers would possibly read this blog and refrain from doing business with Shawn is too bad. I would urge Shawn to investigate the identity of the first anonymous blogger under the grounds of slander and press charges against him/her in court.

Still attacking this guy?
Let this thread die.
I have never typed this b4 but, SE...eliminate this thread.
this has become a character assignation and, give the details from the begining, wholly unwarranted.
Enough is enough!!!

SE, remove this thread! This is still a human being, who has to make a living and, prehaps is a good broker.

given the details.....my bad

hilarious...you didn't even read the glowing review from yet another first time poster?

no I read it but, this thread just has to die.

but not until it gets to 300 posts ;-)

"Slander" has to be proven to be based on false accusations. It is the person bringing the suit who must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the allegedly slanderous statements were false when made. Next, the person suing must establish what the damage was in monetary terms. The damages can't just be made up--they must be proven. Here, while there has been extensive conversation about an individual broker, replies supposedly by that individual to complaints made about him, further discussion in response to the replies, and general discussions of brokers, it is hard to see where the "slander" referred to by mm123 comes in. People relaying a negative experience with someone is not slander if it contains no lies. Opinions are neither true nor lies but thoughts which are not actionable. So as much as mm123 likes the person being discussed in parts of this thread and wants to share his/her opinions about this person and experiences with the broker, the OP has the same right. With all views now expressed, anyone bored enough to read this thread in the future will get a balanced view based on all posts and can draw his/her own opinions. No need for big brother to edit thoughts and ideas.

"This speaks mounds to his professional caliber"

...mounds of WHAT, exactly?
mm123, are you trying to slander S. Felker?

happy to switch topics here Kyle: http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/14276-cyber-slimers-beware