To our brokers - what do you think the benefit is of listing on Streeteasy or similar?

If you want to have a larger pool of people to make fun of than just the posters in the forums on the private broker's only section of the board.

Is that the only benefit? :-)

I'm not a broker, so this might not answer your question, but in light of the brokerages that are no longer including street addresses in their listings I'd like to comment anyway.

Streeteasy is the single most important place I go to find open houses. It's the single most important place I know anyone my age (late twenties/early thirties) considering buying looks. No address=no open house attendance from me. I'm not willing to contact brokers to get the secret address. The rule here is "don't make me think" about finding your open house. Just get me there.

30years, there's a private broker's section of the board? Really? What do you have to do to get past the velvet ropes?

evnyc - i can understand that. i feel the same way, but can't hold to it -- we're looking in Jackson Heights, Queens (amongst other neighborhoods) and most of those brokers do not list here. They make it prohibitively hard, in my opinion, to find out about their open houses and their listings. I think the big fear is that further transparency will make their jobs harder, but I think as you put it, that buyers today increasingly rely on the internet and sites like streeteasy where the data is so accessible!

tandare, most of the brokers here don't actually post, they just creep silently in the corners.

Funny. I forget that people lurk, even though I did for a long while. I give brokers like Fayek a hard time, but I kind of like him anyway. He works hard.

yes, i respect all the upfront brokers who swim with the sharks here. it's a regular witchhunt, it's hysterical. singing power, to the people, power to the people right on.

It is, but brokers who navigate it well get respect. Think Ali, 30years, Tina24hour, et al. That takes chutzpah, and I totally respect it.

We are from a southern state and buying an apartment in the downtown area to be closer to the kids (i really mean the grandkids though that would put us among the ancients on this site). We would not have been able to do it without this Streeteasy site despite having a very competent and extremely knowledgeable broker. We depended on the site for open house listings and i think we went to everyone in the entire downtown area this spring and summer. We depended on the Streeteasy listings to look at comps and recent recorded sales. We leaned on each of you for valuable advice as we read thru the various strings and sorted out the opinions. Even got a couple of laughs and could certainly name some of our favorite "bar stools". And at the end of the day, our realtor actually started subscribing to the site as she saw the benefits over some of the professional sites she uses regularly.
we found the apartment we are in contract (almost) for on this site and IMHO made the job easier for our broker by being able to sort out so much of the details of what and where we wanted to go/see ourselves. And we could do this whether we were in NY or SC. So i would suggest it is an enormous benefit to list on this site both to the brokers as well as their clients. And thank you all for the time and expertise you give to this forum.

Rosina, congratulations on your purchase. And welcome to the downtown area!

thanks, evnyc, but do save those congrats until all is signed!

A lot of agents -- should I venture to guess, most? -- do not even know about this site, let alone how to use it. While their listings may show up here, it is only because someone other than the listing agent is responsible for putting all the marketing materials in the various RE sites. I am another happy buyer (closed last Fall) who relied heavily on SE. Listing not in SE? I probably didn't see it. SE is the "great equalizer" IMHO. BTW, I am way past "late twenties/early thirties."

HOpeful, we are well past that age also. in fact we will probably change the whole age dynamics of the downtown area!

The benefit is you get your listing in front of people who are looking for a place.

As for the OB brokers who control their listings like the Mafia, well, perhaps an AG with aspirations to higher office (that never happens, right?) will take them to task.

where is tina? off for the summer? i miss her wit.

I love the boards, and have gotten (and I hope given) a lot of helpful information through here, made friends, and acquired clients. But I haven't sold apartments through listings here (or on Trulia, for that matter, or even on Realtor.com). In my experience, buyers for my listings come in through brokers who use the shared NYC brokerage system. The last "direct" deal I did was in December, and those buyers came in through the New York Times.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

front_porch - i've been to open houses listed by your company only because they were listed on here. so even if you haven't experienced it yourself it certainly happens.

Oh, Jasonkyle I know there's been an increase in *traffic,* but have you *bought* anything from me?

Because one could argue more non-buyer traffic is a double-edged sword -- on the one hand, it makes an open house look busy, and thus has a psychological impact on the eventual buyer, maybe putting them over the top.

But on the other hand, it's more leads for me to sort through, and since time is finite, every communication with a non-buyer either makes me work harder, or makes my service to an actual buyer poorer, or both.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

ali,
Yes, you are a breath of fresh air. If only there were more like you out there...

I think that as the younger generation, who are more accustomed to using technology, age, sites like SE will become more and more valuable. Buyers, sellers and brokers should all see the value in it. I am old enough to remember looking for apartments in Manhattan, rentals and purchase, without tools like SE, ACRIS, etc. For rentals, rush to get the NYT real estate section on Sat. morning before everyone else so you can start reading all those tiny little ads, circle the promising ones, then start making phone calls, hoping to get the decent apartment before the next person. Of course, there wasn't really any way to know what the decent apartments were without going to see them. Now we have photos and floor plans on-line! Times have changed. Also, now you can enter your search criteria, set the flag to send you an e-mail when an apartment with your criteria gets listed, etc., etc., etc. Of course, my comments apply to NYT electronic listings too. So, the question probably is, what's the advantage of SE over NYT?

easy, comps!

i guess i am not understanding your point front-porch. how is someone supposed to buy if they don't see apartments? and a lot of people find their open houses on here. that's all i am saying. that for me and others streeteasy has replaced the times. and i am in fact a buyer just not one who bought through your company although as i have said in the past your boss seems like a lovely man.

Another comment i might add to this...not only did we find our apartment thru an open house listed on Streeteasy, we actually found our broker also as she had the listing for the rental unit we leased in December. We used Streeteasy then at the recommendation of our sons who both thought it the best vehicle to find a rental unit quickly in this city. During that transaction we found her quite knowledgeable and professional to work with and later asked her to represent us during our search for a place to buy. The other six brokers who showed us various units were all impressive to some degree but we chose the broker most familiar with the Gramercy Park area. I would have to assume that this site can only help brokers and I would be hard pressed to find the down side.

Ali...I am totally sympathetic to your lament about "non buyers" (fishing expeditions abound in ad work as well) but consider this: if anyone I know were to speak to me about buying/selling downtown I would definitely tell them to put you on their broker interview list. Ditto for tina in brooklyn and noah uptown. I think given the reputation you have built here for honesty and integrity, your investment of time on SE will pay off many times over in referrals. Obviously the posters here are not a bunch of reticent soluls!

aboutready,
yes, comps, and all that history SE provides, plus discussions of buildings and apartments. What else?

I have the impression that NYT RE listings software is always playing catch-up to SE to offer valuable features. But NYT has a long-standing reputation as a source for RE listings. Once SE gets a wider reputation... watch out!

Now, taking front_porch's point of view: other agents as sources of listings (based on their own internal electronic database of listings), what will it take to get all those people who rely on an agent to do the legwork for them to do their own searches on SE?

Yes, I think Tina is away. I got in touch with her because I liked her on SE and she's helping me as a buyer's agent in Brooklyn. As a seller (my place is in contract, and I can't buy until it closes) SE was very useful, not only for comps but also for the wise perspective on these boards.

SE has been a wonderful source of very knowledgeable clients, both on the rental and buy side. My focus has been rentals for the vast part of this year and SE provided nearly 60% of the clients who closed(over 30 transactions) to date. I am also working with several buyers whom (found me here).

Also of note I just had my first signed sales contract (as the listing broker). This was accomplished using our own model, more details available here: http://nycrentrant.blogspot.com/

But as Ali states most deals are done with two brokers, and most brokers are searching their own internal database for listings. Though even when I was at a large firm, I utilized the NYT's, did direct searches of other firms websites as well as a run through StreetEasy.

Keith Burkhardt (broker)

lizyank, thanks for that lovely comment..

I agree that we don't want to go back to the days of listings on index cards, but "shopping" is a little too easy now. For every jasonkyle who has bought through this site, there are dozens of people who become spectators, and get slightly involved in the real estate sales process too early, and in the aggregate, they're a time siphon on the process.

This amount of "noise" hurts agents (who, believe me, will fight back by making their listings less transparent) but it also hurts sellers, who are best served by the most-efficient market.

I would argue that commission costs reflect this, because if all things were equal and the new electronic world made buying and selling more efficient, commission costs would come down (just as they have with stock brokerage.) However, the Real Trends data we have shows that commission costs nationally have gone up!

One can argue that this is because the NAR (of which I am a member) is an evil cartel, or that this is a short-term function of the down market -- but I think it's just as likely that the deluge of information hasn't made the process more efficient, because for every buyer whose time is saved by not requesting a floorplan from me, I now have to talk to ten wannabes who can find me WAAY too easily.

I think the process is going to change to reflect this, and once it's not an absolute buyers' market (which may take a couple of years) I think you'll see fewer open houses and possibly even tougher qualifications before appointments are made.

Don't get me wrong, I love it here at SE, or I wouldn't hang out here so much; I'm just pointing out that there are disadvantages too.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

evnyc:

Haha I am a SHE...!

all interesting points... Ali - it does not apply to Manhattan, but have you taken a look at Redfin's site and their business structure? What about Ziprealty? I can appreciate how some people end up being fishing expeditions. But I have a hard time imagining a future where buyers will really be interested in listings where they cannot make quick comps before calling up a broker. Though I could be wrong...

Ali, I usually appreciate and understand your comments, but I must said I don't have a clue of your take on SE disadvantages...

NYC tends to believe that it's marketplace is *so* different that what might work in other areas definitely won't work here (e.g., Trulia, ZipRealty, Redfin, or simply one-unified MLS system). I'm not sure that sites like SE, Acris, aren't evening out the playing field and possibly necessitating a move towards the same transparency people enjoy in the rest of the country. I also wonder if sometimes the craziness that seems part and parcel of NYC real estate isn't really Folie a deux....

Sorry, "its marketplace" -- please excuse the grammar

I'm getting calls/emails from buyers who see my listings on Street Easy and virtually none are tire-kickers. They are all serious, ready, and financed. The quality of leads is very high. I think people are too busy anymore to window shop by wasting brokers' time. Those kind will just go to open houses, in and out, also I don't hunt them like rabbits, if they want to talk to me about buying an apartment they will do so, they don't need me following them around.

I just adore Street Easy! I say an educated consumer is my best customer. (Uh--wait--I just stole that from Filene's Basement or somebody--)

{Manhattan real estate agent.}

I think it really depends on what market segment you're in. Except for the people who were drunk, I've had very high-quality traffic at my listing at Trump World Tower (conv-3 BR, 3 BA condo, $2.47 mm).

But I think that's partly because it's an out-of-the-way building, and no one drags themselves that far east to look at it unless they want to live there.

However, listings that are easy to get to are another story. Fully 2/3rds of the people who have come to see my listings in the Village and Chelsea have not needed to see them. In general, the pied-a-terre buyers have not been buyers, just out-of-towners who were shopping for kicks (OMG, I am not making this up, I am getting a call from an agent with a buyer "in from Paris" as I write this.)

Meanwhile, I believe that many of the primary residence buyers are eventual buyers, but they have come to see things too early in the process. In the industry, we have traditionally held open houses to satisfy this curiousity/education requirement on the part of buyers, but now doing that opens one up to online reviews a la Yelp. I appreciate everyone here being really nice to me, but if I can't promise that my sellers will get the same warm embrace I'm reluctant to open them up to that.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Fluter, I've been wondering based solely on your name if you were from the Boston area, but with your Filene's reference - I'm almost convinced.

Syms

I appreciate the hell out of the honest brokers who comment here.

Jerkstore

Yes! An educated consumer....Hails from SYMS.....but applies to the real estate business as well...and thanks for realising that there are honest and upright agents out there!

I worked with a fantastic broker, but in the end it was SE that found me my apartment this summer. There was not a single listing that my broker sent me that I hadn't already looked at on SE, sometimes days before my broker would send me the listing. SE also helped me do a lot of advance screening so I wouldn't waste time going to appointments or open houses for units that I could tell based on comps, etc. would not work out. I also identified many nice apartments (including the one that I'm buying) through SE that my broker didn't independently send me. This post might make it sound like my broker wasn't doing her job, but she was. She is fantastic and I would never use anyone else, but no human can match SE's technology.

Also, if a seller's broker is trying to avoid getting listed in SE by hiding an address, that immediately suggests to me that there's something wrong with the asking price.

I have noticed that I get more open house traffic from streeteasy then from the New York Times that does not neccessarily translate to more real buyers. However, I did get one buyer to an open house who did not like the apartment I was showing. I asked him what he was looking for and could I help him. He said I hate brokers! I can find what I want on streeteasy I don't need you! I wished him good luck in his search. That evening he called and said listen all the listings on Streeteasy are with brokers you are really nice I might as well work with you. I sold him an apartment and he was quite happy since he needed alot of help through the board process and he hated the sellers brokers who he had met before and would never have dealt with again. Thank you streeteasy! All my properties are listed here with addresses as well as on Realtor.com (I also am a NAR member) klara madlin :)

march - exactly, it makes you think that they are trying to scam you on price.

Go oldbroker! -- I think most of us posting here truly respect good brokers, and value the opinions and insights you and they offer here!

Klara has an excellent reputation. I met her and I liked her a lot.

Fluter 'wasting brokers time'. R u y chance related to Felcher? Lmao. How is doing something that is part of your job description wasting your time? Did you think every person who walks in to an open house is 'a' client? Do you bat 1000 for every 'friendly' conversation you have at the gym?

Lordy, when a nyer is too friendly he's either trying to sell me weed or is from alabama or is indeed a real estate broker.

My wife is most productive when her clients are drugged up and is talking about their 'inner'child or some embarrassing personal info, and she doesn't need to engage in a conversation. She had a guy come out of the closet to her while under anastesia.

And i will have to add a further few cents worth to this conversation. We have lived in and bought houses throughout this country as well as in some overseas assignments including HOng Kong. In most cases we had MLS listings readily available but only through our agents who dispersed this information as they saw fit. In the case of Streeteasy, we are able to view the listings ourselves and sort the pricing and locations before we had to bother our agent with the details of getting us an appointment. In short, Streeteasy enabled us to be independent educated buyers and not waste our agents valuable time. Now is when we need her to be engaged as she sorts thru the price negotiations, contract process etc.
An additional point may be made that being buyers with access to a wide spectrum of information gave us a certain confidence during these difficult economic times that we were doing the right thing in this market place. We wont know for years if we bought at the right time, but we do know right now that the decision we made was as fully informed consumers .

Ali,

I think maybe you're expecting short term "buy=commission$$ results. I live in Connecticut and plan on buying in the City in next 2-3 years. I'm a regular SE reader (seldom post) and get 90% of my NY RE info from SE. I am not currently working with a broker and do not waste brokers time with phone calls, appointments or questions. I do, however, attend open houses when in town (all from SE) and think most brokers welcome the traffic. Are you suggesting that I'm wasting your time and shouldn't contact you when I'm ready to hire a buyer's broker?

NYCDreamer... no no, Fluter's comment on "wasting brokers time" was meant to say that a banker/teacher/lawyer/brain surgeon/trust fund baby/porn star/the deli guy and anyone else who doens't buy thru him and gives him 6% w/ a minimum of $1MM transaction is like a total nobody, whose job is to ensure that brokers' time is not wasted. Brokers got tons to do, like go to the gym when it's totally empty, commute on weekends (when traffic is light) and get dressed up on Sundays.... and if they don't show up for an appointment they have to set up another one that goes around their "busy" schedule....

Lordy, I can't believe he actually wrote that.... and he's trying to get client on SE?

NYCDreamer -- I would love if you think of me when it comes to looking for a buyer's broker!

The problem is, in a personal service business, you can't take care of everyone. When the market turned suddenly + technology changed, suddenly representing listings was a lot less lucrative on a time basis. When the ratio of offers goes from 10 lookers to 1 offer to 25 lookers to 1 offer, a listing broker's income plunges.

Like everybody else who wants to swim in a warm current, I'm doing more buyer representation these days. But there are also buyers who have bought without me (sob!) because I can't be everywhere at once. If I realize someone is only 90 days away from purchasing, I want to work with them, but if I'm precommitted to sellers, or to buyers who might be more than 90 days away from purchasing, I can't. In a relationship business, it just doesn't make sense to screw existing clients.

But that's exactly what the top brokers who maintain their income are doing, shoving their listings off onto young team members so they can go follow the hot leads.

I don't really want to be the kind of agent because, among other things, that turns real estate into a management job. BTDT = boring.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Ali, i would have found it very difficult, if not impossible, to know when i was 90 days away from purchasing. IMHO You are only ready to purchase when you see the right apartment at the possible right price in a probable best location and the economic news isn't especially grim during that period of time. Our broker worked with us for six months but then we did a lot of the investigative work ourselves thru Streeteasy and/or attending open houses.

rosina - I completely agree with you. Last summer we could have been 90 days out from buying and we thought we were, except the market tanked, finances got iffy... Then we put it on hold... Now we're looking again. Were we serious last year? YES. Did it work out? No. So we try again and keep looking.

Tandare, Rosina, same here.

Rosina you make a lot of good points that are especially relevant in today's market. This is the direction I have been heading in for almost 2 years now. Most buyers and listings don't need my constant attention. As you point out you are willing and able to do a lot of the initial investigative work, when you come across a home that sparks some serious interest you can then more actively involve your broker, this is the right hand helping the left. This is why we offer a program to rebate a percentage of the commission to our buyers(think sweat equity).

Of course this is a very new model for Manhattan and of course it's not for everyone, some customers want you at every showing,need a lot of hand holding-I work with those buyers as well. It is about offering a menu of services to accommodate the clients needs. Since I am "the house" I can do this, as anyone who uses Streeteasy or the NYT's or has a computer for that matter knows, finding listings is not difficult.

I am currently working with several buyers whom are happy to do most of the research themselves and we often exchange emails or phone calls to discuss properties. One of these buyers likes me around more, I regularly send them listings, set up all appointments and attend the majority of go sees. Sometimes they just pop into an open house on a Sunday and email their thoughts. It's been very effective, fun and everyone is happy.

Most of my attention has been focused on my rental business this year, but that will change this fall.

I have been doing this a very long time, it's a means to doing what I really enjoy..yoga,travel, surfing etc...But this has been my best year ever; financially(well almost) and emotionally. I really love the freedom I have, to be much more "user friendly"lol, I hope it continues.

As I always say there is room for everyone, it's never one size fits all in life but unfortunately it has been in NYC real estate, just trying to offer some alternatives. I never feel like I am wasting my time, it comes with the territory, if I am out showing anything can happen...

Ok some self promotion, check out the wifey and I on the "Portuguese Princess" on our way to see the whales off of Provincetown, Cape Cod . If you get a chance to get out there its really beautiful, especially the outer Cape in and around Truro/Wellfleet.

www.nycrentrant.blogspot.com

Whale watching. That's fantastic, I only got a graduate degree and wife is an MD, and only worked out asses off 100 hr/ week for several years to finally afford vacations to Hawaii in our 20's to see whales. Holy shit had I known i could have done th traveling, surfing and whale watching for holding open houses, we as a couple completely wasted our time. Let me pull my kids from school and teac them how to turn keys, there you o honey. Just like daddy, I know sometimes the keys get stuck and you have to jiggle it a little........

w67th I'm 45 only made it as far as the Cape...to see the whales,two kids in college. Be nice its KeithB formerly "theburkhardtgroup". When we gonna play some golf?

When'd you change handle. Like in real life, can't be mean to people I already know. ; ). Just the OTHER anonymous posters :) enjoy the weekend. At least you are trying to change the process, bring more efficiency. There is no reason 6% is written in stone. You are at least headed in the right direction.

Keith: Rebates sound interesting. How do you and the buyer handle them with regards to taxes?

I admit it's tougher to buy with two people -- Hubby and I just bought our first "joint" place. I feel like we looked on and off for two-and-a-half years trying to figure out what neighborhood would work for both of us, and if we'd seen "the right place" we could conceivably have bought during that time. We were serious about two previous places, but we had financing issues on each of them.

But before I was married I bought four different properties, and it never took more than six weeks to figure out what to buy. There's only so many types of inventory that are going to be in your price range, and once you've seen 'em, you've seen 'em.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

I find it amusing that amino acids didn't post here
he's too busy with his 400 apts a month

you are reaching so so so much upperwest..again, 8 or so apartments a month, 100 or so a year...clear enough?

damn, after engaging an attorney to do the contract and flying back to SC, seller decided to take apartment off market. Deal is history and i guess i celebrated far too early. Back to square one and tuning into you all for advice by proxy. Interesting how much we do pick up by reading your strings and are grateful that you spend the time and effort to do so. Back to finding solace in a glass of wine...

well...azmino would tell you your first mistake was engaging an attorney. if you want to rent (or buy--although azmino doesn't really appear to do buy) you got to move. no contract, no dilly dally...move, money on azmino's table.

rosina: I am also a transplant HHi/Kiawah to NYC roots. What part of SC?

Patient, we are in Bluffton, that burb of HHI "south of the Broad" and mecca to the game of golf. And Kiawah is a favorite getaway for sure.
And Columbia C, how do you get a contract written without an attorney???? we are in awe of the process in NY where you agree to a price and then wait weeks for contracts to be signed with no money being exchanged in the interim to cement the deal. i know of nowhere else in the US where this is business as normal. Feeling very country bumpkinish at the moment but the wine helps...

sorry--was kidding. if you can stand it, read the rantings of azmino and you'll see what i'm talking about. good luck in ny and for god sakes you absolutely need a contract.

columbiac, i have read the rantings. (okay so i don't have a life) and sort of surprised he still has a job...

i can assure you that he is not representative of new york--you do need to be wary of brokers but since you've found this site, you should be in good shape. once again, best of luck to you.

Rosina, exactly the same thing happened to me one week ago...

thanks Columbia, and Mimi...hard to believe that this could happen so frequently in this economy. i guess for both of us it wasn't meant to be but i dread the search again. hopefully after labor day there will be more on the market as from reading on this site i think that is what you all expect???

This link is awesome, no matter what your age bracket!

This helps eliminate agents who are full of shit(ie Prudential and Corcoran)! I have been actively looking for places for the last two months and without this website I would have overpayed for the two places I put a bid on(Both times losing to cash offers from over seas). Rosina feel your pain, made a offer this past weekend to be accepted and found out I was the backup offer to the original bidder who was lingering in signing the offer and guess what? He signed today. Paitence is what I am learning the hard way! I am starting to see more listing and the rental market is amazing for renters, Therefore the people who purchased in the last two years and are holding on by barely will have to list again.

KeithB, correct me if I am wrong are you seeing more listings on the way?

upperwestrenter
about 14 months ago
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I find it amusing that amino acids didn't post here
he's too busy with his 400 apts a month

I think SE is vastly superior to Trulia, Craigslist and NY's MLS-type sites like OLR:

1. SE requires posters to list property address and unit #, thereby eliminating spam
2. it doesnt allow multiple or repetititve posting like CL
3. unlike Trulia, it organizesa search returns by price
4. its days-on-the-market function promotes transparency and helps in pricing out eh market
5. it is much easier to search than Trulia, Residential NYC or OLR

Only drawback: my ads here havent drawn the kind of overwhelming responses I expected/hoped for.