Brokers who dont show up for there own open houses

Apt 3e and 17f..two different brokers..unreal

Great stuff

Isn't that like a heart surgeon, who can't perform heart surgery?

Not that I think this is at all acceptable, and I"m fairly shocked that two different brokers weren't present for the open houses, but here are a few reasons why that could have happened:

1. Emergencies. Sometimes life throws you a curve ball (can't say that I have ever had to completely bail on an open house though).

2. Weather. Clearly not applicable in this case.

3. You came too early or too late. If an open house is from 12 to 1:30 and you show up at 12 or 1:30, the broker may not be there yet due to traffic (sadly the weekend transportation is not nearly as reliable as the weekday transportation). And if you arrive right when the open house is over, you simply may have missed it.

4. If they had zero turn out for the entire open house, they may leave a few minutes early because the chances of people coming in the last two minutes are unlikely. This is hardly a good reason to leave, because if you said you would be there, you should be there.

Again, I would hope that there was a reason for their absence, but sometimes things do occur. However, since you took the time to go to the open house, I think it is perfectly reasonable to call the brokers and ask why they weren't there.

(Matthew Russell- Brown Harris Stevens)

Once, only once, I was 30 minutes late for an open house because I left the keys in my other bag, and when I discovered this on the bus, I had to race back to get them!

I was just *mortified*. When I got to the building's lobby, sweating like a pig, there was a little group of people patiently waiting. I apologized profusely to everyone, received cold stares from the poor buyer's brokers---it was awful. Needless to say, I have never been late for an open house since.

Funny thing: The buyer for that apartment was there that day. That was the last open house for that place.

When I was shopping for our pied-a-terre, I went to a couple of open houses where the brokers didn't show, so I know this happens. As a buyer's broker, I like to send the listing broker an email the day before to say I'll be there with my clients. That way they have my cell phone number too.

Karla Harby
Rutenberg Realty
kharby@crrnyc.com

it was a 1pm open house and i got there @1:20.......and the doorman had no idea about the open houses for those apartments.....i wonder if the sellers realize that there broker who is getting a pretty hefty commision on this property doesnt care.......i realize this is a really tough thing to do ....sit inside an apartment and wait for people to come in.....its very stressful, i am sure......

I haven't encountered this problem very often - I recall five times in hundreds of open houses. None of the agents involved were major players in the neighborhood, and all had the same reaction when I called them: "Oh, we cancelled it," as though I should have known. No apology, no expression of regret or acceptance of responsibility. In each case, I checked the company website, and the open house was still listed. Oddly, all but one of the no-shows were Elliman brokers; that's probably a coincidence.

MRussell: Your list of possible reasons is completely plausible, but not very responsive. They are all variations on "The dog ate my homework." If a genuine emergency forces cancellation of an open house, there are ways to minimize the inconvenience to buyers, or at least reduce their irritation. First, update the listing, with a headline noting the cancellation. (I realize that some firms make updates harder than others, but it's always possible.) In a doorman building, make sure the building staff is notified, and that they handle the situation courteously. If all else fails, have the seller post a notice.

West81st is right, brokers should notify the staff, update the listing and do everything they can to minimize inconvenience, but I guess that in the broker's mentality clients should call broker to ask, another waste of time and for what? Brokers are supposed to have a back up in case of emergency? Sometimes listings have 2,3,4 listing brokers, all of them had an emergency?

I understand that it is often the seller who decides to cancel the open house. That's certainly what I've heard over the years. Yes, people can be thoughtless.

loser brokers..

Last year, in Park Slope, had the misfortune of showing up to three different open houses in the span of three months where the agent was a no show. Door man would not let us enter - agent never showed, no notification, nothing. Sent e mails to all three - none were apologetic. Excuse - didn't feel well, couldn't get there. Stated - it is the risk you take when you go to open houses. Ultimately, it is as if the open house is the orphan child of real estate. Also shows how "professional" this profession really is.

I don't generally work the East Side .. but is it possible that 80 EEA doesn't allow formal open houses?

I had this situation with a Sutton Place listing recently -- the building didn't allow formal open houses, so we listed open houses "by appointment only."

If that's the case, and you didn't call the brokers to make an appointment, then maybe they thought they had no traffic and did other things.

Of course, the doorman should have explained to you that that might be the case.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

I am the broker for 17F in 80 East End Avenue and my open house was scheduled from 1-3 yesterday, Sunday 11/14. I was in the apartment from 12:45-3:15. I'm surprised to hear that anyone was told there was no open house or no broker there as 5 separate parties did come and see the apartment during that timeframe. It's possible that the doorman left for a brake and whoever was covering for him wasn't informed of the open house. It's highly unlikely that a broker will not show up for an open house, although sometimes a seller may cancel it for various reasons last minute. In the future if you encounter this, I recommend calling the broker if you have their contact information with you-- most brokers leave their cell phone number on their office voicemail and you can find out where they are-- most likely they are sitting in the apartment! ER1-9, I dont blame you for being annoyed but contacting the broker directly would be the thing to do- pleae let me know if you would like to schedule a time to see this apartment.
Drew Glick
Brown Harris Stevens
212-396-5883

Break or brake?

i showed up @1:15...there was another broker downstair for a smaller apartment....i asked the doorman to see 17f and 3e.......he said he does not know of any other openhouses besides 7b .......i asked if he was sure....he said yes......i left and went to see an apartment in 75 eastend........

for what its worth, I recently worked with Drew Glick on a sale earlier this year and I have sent buyers to his OHs in the past, as well as private weekday appts. He always was very fast with response time in setting up showings, on time for all showings, present at all OHs my clients went to, and quite knowledgeable about the product he was selling. Complete opposite of the 'bid now or lose it' type. He also was on his game when dealing with the weird situations as they arise in the contract signing process and the brokers have to handle and guide. I can see it being a doorman issue for this OH. Cant speak for the other broker though.

> It's highly unlikely that a broker will not show up for an open house,

Bah ha ha!!

My experience has proven this claim to be delusional.

er1to9- I am not questioning whether you were there or not however, the doorman who was there at the time you came was in error. Apologies on his behalf. Once again, please let me know if you would like to see the apartment.

I am just going to echo what UD says--as it happens I knew and worked with Drew a few years back. He is a stand up guy, honest smart and reliable, a good guy AND a good broker. Definately deserves the benefit of the doubt from you guys.

In the 100 or so open houses Ive been to, maybe two weren't there and both times a phone call to the agent before leaving the property had an extenuating circumstance for being late, not even canceling.

I have a lot to complain about brokers but not on this, most if can't make it will find an emergency OH sitter worst case scenario.

I think one needs to call the agent to confirm they are not at an open house before making a post like this.

Did Drew just apologize on behalf of the doorman? And before that blame the person coming to visit?

Wow, that blue Pro label is well deserved. Always blame someone else. Never apologize personally. Good job.

A good broker for a better property might have someone also in the building lobby directing people. Doorman problem or whatever, for a $1.3 million property and a $78K fee, the seller expects better from the broker than this.

truth, recently i tried to see a flatiron loft in the last ten minutes of the showing. i actually overheard the agent leaving the building as i was entering saying (to some companion, maybe boyfriend, beautiful day) it wasn't worth her f'ng time to hang around until the end. she was not the lead broker on the deal. i was tempted to send an e-mail to the lead broker but it's just not in me to do so.

78k commision.... and cant even have someone sitting downstairs waiting for potential clients....unreal.

why do u assume that 6% goes direct to the broker with 78,000 in pure net income? 8/10 deals are co-broke. Then the broker shares commission with brokerage firm. Then taxes like anyone else.

Chances are, the broker will get 3% or around 36K if its a 1.2m deal, then gives 30-40% to firm which is between 11k and 14,400 or so..leaving 22k to 25k leftover, of which 35-40% or so goes to city/state/fed taxes or so..leaving around 13,000-15,000 leftover in profit

If it is direct, most are not 6% full anymore, and are tiered down towards 4-5%.

i mean, are we talking reality here or fantasyland?

your kidding right?

no im not...having 2 agents run an OH is not so simple to pull off. Most agents are busy on Sundays with clients, and not every agent has a full team working with young agents who are willing to escort buyers up and down with the idea that they are starting at the bottom and learning the ropes of the business. I never had any agent help me on my OHs, does that make my service terrible?

If the doorman screwd up or the fill in screwd up, your next rant is to say the agent is getting 78,000 and should hire someone to sit downstairs and escort everyone up and down. gimme a break. First get the numbers right

Its easy to gang up on brokers, especially from buyers POV on a forum like this that starts with the title that this has. There are shady brokers, but Im telling you for what its worth, Drew Glick is not one of them. I believe he was there and that it was a error at the front desk of the bldg that didnt let you upstairs for whatever reason. Many top producing teams run OHs with nobody escorting buyers up and down. Usually that happens when the bldg requires it, not for added service. That agent can be out in the field running another OH or taking buyers out on appts - more efficient use of time. If the argument is now shifting to contingency planning in the event the doorman or fill-in porter screws up letting someone up, the whole industry fits in (top producers included) because its not standard protocol to have 2 agents run a simple OH at a full service bldg that does not require 2 agents, simply to add more service to the seller.

what about waiting for buyers in the lobby and not inside the apartment? after years of experience brokers should know that this kind of things can happen, it's not rocket science...

I think it was more a dig that you just complained about closing a deal and being left with $13-15k.

A broker does not need an advanced degree and can take some 2 week waste of time course and pass some very easy test and then complain about the breakdown of a fee.

I work hard to earn my salary and you are complaining of you had to take what $30-40 to pay someone to run people up and down to earn your money.

When brokers get attacked on here they seem surprised that your potential clients have a hard time understanding why you are getting so much in commission, then whine that you have to split with another broker and then the house.

Now add on taxes, HELLO we all pay taxes. I make a decent salary and guess what 40% disappears. Do you hear me complaining. Oh and do not forget that clients pay my firm, partners take their share and i get a salary. So see the money i earn for them gets split many different ways prior to me getting paid for my work.

Maybe the issue is that you need to be on salary to understand how the rest of the world lives and then understand how it goes. Maybe you deserve $30-40 an hour in a real world. not $25k for a deal that lets say even if it took you 2 months to sell and then a few months to close. you are working on other things and earning other commissions. Even if you spent 200 hours, which i bet you do not even come close you would be earning $125 an hour. Just to help you out 200 hours would be the equivalent of 25, 8 hour days. I think not if you try and tell me this is how long you spend on a deal.

I tell all brokers to go whine and complain elsewhere. I think you will find little sympathy for all the complaining about bad clients, tough closings and all the hours spent handholding. You earn a ridiculous fee for what a lot of times is subpar service. But can we get a break when your service sucks, nope. you get your fee nonetheless.

I am ready for the next broker to tell me my numbers are wrong as now i am working with the complaint of the sharde comission with another broker and the house.

hey im not complaining..someone stated that for the broker earning 78,000, they should have someone downstairs. A bit misleading. Man, you guys know me here. You know what kind of person and broker I am after 4 years of talking about the markets on these forums.

Its amazing how one doorman mistake, flourishes into another overpaid broker rant. At least the guy came on this forum to explain himself, that he was actually there, and an attempt to reschedule an appt. What else should he do? The other broker didnt do that.

Like I said, on these forums, its easy to gang up on the brokers. Or borkers as some like to call us. So, enjoy it. Thats why this forum is here I guess. Not to discuss market trends intelligently or real other estate related inquiries that someone may be able to help.

UD, normally I am with you, but on this, no. The seller is paying $65-78k for the service of having his/her place sold. It doesn't matter what the breakdown is, or what taxes are. What about the selling brokerage house? For their 1-1.5% cut, can not they provide a low wage intern to make sure the potential buyers get to the open house?

hey....i'm the first one to jump up and down on broker's heads but this seems like a case of a food delivery that got screwed up. putting another broker in the lobby to supervise the doorman is not only financially unrealistic (think of how many open houses there are ...thanks to w67th, we have a running total) but pretty difficult to explain to the doorman.

And we're off on one of the favorite streeteasy topics, "why brokers are overpaid morons who should be hit in the head with a bag of hammers"

Three quick points:

1) I would love to have a 70% split. where can I get one?

2) Drew Glick, as others above have pointed out, is a broker with a reputation above many others in his field.

3) It is really really tough to think of a scenario which reflects creditably on this doorman. He was told about two open houses, and forgot about them, either because he's disorganized, or was holding out for better tips? Not good.

He wasn't told about the open houses, and allowed at least two non-owners to enter the building without any real justification? Also not good.

Sorry for your pain, @er, but I think your Sunday experience gave you a valuable peek at the running of this particular building.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

guys, we have to think this through. On first gut reaction yes, we feel the seller deserves a level of service for the broker fee they agreed to pay at a price they are willing to sell at. But this is a case of a third party messing up, and we are errantly blaming the broker who was there and questioning the level of service provided for the fee they agreed to pay to the broker and the firm to MARKET and sell the property.

What if a package delivery office in a midtown or downtown building misplaces an important package and it never gets delivered to the Employee servicing a client on the 23rd floor? Is that the employees fault? Should the client argue that the employee or the firm is overpaid and should have a firm low wage employee down in the package acceptance room to monitor that everything gets upstairs like it should.

This is NOT the reason to start questioning if the fee is warranted or not. Now, if the broker did NOT show up to the OH at all, like the first guy did, that is a reason to start questioning it. But this thread started to go down Drew's path, who was there, as we deemed it a doorman/porter error and the commenters after that said it is STILL Drew's fault and the fee he may get once it closes (no fee was paid yet) deserves a 2nd body to prevent this error on the front desk end from happening again. That is what we are discussing here and what I commented to afterwards

Who cares how the $78K or $65K is split? The seller is paying that price. Ought to get better service.

As to the number of open houses in the market meaning it is unrealistic to provide better service, are you kidding? So the seller should be paying more so that the broker could staff the service properly?

how do car companies know how to issue a recall or not? I learned this from Fight Club, although Im sure its a raw example. Ok, so out of 1000 OHs held each Sunday, hypothetical on the number there, lets say 1 Porter Fill In each week screws up and forgets to tell 2-4 buyers to show up with the agent upstairs servicing other buyers that did make it (Drew confirmed he had 5 other parties there, so someone let them up)..is this really a case of warranting a full scale change across the industry of requiring 2 agents to service every F/S doorman OH there is? Cmon now. Begin overpaid broker rant now.

All this broker finger-pointing BS makes me sick. The broker has the listing. The broker organized the open house. The buck stops with the broker. If Drew Glick were the stand-up guy that several posters on this thread say he is, he would not be apologizing on behalf of the doorman but rather taking responsibility for the outcome and apologizing for failing to communicate the scheduled open house clearly enough to the doorman. Frankly, no matter how clear the instructions he thinks he left were, they were quite obviously not clear enough. Even if we just agree that the doorman is a dimwit, or lazy, or apathetic or even ill-intentioned (or, for that matter, all of the above), it's still the broker's open house that had the problem, not the doorman's.

Is is "fair" that the broker should have to worry about some boob messing up his open house? Maybe not. However, in the real world, is it prudent to consider the boob factor and do something pro-active to defend against it? I think so. What to do? Ask the doorman to notify his relief about the open house (not leaving it to chance that he would think to do so on his own). Leave a notice at the doorman's desk with open house specifics in case the doorman who was there in the morning isn't there when a potential buyer arrives. Or don't do anything and take your chances. Whatever. The buck still stops with the broker.

"What if a package delivery office in a midtown or downtown building misplaces an important package and it never gets delivered to the Employee servicing a client on the 23rd floor? Is that the employees fault? Should the client argue that the employee or the firm is overpaid and should have a firm low wage employee down in the package acceptance room to monitor that everything gets upstairs like it should."

Anyone sending an important package checks that it is received. Anyone expecting an important package checks at some point where it is if it hasn't yet arrived. No one assumes that the package delivery person or the receiving office is 100% reliable.

After a perponderance of the evidence, I blame the broker for not making sure the doorman was informed. Or, maybe the broker in 7B made sure the doorman was uninformed. Either way, next time, slip him a $20 and tip the super while you are at it. People seem to like tipping the super around here for nothing, may as well tip him in this case too.

When in doubt call the broker and make a private appointment.

P.s. I hate brokers.

One more thing - this discussion seems to be focused only on the physical presence of the broker. I have been to many open houses where the broker seems totally unprepared. Basic questions remain unanswered -Are pied a terres allowed? Is there storage, and if so, what is the fee? How many square feet is the apartment. Sublet policies, etc. It would seem to me that if a broker takes on a sale, then plans an open house, the least they can do is know what hey are trying to sell.

not all brokers are created equal. sjtmd you are talking about people who do their jobs vs. people who dont.

Apology A: "I'm sorry you were inconvenienced by my failure to communicate adequately with the building staff. The open house was my event, and I take full responsibility. I will try to learn from this mishap and prevent a recurrence. I hope we can schedule an appointment at your convenience to view the apartment privately."

Apology B: "I'm sorry the doorman screwed up. When do you want to see the apartment?"

A cynic might say that A and B are equivalent, but I think apology A gets you farther in the real world.

A cynic would see that A is not at all equivalent to B at all.

A better 'A' is "I'm sorry for the mixup on our side, we would have liked you to have been able to see the apartment when you came to visit on Sunday. How can I accommodate your schedule so that we can arrange for a private viewing? I think you'll love the apartment."

Feel free to replace mixup with error, failure, SNAFU or whatever. The specific details are unnecessary for the goal of allowing the person to resolve his rightful anger and get to the next step which is working toward a solution which is seeing the apartment. The specific details of the mixup are excuse making in disguise, and saying that you'll prevent it from happening again is irrelevant to the person.

huntersburg: Agreed, your version is much better. I laid on the self-flagellation extra thick to make a point.

Maybe I'm too easygoing. I've already wasted 5 minutes of my time (never to be gotten back) reading this thread. My reaction if I can't get into an OH - call broker office # immediately if I'm that interested. If not (as in pure looky-loo sport), I go to the next one.

"Maybe I'm too easygoing. I've already wasted 5 minutes of my time (never to be gotten back) reading this thread. My reaction if I can't get into an OH - call broker office # immediately if I'm that interested. If not (as in pure looky-loo sport), I go to the next one."

Ditto

it beats taking the time to read the thread about middle-aged women and real estate.

that thread has nothing to do with real estate, or middle aged women for that matter.

There's no such thing as middle-aged women, and if you parse it out I doubt you could make much of an argument for the existence of so-called "real estate".

Miss Marple says the doorman who Drew Glick spoke to wasn't the same one who was on duty (break time?) when OP visited.

LOL ar & alan!!

Client & agent should hug it out, drman should be kneed in groin.

I did a brief stint as an agent. It's not an easy way to make a living, with many slips bet cup & lip.

e1- you come off as rather cynical.. and, surprised no one commented on the fact the title of this post should read "THEIR"...

How come the broker who apologized and actually was there is pilloried, while the one who was MIA is given a pass?
I think the broker-hating crowd, in its hurry to grab pitchforks, is following the wrong broker.
Also, it is possible the doorman dinged the OP because he didn't like the cut of his jib. That would explain why he let others pass, and not er1to9. Can we redirect this unfocused hatin' and booin' to doormen? Some are quite rude.

like I said, if the broker would have greased the doorman in a way commensurate with the other brokers having open houses that day, none of this would have happened.

when the prob losing a commission for not being there is minuscule (cause of the slow mkt or aspirational prices on the seller's part)... going to the park with friends on a nice day is just too tempting.

I don't get how New York brokers define an "open house". I'm sorry, but a tiny 90-minute window is not an "open house"; an OPEN HOUSE is when the HOUSE is OPEN ALL DAY LONG. Everywhere else in America, Open Houses usually run from noon-4 or 5.

If a broker can't be bothered with sitting on his ass on a kitchen stool for even 90 minutes, he needs to be fired. Period. Lateness is simply not tolerated.

Again, for a $78K fee, the owner deserves better. Doesn't matter one bit how the $78K is split.

Gah, you people are like zombies, no sense, but a taste for blood.