It took 3 years but we did it!

Bottoms, I obviously don't really expect you to do so. But you seem to really enjoy bashing Ali and generally trying to get a rise out of others. I'll never get the need to be so nasty.

"real estate brokering is a bit low-brow, no?"

A bit of an elitist statement, no? What else is "low-brow" in your book? Public school teacher? Firefighter? If your priority for career choice is the reaction you'll get from others at cocktail parties, rather than, you know, actually enjoying your job, you're really just kidding yourself.

Although I think outright personal attack is unwarranted, if your posts always include your business information, the rules differ. The overwhelming majority of us are searching for a place to live, looking for advice, increasing our knowledge base, or just having a good laugh. We are not looking for clients. If you are looking for business, that's exactly what you will get - the business.

ali makes pronouncements and supports them based on her vocation and education. the only problem is that many of her pronouncements are out and out wrong.

according to her, looking at more than ten apartments before purchasing indicates a flawed process. that is patently absurd. people do things differently, particularly when it comes to where they live and spending a significant sum of money.

some people go to a car dealership and buy off the lot after one test drive; others feel the need to drive multiple vehicles and ultimately order one from the factory.

describing one process as correct and the other as flawed would be equally absurd.

and the frequent references to wealthy clients and hotshots from Hollywood is not particularly useful or endearing.

For a Harvard graduate, who arrogantly reminds all regularly of her esteemed alum status, real estate brokering is a bit low-brow, no?

My daughter's best, favorite teacher (at a public school) went to Harvard. What an incredibly accomplished guy. And despite getting to know him well, for years I had no idea he (or his wife, a social worker) went to Harvard until he offered to write a rec for my daughter. My kinda power couple.

And real estate brokering is a fine profession. There is an irony, however, where someone needs to tell all regularly of her harvard background, describes her real estate sales as "curating", brags about high-brow clientele, yet has but one listing for a cobroke studio.

In general I have huge respect for all first-responders, support that they be powerfully unionized, and respect humble people of all walks.

Havent been to a cocktail party in ages, not for lack of invites.

Happy to continue if you'd like.

Thank you, columbiacounty, no racists comments today?
Your point of view on Ali is hilarious - didn't you once flip out at a broker merely because you were shown an apartment with a window in the shower?
You and WAss make a good couple, but if you have kids or grandkids, I wouldn't let him near them. Other than that, enjoy each other.

WAss, what a surprise, you have a daughter but no wife. How'd you manage that one, your Holiness?

"New York brokers I love you but you're bringing me down"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eohHwsplvY

I think that summed things up rather nicely ieb. And thanks again bottoms for protecting us from Ali.

What a load of sanctimonious drivel.

7 Steps To Successfully Curate real Estate

• 1 Dream up a theme for the show. Some real estate shows feature brokers who specialize in a particular style, while others have a common subject and invite brokers to submit listings depicting the theme subject.
• 2
Contact brokers. Once you've determined a theme, call brokers who might be interested in submitting work for the show. Browse through agency websites and catalogs to find listings, and ask friends and other curators for suggestions.
• 3
Locate a venue. Depending on the size of the exhibit, you can hold it in a local café, a school auditorium or in a downtown warehouse. Many agencies sponsor exhibits if one or more of their brokers have a listing in a show
• 4
Publicize the event. Make a press kit with a press release, snapshots of a few of the listings and a curator's statement about the theme of the show and some of the brokers then distribute it to local newspapers and magazines. Announce the event dates in blogs and websites.
• 5
Display the listings. Unless it's a big show in a warehouse or museum, the brokers and their friends will take care of this on their own. Supervise the installation to be sure the listing is attractively displayed.
• 6
Organize refreshments and entertainment for the opening reception. Get a store, restaurant or caterer to contribute drinks and snacks. Most restaurants will be glad to do this for a mention in your program or publicity materials.
• 7
Print postcards to send to friends, other brokers and patrons. Assemble a list of attendees of other real estate shows or subscribers to real estate magazines or alternative publications.

"My kinda power couple."

It sounds like you respect them mostly for getting an Ivy league education and then willingly taking low-paying jobs. There's absolutely nothing inherently wrong with their choice of course, but your reverence is a bit gag-inducing.

I'm not here to defend Ali (she can do fine on her own anyway); I'd much rather just poke fun at your impressive stream of personal attacks.

"according to her, looking at more than ten apartments before purchasing indicates a flawed process. that is patently absurd. people do things differently, particularly when it comes to where they live and spending a significant sum of money."

cc, totally agree with you there. I'd much rather see as many apartments as possible before making any real decision. But I don't see how that justifies bottoms' over-the-top reaction.

I'm no fan of brokers in general, but here you have one who doesn't just drag her clients to every single totally-wrong place she thinks she can railroad them into buying. Call it what you will -- vetting, curating, weeding out, etc. -- but one of the truly key services a buyer's broker can provide is to do the pre-selection based on a careful listening to of a client's needs, and fine tuning as necessary. Why not praise Ali for doing so?

Is it really so pretentious to compare the vetting process to that of a museum/gallery curator, who weeds through the shitty Picassos and the crappy "Jane M., Age 7" canvasses to select the few that go on the wall, one of which you might care to buy without having seen all 9 trillion pieces of art throughout the City?

Yeah, well get used to it, because we live in a highly pretentious town. [Myself excluded. But the rest of you, yes.]

It's a far different situation from many stories we've read about or experienced where brokers waste our time showing total-miss places that they haven't researched, let alone previewed.

Alan – Fair enough. So, shall we agree that a real estate curator is worth 6%, whereas a mere broker something less?

Now I see the connection - a broker acts to protect a lunatic / incompetent as it relates to their property or soon to be acquired property . My apologies to Ali G. for making a rash judgment.

Definition of CURATE
noun
1: a clergyman in charge of a parish
2: a clergyman serving as assistant (as to a rector) in a parish
verb
1. to act in the capacity as a curator

Definition of CURATOR
1: one who has the care and superintendence of something; especially : one in charge of a museum, zoo, or other place of exhibit
noun
1. the person in charge of a museum, art collection, etc.
2. a guardian of a minor, lunatic, or other incompetent, especially with regard to his or her property.

sjtmd
about 3 hours ago
ignore this person
report abuse Although I think outright personal attack is unwarranted, if your posts always include your business information, the rules differ. The overwhelming majority of us are searching for a place to live, looking for advice, increasing our knowledge base, or just having a good laugh. We are not looking for clients. If you are looking for business, that's exactly what you will get - the business.

brokers have indentify themselves when posting anywhere, it's like a law for them or something. nothing wrong with what front porch said. someone who is looking for 3 years and sees 100 homes, is not "looking", they are feeling things out, they are doing their homework, they are making and changing plans, whatever. no one "looks" for 3 years. people wait for years for a particular property or line or building, but that's not "looking", it's waiting.

we've been looking for 6 years, but i think only really "looked" for a few months before receding back into the peanut gallery.

thanks guys -- especially lucille for pointing out that it is indeed part of the real estate licensing standards that brokers must always identify themselves by name and firm when "publishing" -- which, last time I checked in with my real estate board, included Internet postings.

I know not everyone is going to agree with where I'm coming from, but at least you know where I'm coming from. The only reason there aren't more brokers identified by name here is that they've been discouraged by the crowd, or some parts of it.

and really, sjtMD -- I always assumed the MD was because you're a doctor -- you don't understand a person being proud of their educational accomplishments?

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

What's a columbia educated gallerist worth? 8%
How about if they know spinner, or bj?
What if they're "very close" to alphonse fletcher like alison is?

Thread got hijacked time to shut down

Is it better to rent, or to own?

alan, how many apartments should you see when buying? columbiacounty thinks it should always be more than 10.

Is a broker necessary or helpful when transacting residential real estate?

For some people it is fun to watch how others live so seeing 100 apartments might just be like those people who take the subway to every stop in New York City.

Where do you find a good curator when you need one?

I forgot about this thread. We bot the apt last May and demolition started only this week, so it only took 8-9 mos to:
Hire architect
GC
Board review
DOB permits

You learn a lot in the process - heavy drinking always helps, as we thought we could get this far in 3 mos.

My most accounts the market is lower than it was a year ago but as I continue to search listing I don't see any comps in the neighborhood so I don't feel that we lost any market value in the interim.

Your demo just started, ieb?
Good luck with it.
Cheers!

the lastest hold up was that although the building is in a landmark district the building itself is not lanmarked. This affects the lighting as landmark buildings are exempt to the New York Energy Conservation Construction Code that allows 0.7W per ft2. If your reno requires a DOB work permit then you have to adhere to the code. The architect didn't know the difference and so the whole lighting plan had to be resubmitted. Basically, in order to meet the requirement you have to use mostly LED anf fluorcecent lamps. That took another month.

The coop only allows work on weekdays 9-5, so maybe another 6 mos?

ieb - just curious, why did the initial process take so long?
Just recently saw an 1,800 sf apartment gut renovated (and I mean gut - floors, ceilings, total reconfiguration) - about 9 months from closing to occupancy. all DOB permits posted. Though I must say I thought they were moving really fast.(I would guess there was probably a 2 month period between contract and closing so the architect search might have gone on in that period).

only bc you asked for our opinion...but my rule of thumb...when interest rates are at their lowest, value is at its peak. Comps from 2007 arent worth the paper they are written on. So using those prices as a measure of getting a "good deal" is an amateurs ways of calculating value. That being said, congratulations on the closing, I'm sure it was a stressful process, and if its a home you love and are going to stay in, then you made an amazing purchase. Wish more buyers had 3 years to look, then they wouldn't need a broker.

Wow, that's a lot of waiting for a good thing.

ieb - most buildings allow work only on weekdays between 9-5.

Truth - where are you living these days?

ph41: Found a lovely rental in Brooklyn.
Looking to buy in Bay Ridge. More inventory has come on the market and prices on apts. I looked at a couple months ago are dropping.

Under 300k for a good size co-op. They allow renting after 2 years.

Looked in Park Slope. I get the charm of it, but love the fresh sea air/ breezes at the parks right near the water rather than Prospect Park. The topography is such that the Verrazano Bridge is visible from not only Shore Road buldings but also along 3rd and 4th aves.

First it took a couple of months to select architect/GC team, then it was the summer so things went slowly. After that we had to schedule a board review and the president of the board is VERY OLDE and so we waited for the board annual meeting, then waiting for material supplier bids and selections and by then it was near Christmas when we found out about the lighting so it was mid Jan before we had a permit. Blah Blah Blah.

IT pretty much a gut job, new floors, windows, some new walls, ceiling, lighting, and just about everything else. I'm sure that there will be be bumps along the way. If anyone's interest I post periodically during it all.

Doesn't the board meet every month?
Is the president so old as to be unable to attend meetings?

Truth - but won't your friends from Barcelona be disappointed when they wind up in your Brooklyn apartment rather than your Manhattan apartment - just sayin'''

I remember this thread, columbiacounty said one thing because he wanted to spite Ali, and then alanhart disagreed with columbiacounty. Fun!

"Doesn't the board meet every month?
Is the president so old as to be unable to attend meetings?"

I knew that you'd hit on this, Alzheimer’s, and we waited only a couuple of extra weeks. Board is in process of replacing the presidient.

ieb: I figured. Those old presidents hang on.

ph41: No, that was the plan all along.

It's my friend from Italy actually. I'm swapping with her place in Tuscany. She loves Manhattan but doesn't want to live there. She loves Brooklyn and I'm good with either and happy because I get more for the money there... was considering moving out of Manhattan anyway. I need the peace and quiet and fresh air. The co-op board doesn't mind that she will be living there more than I will.

The Barcelona swap is for her place in Italy, while we spend the summer in Barcelona. She likes Brooklyn better than Manhattan and visits N.Y.C. only once every two years or so.