Choosing a broker....

it will be a person from a firm or not who will listen to you and give you a realistic price point to sell within a few months. that person will ensure that you are not one of the dozen that he/she is dealing with. the broker should have a good/great record in the building or at least in few block radius.

IN_THE_KNOW: the ONLY thing that matters is the listing price. If your broker can set the correct market price, the world will beat a path to your door. Your broker should have enough experience to know how to do this without playing "pin the tail on the donkey".

I was just having this conversation this morning with someone who is between two brokers. I, myself, am in the real estate business and think that taking on the right broker is essential to a stress-free process. It is the individual that will sell your apartment, not the firm. Who did you match with best, who had the best marketing strategy, and what makes each one of them unique in the industry? Here's are things I mentioned to ask/consider:

Questions to ask agents before deciding who to work with:

1) Do you work full time?

2) How long have you been in the real estate business? How long have you been in NYC?

3) Can you tell me about some of your recent sales? What was the marketing strategy?

4) Are you familiar with the NYC co-op process, and how many co-op purchases have you worked with in your career? (If your apt is in a co-op)

5) Have you ever had any complaints from your clients? What obstacles have you found when working with people?

6) Can you give me the names and phone numbers of past clients for references? Call these people and find out what their experience was. How long did they work with the agent? What was their experience?

7) How often will I hear from you? How frequently does the agent normally communicate with his/her clients and how?

8) Do you work in my price range often?

9) Are you familiar with the neighborhood my apartment is in?

10) What lenders/mortgage brokers and attorneys do you work with? You will want to make sure the agent of choice comes equipped with a strong/good team. (When you call past clients, ask them if they worked with these team members as well and what their experience was.)

I'd go with "person" over "firm" -- but then, I work for a boutique.

I also agree with FSBO88 that price matters -- but not to the exclusion of everything else. Let's say the more cookie-cutter your apartment is, the more that the market will view it as a commodity, and the more that the transaction will be solely price-based. The more of an outlier your apartment is (whether that means unique architecture, or design, or a difficult co-op board, or whether it's a rare piece of inventory in its segment) the more an agent's sales skills are going to come into play.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

If all a broker needs to know how to do is price an apartment correctly, then guess what, it isn't that hard. Do it yourself, save some money.

To add to FSBO88, price is by far the most important factor, but exposure and access are also necessary. This is where a broker and brokerage are particularly useful. Price right, get onto the MLS, and as said above, the world will beat a path to your door. If you are able to self-manage your sale, we offer everything you'll need to sell you home yourself without sacrificing any of the agency-side services you'll need to get the job done. Find us here:
http://evansnye.com/for-sale-by-owner-new-york-city/

Ah... gcondo -- but that's the problem with the market... uninformed amateur sellers think they can do this. Or - they consult with uninformed "professionals" who tell them they are pretty/thin/sexy/worth 1400 psf, when in reality, they are only worth $725 psf. Maybe.

The successful fsbo must be a student of the market.
The successful seller with a broker must be certain the broker they hire is a student of the market.

How many broker listings are "stale" ?
How many fsbo listings are "stale" ?

How many of these properties will sell the moment the asking price is within 1% of the market? Anyone wanna speculate with me: ALL of them?

The tricky part about "the market" is that sometimes the market is not a happy place. A coop board could refuse a transaction at $650k for an apartment that sold for $940k just 5 years ago. Or worse, that 2006 $2.35M is now worth 1.65. Maybe. So is it worth 500+ days on the market, or should the listing broker talk some sense into the seller (or vice versa) if they want to make a few $ ?

Pricing is incredibly tricky. Otherwise, all properties would sell in just a few days.

If you don't believe in the market, just click on "ignore me".

I thank you all for your comments. I have neither the desire nor the time to sell the apartment by myself and I understand the need for a broker. My concern is if I hire a broker from a smaller, less known ("brand name") firm will that hurt the sale? I know everything is online these days but, all other things being equal between the 2 brokers, does the NAME on the letterhead mean anything to the buyer/other brokers when they are looking at the listing? And, since you are all extremely savvy, are there any firms that you think that I should stay away from?

Again, I think the firm is null and void in an apartment sale. For example, if you have a $6 million apartment, and you hire a 'brand name' agent to sell the place (who has no marketing skills and no connections to your target buyers), it doesn't make a difference. If you have a boutique firm agent who deals with that price point all the time, knows how to market in the right places, prices the apt right......you're likely to STILL sell your apt regardless of what is on the letterhead. These days, with the amount of online exposure - it is the savvy agent that sells the apartment. You have to figure out what makes the agent uniquely capable of selling your particular apartment. I'm happy to speak with you further about this, if you find it helpful.

Brad at Rutenberg
bmalow@crrnyc.com

I would choose the broker that is most familiar with the area and most realistic with price. As part of a relocation, I had to sell my condo in Hoboken and I interviewed three agents from three firms, two were big name firms and the third was a smaller firm that is not national, but is very strong in Hoboken and the surrounding areas. I told all three I wanted to price the condo aggressively for a quick sale. All three recommeded similar sales prices but the smaller firm recommeded the lowest price and said given my desire to sell quickly, this price will generate the most interest. This smaller firm was also the most responsive. I went with them and I had a full price offer in 5 days. So I don't think the size of the firm means anything, go with the agent/firm that is the most familiar with the area and like others said, if you price it right, it well sell. If you or the agent become greedy and list for too much, it will sit, no matter who the listing agent/firm is.

fsbo. All of the data to make pricing decisions is available to all of us.

gcondo - OF COURSE it is! But most don't want to see what is staring them in the face.

IN_THE_KNOW - brand name or not, there are 3 essential things that a broker must bring to your party to provide value:

1. extensive pricing experience. you must know the exact price of what is actually selling. CONTRACTED selling prices, including concessions. If you can't determine this, your broker must.

2. extensive negotiating and closing skills.

3. a marketing plan that is more than simply post listings on SE, nytimes and other online databases.

"knowing the building" is so over-rated. A qualified buyer is a qualified buyer with or without the listing broker's blessing with the board.

ask 3 brokers their listing price, go with the LOWEST, since they are probably closer to reality.

"ask 3 brokers their listing price, go with the LOWEST, since they are probably closer to reality."

Totally agree, this worked out very well for me. Good luck.

"ask 3 brokers their listing price, go with the LOWEST, since they are probably closer to reality."

Its funny, because when I worked with sellers back in the day and I told them what I thought their place was worth I would often get the "hmm, your either the most pessimistic agent or the most realistic agent". It was clear the strategy of the other visiting agents of sugar coating and offering inflated estimates on the sellers property value. But that didnt matter, I lost way more than listings than I got to other agents! Ive been a buyer broker exclusively since 2009.

urbandig and fsbo88 got it right..Most sellers start listing with the broker who promises the most and claims their company will get them the most. Several firms are guilty of training their agents to over promise and under deliver.... Problem is, some sellers think if a broker is pricing it too low ,that they are pricing it to sell quickly and get their commission quick. Reality is, if anything is priced "Too low" then the market will jump on it and it will create more demand and possibly a bidding war to drive the price UP!.

Angeloz is right. Pricing to the market creates urgency and always results in a higher sales price than pricing over the market. I would add that when you are offering a buyer's agent commission, posted on the MLS and across the internet, you literally have the entire real estate industry working for you. More often than not, it is the buyer's agent that does the selling, not the listing agent. The listing firm, the brand, and letterhead are not the important factors. Price, wide exposure, and how flexibly the listing agent provides access to selling agents and unaccompanied buyers are far more important factors.

William
whobbs@evansnye.com