Extra Sleezy Brokers

Man I wish there was an edit feature on this thing. "I know that every one has THEIR example" (not there) - sorry. I just hate when people make this mistake.

The brokers you list are, I believe, advertising "for sale by owner" apartments that they have trolled around to find. They are attempting to get a buyer to call them so they can make the introduction of the buyer to the seller so they can get a commission for doing essentially nothing. They don't list the addresses so that you can't contact the FSBO property owner yourself and thus cut them out. A dead give away is the lack of an address in the ad. Avoid such brokers.

That makes sense. Thanks.

They are also listing units in a new development. You call them and they take you to a sales office.

Not to defend brokers, as I am the last to come to "their" - not "there" aid, but occasionally this tactic occurs due to a co-op board having very strict rules about open houses. I have recently come across a couple of buildings that do not allow advertised open houses, so the broker is forced to list without address and then make individual appointments to show during an "open house". Bit of a hassle and also something to keep in mind when going to sell, if you should end up buying in such a building...

A crappy coop is unlikely to bar advertised open houses. Usually would be more top end I imagine which means likely a larger or well-established brokerage house is more likely to represent the seller. The add will clearly be legit based on quality of photos, floorplan posted, real agency with a website that doesn't look like The Pennysaver. So while a very, very few buildings may bar advertised open houses (I've personally not encountered this after seeing 75 apartments in the last 4 months), you are unlikely to find such a listing on Ardor or the agencies listed above.

any opinions on which brokers to avoid?

You aren't going to mistake a brokerage that feeds on FSBO listings for a legit agency. It is obvious from their websites and lack of addresses and floorplans. Some of those agencies are mentioned in posts above. This isn't a subtle thing. You'll know it when you come across it.

Avoid David Kest and Jim Brawders from Corcoran - they share much of the responsibility for the Tribeca Space disaster.

The FSBO guys provide a service, albeit much less of a service considering you can do online research like on Streeteasy to find your place. But if they find you something you dind't find on your own (either you couldn't or didn't want to spend the effort), what makes them sleezy?

Popomobile - for starters, their ads don't indicate that the listing is FSBO (which is deceptive - I'm sure many believe that they are the listing agent), their captions and descriptions are often either misleading or drafted in that sorta used car salesman sorta way, they purposefully exclude floorplans and photos so that you have to call them - at which time they will often try to pitch any number of other properties on you, their entire business is centered around preying upon the naivety and ignorance of the less sophisticated buyer. They do provide a service, I'll acknowledge that. They just appear to do so in a sleezy manner.

joepa, well-said.

I just heard about a counter offer that read "i just spoke to the seller and the counter offer is that since unit 1 sold for $$$ im guessing the seller would want more money for unit 4. so buyer what are you offering" any thoughts?