Urban Compass cuts rental broker fees in half

I just wanted to point out that Urban Compass is charging a fee (commission), which, at this point they *say* its going to be less than normal broker's fees. But actually no-fee apartments Urban Compass is planning on charging 7.5%.

http://betabeat.com/2013/05/urban-compass-hopes-to-make-finding-an-apartment-in-new-york-a-less-terrible-experience/

Urban Compass charges users a fee that is lower than the average broker’s fee or one month of rent

They won't have access to the key limited listing accounts

The won't be able to show co-broke listings.

Save some money, but see less quality inventory.

Seems like a good idea. I hope it works. One obvious question is how they will collaborate with traditional brokers who control the listings.

Although jim_hones10 is right about the key challenge, it's just hard to imagine such smart people getting into the business without at least having an idea of how they were going to solve the co-brokerage problem.

On the other hand, Napoleon invaded Russia, so there you go...

So it's the highly innovative business strategy of price cutting.

West81st
45 minutes ago
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Although jim_hones10 is right about the key challenge, it's just hard to imagine such smart people getting into the business without at least having an idea of how they were going to solve the co-brokerage problem.

On the other hand, Napoleon invaded Russia, so there you go...

it isn't the "keys". it's doing business with property owners that aren't inclined to do business with new entities. certain large heavy weight firms don't have access to literally hundreds of buildings with great apartments in this town.

Hahahaaa. Starting a war is like taking on the re Borker 'business.'

What if Etrade and Schwab never tried to decrease the cost of buying and selling shares bc they were afraid of Lehman, Merrill, Goldman and Morgan.

What if expedia never started?

What if zappos never challenged a personal shoe grabber?

Hilarious. It's a dying asset class with hangers on trying to milk a percent here or there. Go get a job. Start a business. You know actually be a productive member of society.

w67thstreet
25 minutes ago
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Hahahaaa. Starting a war is like taking on the re Borker 'business.'

What if Etrade and Schwab never tried to decrease the cost of buying and selling shares bc they were afraid of Lehman, Merrill, Goldman and Morgan.

What if expedia never started?

What if zappos never challenged a personal shoe grabber?

Hilarious. It's a dying asset class with hangers on trying to milk a percent here or there. Go get a job. Start a business. You know actually be a productive member of society.

just like you?

I think all these articles are missing the fact that Urban Compass wants to become all things real estate.

It wants to become the HUB where all landlords can accept rental payments from tenants.
It wants to be the source of all apartment contracts and renewals.
It wants to have all maintenance requests filed through.
It wants to (eventually) have all the exclusive apartment listings because of these contracted relationships (rental payments/lease contracts) with the landlords.
It wants to compile all rental information (size, price, lease start, lease end) and communicate to landlords when certain tenants rents are below market rates and suggest to increase due to it being "under market".

I just keep thinking about the data they want to collect and the control they want to gain. Its going to be bad for all things real estate (brokers, landlords, tenants) except for Urban Compass.

Elleinad85: I can see why it's bad for brokers. It could be good or bad for landlords and tenants. Transparency and economies of scale are generally good. Monopoly is generally bad.

Where will Urban Compass get money for kickbacks?

And how will a newbie in the business know, for example, if someone says he's looking for a 2 bedroom in a high-floor doorman building, how to show that person a dilapidated walk-up studio with no stove?

And most of all, it takes years and years of apprenticeship and a Syracuse degree to learn how to turn a key.

Elleinad85
about 22 hours ago
Posts: 45
Member since: Jul 2011
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I think all these articles are missing the fact that Urban Compass wants to become all things real estate.

It wants to become the HUB where all landlords can accept rental payments from tenants.
It wants to be the source of all apartment contracts and renewals.
It wants to have all maintenance requests filed through.
It wants to (eventually) have all the exclusive apartment listings because of these contracted relationships (rental payments/lease contracts) with the landlords.
It wants to compile all rental information (size, price, lease start, lease end) and communicate to landlords when certain tenants rents are below market rates and suggest to increase due to it being "under market".

I just keep thinking about the data they want to collect and the control they want to gain. Its going to be bad for all things real estate (brokers, landlords, tenants) except for Urban Compass.

wait, i thought streeteasy was going to eliminate the brokerage business? and urban sherpa.

>wait, i thought streeteasy was going to eliminate the brokerage business? and urban sherpa.

Does it have the Syracuse degree that Alan suggested?

Not really sure how they are going to advertise real exclusives from other brokers and be able to change a lower fee. If they bring a renter to an exclusive listing, most likely their client will be expected to pay the listing agents half of the commission i.e. 7.5%. How is Urban Compass able to engage and profit from this sort of transaction?

They'll get the exclusive

But show you the dilapitated walk up studio with no stove

I checked it out...its just web scraping sites. No different to streeteasy.

Big diff between scraping and having a feed.

I wrote an article how there is no way Urban Compass can really be worth $150 Million http://sohostrut.com/urban-compass-not-worth-150m/

It just doesn't add up.