does anyone have a broker recommendation?

We looked at apartments in Brk Heights and Dumbo a few months back and almost bought a place listed by a guy named Michael Connolly from Halstead. We ended up buying a place in Manhattan, but were going to use him if we continued to look in Brooklyn, as he seemed like a nice and straight forward guy. I know he had a couple DUMBO listings and some Heights listings and seemed to have been succesful selling them. The above rec comes from a few meetings (to see one of his listings) and some emails with him (he provided us with some good intel on the neighborhood, etc.), so take it for what it is worth.

I just bought an apartment at the J Condo. The broker was a VP at Corcoran named Andy Rosen. He was very honest, reliable and extremely knowledgeable. I would recommend him to anyone. He was recommended to me by a friend and he was very trustworthy. His email is arosen@corcoran.com. Good Luck!

I would call Suzanne Steward at Corcoran. She was the most pleasant to deal with. As a buyer, I found her to be easy to reach, responsive, and honest. The best part is that I was not even her client. She made me want to buy the apartment from her instead of an apartment in the same building from another broker. Good luck.

brokers have invaded the site! do the research yourself. do not rely only on a broker.

A broker is providing a service and a very expensive one at that. While you might not be the one paying the fee directly, the money is essentially coming out of your pocket and you have to determine whether it's worth it to you. All brokers I've dealt with as a buyer are nice and SEEM honest; they want your busienss. The fact is that even the highest-end brokers in NYC do scummy things...probably more often than you'd like to think. With the availability of information on the internet (specifically sites like this) they are freaking out. As a buyer, I know what I want/like. Unless a broker can give me access to something I can't find on my own (I have not encountered this situation) I frankly don't see the use unless your time is very valuable or you don't live in NYC and you can very clearly convey what you want without looking at tons of places.

DO NOT USE KAREN HEYMAN.

I am not a broker and have no affiliation with any brokers. We used Karen to try to sell our apartment. Our place was on the market for 267 days. Karen lied and said that she had buyers that were never really there to try to keep us from going to another broker. After we said we didn't want to work with her anymore, the said she would sue us! She is completely unprofessional and overprices her apartments. If you're a seller or a buyer, don't deal with Karen because she just can't be trusted.

Has anyone worked with Michael Coleman from Corcoran?

Try A. Fine Company, Inc. in Union Square, a small shop, very professional and you'll get the personal attention that you are looking for. I think the website is afinecompany.com. If you can get the owner, Andrew Fine, even better.

i agree - i havent encountered a situation where a broker has shown me a property i havent already identified myself. zero edge has been provided in using one.

Has anyone worked with Jason Kay at Corcoran?

I have just moved to NYC from Boston. My understanding of the market, similar to Boston is that as a buyer you do not pay the realtor. If you choose to not have a realtor helping you, then you rely on the sellers realtor to handle the deal. The seller still pays the same comission, the selling realtor gets to keep the whole comission and does not have to co-broke with the realtor working for the buyer. I am looking to buy this year and I feel it is very important to have a realtor working for my best interest.

If you want to find a broker working in your best interest, you have to find a buyer broker-a common thing in most parts of the country. The broker works only for you but is still paid by the seller. I think there are a few in NYC-buyer brokers have to tell you the sale prices, negatives and positives of each listing-something a sellers broker doesn't have to do-worth trying to find one-

As for whether you need a broker to sell depends on your comfortable level with negotiating and selling. I NEEDED a broker. I used Deanna Kory's team at Corcoran. Boy can she sell. She prices for a fair and timely sale, no stories, no bait and switch stories. She moves quickly, and has long term experience. For the buy, however, I used Elizabeth Perlman at Elliman. (Love this woman) She goes the extra mile to make you happy. I used a different broker for the buy, because the corcoran team just wasn't as good at finfing me what I wanted. They tried to "sell" me into properties that weren't for me. The two functions do take different skills. I didn't want to be sold on a new home, I wanted help finding it. That takes good listening skills, research skills, patience, and bold determination. Also, having separate brokers for each function removes any inherit conflicts of interest and puts you first on both sides of the deal. If you think you can sell your place without a broker - good luck. It's rough out there. Also, be careful letting someone else's selling agent take care of the whole deal if you are buying without a broker. Remember, they will work hard to get the deal done, but their first and only paying client is the seller - not you.

any recos on buy brokers?

definitely do NOT work with ronald ferdinand. i think he's a total crook. everything that he told me about a place that i was going to buy was a total lie and i'm so frustrated because i've spent the last six months working on a deal. what a waste of my time!

anymore buyer broker recos?

I recommend F. Izzie Beaux.