Real Direct

no i have never heard of them

I encountered RealDirect for the first time here:
http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/823277-coop-333-w-84th-street-upper-west-side-new-york

The sale was basically an assisted FSBO, but the owners seemed happy with the support they received from RealDirect.

If Real Direct is anything like Fresh Direct, I suspect Aboutready will use them so she can get a refund if something goes wrong.

West 81st summed it up well actually. It is an assisted For Sale by Owner. That's what you get. It's not for everyone though. Keep in mind most New Yorkers, despite their Ivy league educations and other accreditations, generally have an inability to sell something as simple as lemonade to a group of 6 year olds so the FSBO concept usually falls flat quickly.

For the 1,585th time people, list your apartment with a big brokerage. People don't realize the impact in this market of trying to save a couple grand on the fee and when you should be paying a full 3% to a buying broker who just might have that buyer who pays 10% more than any other buyer.

Hmmm. Save 1% or 2% or make a possible extra 8% or 9% on the sale?

Nah: While I don't necessarily disagree with your recommendation for MOST sellers, I think your one-size-fits-all advice assumes too much about RealDirect's business model and the results it can yield for a suitable seller.

The linked listing showed beautifully, and sold for 3.6% above ask. It appeared on all the inter-broker databases; I think the buy-side commission split was 2.5%. The open houses were mobbed. While it's possible that Corcoran or Elliman could have done even better, the decision to use RealDirect seems to have worked out well for these particular sellers. The listing certainly did not suffer from a lack of exposure.

I am the founder of RealDirect. We have worked with hundreds of sellers over the past 3 years and we are a licensed brokerage as well as a member of the Real Estate Board of NY. We work with sellers in both a full service "Agent Managed" capacity as well as our "Owner Managed" program. For owners who are inclined to sell themselves and have the time and ability to do so, the Owner Managed program is a great deal and has been very successful. We advise the sellers every step of the way, but they show their own properties (again with our guidance).

Of course not everyone is successful (although the vast majority are). Some Owner Managed sellers will try us simply to test the market at a very high price for a month, an if they don't get it, they de-list. Others have properties that are "under water" and need to net a certain price or they won't sell. Still others may think they have the time to show, but then they realize it's too time consuming. For those clients we offer them the option to switch to our Agent Managed program and get a refund on whatever they have paid against our commission.

If anyone has any specific questions about how we work, I would be happy to answer them in this thread or over email. And if anyone wants to speak to our sellers - active, closed or de-listed - I would be happy to put you in touch.

Doug[at]realdirect[dot]com

@douglasternnyc - One of the apts I'm interested in is listed on realdirect.com. Can you speak to how RealDirect brokers would be involved with closing a deal and working with the buyer? As a potential buyer, I'm a bit wary of how organized and truthful the seller would be about the property. Will the RealDirect broker be the point of contact to get the building financials, house rules etc? Will they also be the ones setting up the board meeting etc? Thanks in advance for your input!

Sorry for the slow response. I didn't see this posting. Buyer's should have some comfort that we vet all of our sellers and confirm all of the information in the listing just as we do for our Agent Managed listings. Our team is involved with every inquiry that comes in, and we often lead the negotiation. Furthermore, we are the point person on all documents and ensure that the financials, offering plan and deal sheet are distributed to the appropriate people. While there are potential pitfalls to all deals, we've become quite adept at spotting and fixing them due to the volume of deals we see. So in a nutshell, our Owner Managed program is not a FSBO - it's an alternative brokerage model that allows the seller to show the home, but they are assisted every step of the way by our licensed agents to ensure a smooth transaction .

I'm in contract now with my apartment, using Real Direct as our brokers. We had a great experience - multiple offers and in contract after about 2 weeks. The only downside for the seller is that it's time consuming to show the apartment to each inquiry, but for us, the savings from not paying a huge broker fee was very worth it! I would recommend it to someone who has the time, and is extremely knowledgeable about the marketplace.

Sorry, my previous post took about 4 months to post on the site.... As a follow up, I've since closed on the apartment and it was a smooth process from start to finish for us as the seller and for the buyer (the buyer did have his own agent which I do think is helpful in this case! Would not hesitate to use Real Direct again next time I sell!

epj...did you pay the 1% at close or the $395 per month? Did you pay 3% to the buyer's broker or 2%? Also did Realdirect bring any buyers to your listing? I think they charge only 2% on the buyer's side correct?

The best way to do it. Use real direct: pay them the 395 per month and advertising with wording if you see and buy my apt without using a broker then I will reduce agreed upon price by 1%. Save about $45,000 in commission on a 1 million apartment and probably generate more interest. That's what I'm doing if i sell.

"if you see and buy my apt without using a broker then I will reduce agreed upon price by 1%"

.......one little sentence could break up an industry racket.

....and save property owners a fortune

We paid $395 per month. In contract before the end of the first month but I extended an extra month just in case. We did pay $150 for one of their brokers to run an open house for us, which I found totally worth the money. I took all the photos of the apartment and wrote up the listing, and I did all showings outside of the open house. We offered 2.5% to buyer brokers. I had heard stories that the large firms wouldn't send any clients, but I had offers from several of the large firms. Didn't seem to hurt us.

nice...thx...good job and congrats

No one will not show at 2.5%, below that you would run into some resistance from the large firms/agents. Congratulations! We have found the services we offer (just buyers) have been extremely well received; alternative options for sellers, buyers to transact is a natural, healthy outgrowth for the entire industry.

Keith Burkhardt
The Burkhardt Group

Real Direct? Are these the people where Aboutready sends back a banana if it is brown?

We're selling our Brooklyn coop (in contract!) and used RealDirect. I was expecting the very bare minimum--basically, just access to the MLS. But in addition to having your listing everywhere, you get an agent who is dedicated to your neighborhood area. She was available pretty much 24/7 to answer questions and help with negotiations. I was perfectly happy to do my own photos, staging, showings, etc. But I was glad that Aimee at RealDirect had my back, because I was really nervous about negotiations.

We only paid the flat monthly fee. Even though we had a lot of interest (and some offers) from brokerless buyers, we ended up accepting one from a broker. That actually turned out great, because she's really leading the charge to get the deal done. AND, it seems she did the math and tacked her fee onto the offer price. Can't complain about that!

My takeaway: selling real estate in NYC is a rough ride. It's nice to have help, and RealDirect definitely gives it. Excellent deal. -- m

Long overdue posting on my FSBO and I am putting it here to give a plug to RealDirect.

So a while back I sold my condo and did FSBO. I chose to offer buy-side commission and posted on SE, NYT, Brownstoner. Did some open houses and had a good number of people through and got one offer from someone who did not have a broker - this was a bit of a lowball or more a longshot from someone who just didn't have the cash. Overall though was a bit slow and not a lot of serious interest in a hot market. Also had to deal with brokers who inevitably had an interested buyer, but wanted to come check out the place. This was one of many tactics by brokers who wanted the listing and never actually had interested clients. This was super annoying because you were 90% certain that the broker was full of crap, but you can't close doors.

Big turning point was three weeks in when I needed to renew my ads. By that time I had come across RealDirect and it was basically going to be the same price to use them as to renew my various ads. At this point I was also concerned that my listing was not being seen by brokers who used different listing services. So signed up with Real Direct. Immediately the type of interest I got changed as I was contacted by brokers who had actual clients. These brokers also could not tell I was an FSBO, as with Real Direct it presents them as the realtor, so brokers would come by and not realize I was FSBO and did not care. This helps as some agencies (i.e. Corcoran) will as a rule not deal with FSBOs, even if you offer buy-side. After being with RealDirect for a couple of weeks I had multiple offers and ended up with my asking price (which was higher than what agencies would have asked). My buyer was an overseas investor. So to any FSBOs, really, really recommend RealDirect which is basically cost neutral for you and the team there were also fantastic to deal with, incredibly responsive and nice to have someone to ask simple questions to, if needed.

The only other thing I would mention is that dealing with buyers without brokers was a pain, as they were always trying to get too much of a deal. With these people I would say immediately: "if you don't have a broker you can immediately take 3% off the price." But then they would come in with these lowball offers, for no good reason in some cases. Any case, just greedy or oblivious that they could have gotten a good deal.

Any case, an interesting experience that I would recommend if you have the time, really know your sub-market and have a pretty typical place. Otherwise follow the typical advice that would apply to any seller (declutter, make sure sparkling, get professional photos). And, as noted above, strongly recumbent RealDirect. Really there is no reason not to use for FSBO given the cost neutrality and the expanded exposure you will get.

Last, a big thanks to all the folks who contribute on here as it enabled me to learn a lot and make a killing on my place!

@Ottawanyc can you post a link to your listing so I can understand what a realdirect listing looks like

With these people I would say immediately: "if you don't have a broker you can immediately take 3% off the price.
-that's how you do it!

sellers are crazy not using realdirest or hauseit or any of the other FSBO Brokers. Save a fortune on your sale. 60,000 on a million dollar listing in YOUR pocket and you are not fighting with your broker to accept a low offer so they can get their commission faster.

Don't forget ilistproperties.com, which covers parts of Florida as well as all of New York City, which is handy ;)

http://streeteasy.com/building/ariel-west/12a

There is a listing - not mine. They just look like any other. More important though is that it would come up on all brokers' internal sites and they do not know, necessarily, they are dealing with a FSBO. There are different levels of service. http://www.realdirect.com

Any case, very positive experience for me. But there is a time commitment and you do need to do negotiations - people definitely tray nd take advantage of FSBOs, etc.

Ottowa:

Congrats. Nice seeing you again,

I used RealDirect to sell my condo in Brooklyn. For me, as a former real estate, I knew I wanted to have full control of the listing, showing and negotiation process for my home, and I certainly wanted to avoid paying 6% or anything close to it in broker fees. I also work in the industry and didn't want to have to choose a specific agent to list with. RealDirect served my needs. And for the price of a one month listing on one of the main lead gen sites where you need to be, I was able to get listed everywhere including the rebny mls, and because I was listed with RealDirect and no longer an unrepresented FSBO, it prevented listing agents from pitching me all the time. Recommended highly for people who want to own the selling process.

I used Real Direct to sell my apartment last year and I was very happy with the results. I received multiple offers and sold for over asking price. There are two options to choose from- the first is a traditional seller broker and the second is a more proactive option which is like an assisted FSBO. I chose the proactive option and I do not regret it one bit. A little backstory- when I bought my apt just 2 years ago it was my first homeowner experience and I was naive. In retrospect, although I did do my research and know the questions to ask, I felt like ultimately my broker did not have my best interest at heart and just wanted to close a deal and move on to the next one. It left me with a lot of buyer's remorse and an overall bad taste in my mouth. Just shy of my 2 year mark of buying this apt I needed to move for personal reasons. When shopping around I came across some aggressive brokers, I finally gave one a chance - she seemed nice- but she suggested listing at the same price that I bought my apt for, which meant after paying 6% commission plus closing costs, I would have lost a lot of money. This did not make sense to me since I had put in money to the apt with some minor kitchen renovation... surely I should list it for slightly more. I waited a few months and then decided to test the market but in a no pressure climate and I came across Real Direct which I am thankful for. The process was very easy I sent them pictures and description of the history of the apt and they did they research and came up with a range of prices they suggest to list. At first I was surprised and skeptical that the range was much higher than my prior quote, in fact, even at choosing the low end of the range (which is what I chose) I would still make a profit. They were right! Since I went the assisted FSBO route, I did my open houses and it was not weird at all. One hour on Sunday, for a few Sundays I can handle. Just be sure that you are a friendly and neutral person :) Anyway Aimee my broker from Real Direct was super helpful throughout the process and truly did help navigate and give advice and she dealt with the brokers but I was on every email- I like that. I do not like being in the dark and tend to micro manage a bit (I need to see the exact wording of the email) so it worked out perfect for me. I was able to sell at a healthy profit and know I did the right thing and someone had my back. I think of this process like choosing to sell your home on your own but your BFF happens to be a broker and is helping to navigate and advise you so that you make the best decision.

I can say as a broker my experiences with real direct have been seamless, which is a good thing. It is important that the process is not clunky when a broker/direct buyer calls to view your home.That is why just paying someone to list you in the RLS and then directing the calls over to you is not efficient. I have a model that one could call 'disruptive' and keeping things seamless and simple is critical to success.

Keith Burkhardt
The Burkhardt Group
www.theburkhardtgroup.com