Talking Manhattan with Jacky Teplitzky of Elliman

Fantastic, thanks Noah. Great point about the co-op and condo markets having divergent listing discounts.

:) thanks Ali! Wishing you a very happy and a healthy New year!

Thanks for the video, Noah. I very much appreciate the willingness of your guests to give their thoughts on the market but I must say that Jacky doesn't always make a lot of sense. List at market value less 5-10%? List below other listing comps? Maybe she does not understand the definition of market value but regardless, how is that in the best interests of her clients other than to make a sale more likely? Once again, it seems brokers put their own sales volume above the interests of their clients to whom they are required to have a fiduciary relationship.

And if I hear one more time that sellers need to adjust their expectations to the "realities" of the market, I think my head will explode! Not all sellers are alike. Some may indeed have their heads in the sand but others may simply have a different strategy or time line. I have said it before but a good broker, like a good financial adviser, will understand these subtleties.

And if you disagree with the seller's expectations of price, one option is to turn down the lasting. In fact, if you believe that you cannot adequately represent the fiduciary interest of the seller, you are required to.

In my experience, listing agents typically represent the best interests of sellers in an upmarket and buyers in a down market. But in the end, they really only represent the deal and will encourage a deal at almost any price. In the name of "market value" of course. And of course, there is never a bad time to buy!

Still, a very interesting and enlightening discussion. I was particularly intrigued by her analysis of foreigners e.g. Latin Americans selling condos to take advantage of the strengthened dollar.

"List at market value less 5-10%? List below other listing comps? Maybe she does not understand the definition of market value"
I took it a different way which that she is using "market value" as a term of art, meaning what current in contract listings and recently closed would indicate, but admitting (without actually saying she is admitting) that the market is in free fall and that sellers really need to get out in front of it and consider themselves lucky if they get within 5% to 10% of recent sales.
I found it interesting how surprised she was that the discount from list of 5% was from the original and not the last price. This would indicate to me she is finding more negotiability off current ask than the numbers would indicate.

BTW, Noah I couldn't get the video to play at all.

I think Jackie does define fair market value as in " based on supply (I take that as other available listings, actual sales and in contract listings". Essentially price below last sales which could be 1 year old.

She says "she has had more showings in the last two weeks".

Median Listing discount of 5ish percent from the original ask suggest rather healthy market. We know it is not that healthy but things are certainly moving and buyers are taking advantage of good choices and not having to go to bidding wars.

30years.. hmm, can you try to refresh the page and try again? That video is from useloom technology, still a bit early stage. The audio is a alternative worst case

This was recorded right before holidays, FYI

300,
Doesn't she say she dismisses current listings as "wish prices"?

But when she says market price, she is indeed factoring that in from what is available point of view some of which could be "wish prices". I do not expect her to be that precise in her definition of market price as no one really knows till the time property trades. Essentially saying to the sellers lower your expectation a bit (whichever way you came to it) and typically expectations are lagging the market which is down 3-5% on an average. But the main point is that she does try to say how she estimates market price.

It is very easy to pick on some one non lawyer giving frank opinion of the market. At least she put her opinion out there.

ximon,
To clarify when I said using a term of art, its like when they talk about "markup" in the rag business (i.e. if wholesale on an item is $50 and it gets marked up to $100 retail, that's called a 50% markup. It may sound crazy to anyone who knows math, but it's accepted industry wide in the rag business).

I think the main point was in discussing CMA analysis that focuses on actives, in contacts, and sold averages of relevant properties .

Active - is the wish price
In contact - the best Intel of the bunch of you can get it and that's what she tries to do
Solds - lagging in a shifting market, shows sellers going down between 5-10%, confirmed by median lising discount, coops closer to 5, condos in mid 7s

If you take listing discount trends and apply to wish price set of averages, it seems like a logical conversation.

Sorry for typo, meant in contract, not contact

Thank you for posting this video. I applaud her for offering her perspective. I think that reasonable minds may differ, but I don't think there is anything inherently wrong in her perspective.

If she is correct that the market is moving in a downward direction and that the main enemy to maximizing price is a stale listing then I think her view of how to try to price properties has a lot of merit. It is also worth noting that she talks about being in two bidding wars. If someone really does underprice the market then there is an opportunity to drive price back up through competitive tension.

I think median listing is not to be confused with how much the market is down as most listing prices are not necessarily prices at what the seller would actually sell at but rather what is their wish.

very very true 300. I think this is why Jonathan Miller tracks this metric from last asking price, to capture the price that is market feasible vs aspirational. Any data on this is interesting stuff.

Great thread here. Lets keep it going

Jacky's "5% under" pricing strategy is not my pricing strategy, but I do think it's defensible -- and she does note that she has generated a bidding war in one listing where she reps the seller.

I think it's difficult to generalize how to price properties in this market. For instance, I approached pricing a listing we had at the LINK, much differently than I'm valuing a new listing coming on, 1200 sqft 2 bedroom 1 bath with a dining area, dm on the upper west side that will come in below $1.4M. In my opinion this segment is still relatively hot.

Very attractive properties are getting attention when priced correctly. In some cases as Jacky pointed out multiple bids. Other properties, nicely renovated in less than desirable neighborhoods are sitting, even when priced at would appear a very attractive valuation. These are homes that would have sold quickly in 2014/2015/2016.

Right now it's certainly not just about price, it's about quality.

Keith Burkhardt
The Burkhardt Group

I think Jacky, an experienced real estate professional, should know what is meant by market value and should not use the term loosely . And using it the way she does may not give clients full confidence that she is trying to get them the best price.

Regardless, I have no qualms with her methods as long as people understand her motivations which is to achieve a sale under stressed market conditions, hopefully in the shortest period of time. It seems clear she is good at her job.

Completely agree with a batch of points being made:

1. Every property is unique and is valued accordingly, that's what is so tricky
2. Every building behaves like it's own little market
3. Every price and prop type sector, snhood behaves
4. Views and renovations/condition tend to be the biggest variances
5. Selling is still a illiquid process
6. Relevant Mark to market if always a battle of recency vs relevancy, especially more difficult in changing markets
7. Agree that us brokers should use the term estimate vs value
8. Quality is moving right now

Good summary, Noah. I would only add 9. every seller is different and is not necessarily motivated in the same way as other sellers.

Yup! Definitely

"I think this is why Jonathan Miller tracks this metric from last asking price,"

I think he does it this way because he is aware that buyers take the number and after looking at 100 apartments pick the one that is already appropriately priced and then insist that unit take that percentage off because "the newspaper said sellers are negotiating this percent off list" even though it's not what they said and certainly not what it means.

Urban, much better sound quality with this one!

Thanks! Getting there :)