How do you choose a broker?

Whatever you do, don't hire your friend who "does this on the side." You'll either end up with one less friend, an unsold apt or both.

What I do is go to open houses of similar apartments in the neighborhood and analyze how listing agents sell. Then I’ll invite the ones I liked to pitch for my business

Pick me! Lol.

Well for one, you want someone you feel comfortable with and who explains the process to you and manages your expectations on every step in the listing and closing process. Preferably an agent who is familiar in your territory.

Secondly, and just as important, I would select someone with a clear pricing and listing strategy, with real and relevant information used to base conclusions off of. The propose of this is to educate you on your apartment, your building, your neighborhood, etc and what's going on in each as it pertains to your listing. Where do you stand in the pack? What happens if you don't get your price, what's the plan? How long should it take before first price cut, Etc

Go for the agent who satisfies these two, as it's hard for brokers to BS their way through both, especially item 2. If you bring in 3 agents to interview you should see some overlap in thoughts using the data available.

Note - be wary of selecting an agent just because they say they can get you the highest price without real relevant comps/data to back it up. These are the ones that say they have the perfect buyer waiting, just sign on the dotted line and I'll bring them.

Reaching out here is one good place to start.

Once you have a bunch of names, then you invite brokers over to pitch, and you can ask whatever questions you want. "What deals have you done like this?" "Why do you want to sell this apartment?" and "What are the ways this sale could go wrong?" might be possible starter questions.

I'm not raising my hand on this one (not because it's a small deal, but because my plate's full) but I get a lot of clients from these chat boards, and I would emphasize that you're having a conversation and seeing who you "click" with. There are many different roads to the same place, and you want someone who's going to get you to closing but also be someone you want to deal with.

Since you're in a small building, the ability of potential buyers to get a mortgage might be an obstacle, so I would also talk to the potential listing brokers/the managing agent about how to "pre-qualify" the building itself with a lending institution or two so you have a resource to offer potential buyers.

ali r.
{upstairs realty}

1. shop for one who asks for lowest commission
2. sign agreement that the broker must host open house at least 3 times a month, at least 3 hours per showing

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Best regards,
Andrei Zaharia