The name sounded familiar -- Allen (Aviram) Garma

Talk: Sales: Discussing 'Take a look at this Act.' email updates Take a look at this Act. 32 comments dco about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse What's up with this. This realtor should be ashamed. 15 Broad Street, #1012 in Wall Street Condo Wall Street 1,863 ft² $997 per ft² 5 rooms 2 beds, 2 baths Common Charges: $1,165 Taxes: $1 DOWN-TOWN BY PHILIPPE STaRcK. Luxuriously Distributed... [more]

Talk: Sales: Discussing 'Take a look at this Act.' email updates Take a look at this Act. 32 comments dco about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse What's up with this. This realtor should be ashamed. 15 Broad Street, #1012 in Wall Street Condo Wall Street 1,863 ft² $997 per ft² 5 rooms 2 beds, 2 baths Common Charges: $1,165 Taxes: $1 DOWN-TOWN BY PHILIPPE STaRcK. Luxuriously Distributed & Sun drenched -HUGE 1,863 SF Flex Two Bedroom loft. Enter into the lap of luxury... The 14 foot cathedral beamed ceilings which frame the open chefs kitchen with high-end stainless steel appliances features white lacquered flat panel designer cabinetry, Bosch cook-top/convection oven, JennAir stainless steel Refrigerator, Philippe Starck Ha... (more) Amenities: Doorman, Swimming Pool, Washer/Dryer, Laundry in Building, Storage Available, and Common Outdoor Space Listed at Douglas Elliman by Aviram (Allen) Garma send a message to this agent Price reduced $990 about 6 hours ago 119 days on market in StreetEasy SAVE this listing PRINT this listing EMAIL this listing to a friend PROBLEM? send us a correction This sale has been saved by 4 users. Insider: View Comparable Properties In This Building Downtown by Philippe Starck more » 15 Broad Street New York, NY 10005 Sales listings: 35 active, 2 in contract and 228 previous Rentals listings: 13 active and 166 previous Local Schools Schools zoned for this address: PS 234 Independence School (K-5) Jhs 104 Simon Baruch (6-9) Price History 01/08/2008 Listed in StreetEasy with Douglas Elliman at $1,995,000 01/12/2008 Price decreased to $1,950,000 01/15/2008 Price increased to $1,990,000 01/25/2008 Price decreased to $1,950,000 02/01/2008 Price increased to $1,999,000 02/14/2008 Price decreased to $1,995,000 02/19/2008 Price decreased to $1,899,000 02/27/2008 Price decreased to $1,849,000 03/04/2008 Price decreased to $1,799,999 03/07/2008 Price decreased to $1,799,990 03/18/2008 Price increased to $1,799,995 03/31/2008 Price decreased to $1,775,000 04/19/2008 Price increased to $1,995,000 04/29/2008 Price decreased to $1,859,990 05/07/2008 Price decreased to $1,859,000 West81st about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse Some agents just can't help themselves. Check his other active listing: http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/162747-condo-10-west-street-battery-park-city-manhattan West81st about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse Elliman creates a perverse incentive for this kind of behavior by showing updated listings as "new". West81st about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse dco: Forget "shame". It clearly isn't in the guy's vocabulary. Why don't you e-mail his superiors? The head of the Manhattan brokerage (James), the CTO (Olson) and the heade of Public Relations (Rush) would be a good start. Might as well cc: Herman too. http://www.prudentialelliman.com/MainSite/Company/PDEManagers.aspx dco about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse I will never buy from this company. I find this behavior to be unethical and unprofessional to say the least. buster2056 about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse DCO, what is unethical about changing prices? There is nothing dishonest about it. It's absolutely annoying, but not even slightly unethical. Seriously - write to the armchair ethicist in the NYTimes Sunday Magazine!! And eliminating an apartment from your consideration set strictly because you don't like the listing agent is just silly, but your perogative. joepa about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse buster - If the purpose of making these miniscule price changes every week is to have the listing show up as "new," you don't think that's unethical? You are deceiving a prospective buyer into thinking the listing has just been on the market, when it hasn't. Smells unethical to me. ccdevi about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse agree, while this behavior is ridiculous, its certainly not unethical. West81st about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse buster: "Unethical" might be bit strong. Clearly, the guy is gaming the system to get Internet exposure on false pretenses. For us, it's just annoying, and a little funny. The main victims are his firm and his colleagues; these bogus changes dilute the impact of Elliman's "new listings" page by cluttering it with apartments that not only aren't new, but haven't really changed in any material way. I prefer BHS's approach. Their "New and Updated" listings page separates the two categories. Although the "Updated" section is mostly BS, at least you can see the new listings clearly. Of course, some agents even game THAT setup by de-listing apartments and then re-listing them, but that's less common than bogus changes to prices and other key details. dco about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse buster2056- It displays to me that this broker is blatantly trying to manipulate the listing. Are you seriously telling me that these are honest price changes. OK let's assume your correct and I'm wrong. (I have been wrong plenty of times) Then I wouldn't do business with this realtor because he/she has no clue what the price should be or what the market value is. Either way I don't trust the broker in this case. lajeep405 about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse I feel bad for the seller. They are just a clueless stakan about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse Why is it so crucial how long an apartment has been on the market? The place itself has not changed. It's not underwear or shoes. buster2056 about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse The listing agent can change the price for whatever purpose - even if it is to generate notice. I'm not sure how this is manipulating the listing - it doesn't change anything about the apartment, and it's just an asking price - changing the price is more about attracting eyeballs than deceiving them. I agree with your point that a constantly fluctuating price reveals either desperation or ignorance, but if you like the apartment and feel its a good value, the listing agent should not really be a factor in your decision. A good attorney is all you really need. buster2056 about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse West81st, I guess I am interpreting unethical from the buyer's perspective. From elliman's perspective the broker's constant changes could be unethical if they only want truly new listings refreshed and the changes constitute abuse of the system. This of course could be easily remedied by adopting the BHS system. stakan about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse Again, can anybody tell me why it's important how long an apartment has been in the market? buster2056 about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse Stakan, it reflects at least two things that are important to a buyer 1) the seller's relative bargaining power during negotiations and 2) potential market appetite on the resale side. However, any buyer should perform enough due diligence to be comfortable buying a place, and this would include both of these concepts. I highly doubt that any buyer would overpay simply because they saw an apartment on the "new" section of elliman's site. This would really reflect poor diligence on their part. kylewest about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse I continue to be surprised by the practices many on here feel are acceptable. Maybe fewer people value transparency and unshaded honesty than I like to think. When I see a broker gaming the system like this, it doesn't cause me to avoid a property I'd otherwise pursue, but it does start me off thinking this is a broker whom I will have to keep my highest guard up against constantly. That's an unpleasant way of doing business and utterly unnecessary. The few brokers who a legitimate class acts would never engage in this type of street hustler tactic. It's tacky. LP1 about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse To me it shows a lack of professionalism by the broker and makes me think worse of the buyer. Now I haven't seen the place, so those are just first impressions. I would tend to think that these two fools would play games in the sale of the apt. Call me old fashioned, but the question is, do you want to sell and at what price. Be real and set a realistic price and the place will sell without hijinx. ccdevi about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse "but it does start me off thinking this is a broker whom I will have to keep my highest guard up against constantly" I see this kind of sentiment expressed from time to time and frankly I don't quite get it. What is everyone afraid of that the seller broker can do to you? be dishonest during negotiations? he/she represents an adverse party, shouldn't we just assume that will be the case? at the end of the day, you'll pay what you'll pay, nobody forces you to do anything. I'm not saying I wouldn't rather deal with someone I believed to be a standup person, and I agree that the behavior we're talking about here is pathethic and tacky, I just don't see what the big deal is. dco about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse ccdevi- The bug deal is a consumer or seller this shows me that the agent has no clue. It's not someone I would like to deal with. Just my opinion. Trust and honesty are important factors in life not just business. I just refuse to waste my time with someone who would lie to me just ti make a buck. ccdevi about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse fair enough dco but that leaves out a whole lot of people in the business world lupus1 about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse it is a concerning signal for the seller and the brokerage. i understand the broker wanting to gain a certain level of exposure by doing this. but there are better ways of doing this. it creates the impression that there is something one has to query about the broker, some buyers will stay away purely on trust, and second why would the broker goto such lengths (is there something wrong with the apt that requires such tactics). for the brokerage, sends a bad signal to buyers who taint the brokerages already and why not find other ways to better gain exposure rather than rattling the cage. as a buyer, there are some positives to this, you have an idea of price range and you know the broker is getting desperate. but it is somewhat of a childish act. i am probably going to write a letter to the management, just to annoy them and him. dco about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse ccdevi- That's fine with me. I feel that you can do business with honest people. This is a great counrty, if you don't trust someone there is another person just a phone call away. dco about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse I would like to thank you all for the input. I'm happy to see that some people are just as disgusted at these tactics as I'm. buster2056 about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse I don't view this as untrustworthy behavior. Annoying, inappropriate, ineffective (even detrimental to valuation), but not purposely deceptive. There are plenty of worse broker practices (blatantly lying about square footage, stretching photos, non disclosure of material issues) that could be construed as untrustworthy to unethical, and they are not confined to a particular brokerage. If you limit your apartment search to honest sellers brokers, good luck! Otherwise, just make sure you have a good attorney and a reputable buyer's broker if you feel you need one. LP1 about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse I learned from a mentor years ago something that has proven true: (stock)brokers and their clients tend to have the same personalityðic b/c like wants to deal with like. It's been proven true in many situations and as apts are on the market longer these days I'd be tempted to think in this case that the seller is either clued out or is shady. That said you're marrying the apartment, not the seller, so if you really like the place it might be worth the upfront pain. dco about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse I don't care how great the place is I'm not going to deal with someone who I can't trust. I don't care what the situation is. If I have a choice I'll just walk away. lupus1 about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse actually just noticed darren sukedik does it too. it must be acceptable then. must be in the elliman handbook. dco about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. It's a disgrace. Jerkstore about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse Worse, he's probably damaged Street Easy's Little Black Arrows tool. jmcbyr8 about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse if the brokers are not cooperative what do you think could happen? ccdevi about 5 months ago ignore this person report abuse dude you need to chill so if you found your dream home and it was underpriced, you'd pass b/c some broker updated the price a lot to make it look new? good luck with those principles [less]