21 Houses sold in Park Slope in last 6 months. None were ever listed on StreetEasy.

I recently had a lapse in judgment and considered buying in Brooklyn. There, I spoke to a realtor, who didn't even know what Streeteasy was. Of course, she wasn't at one of 'em major firms, such as Corcoran or Elliman; she was at a small agency with K-Mart furniture and brown carpeting from the 1970s...

Apparently, OLR is the only online system their office has access to--and they barely use it. As you say, kgg, it's a whole different world down there, it seems.

Still surprising. The Slope is filled with ex-Manhattanites. Not exactly Far Rockaway or Canarsie.

Just because it isn't on Streeteasy doesn't mean that a property is not advertised. There is no compunction for an agency to have listings appear on Streeteasy.

Just a heads-up, particularly for anyone looking for a townhouse in Park Slope.

I would think that a home owner would want their home marketed as widely as possible...

I know of a single family brownstone in Park Slope right off the park which will be on the market (unrenovated and for the first time in a while) in the next few months. From what I gather, it will be given to a local broker. I think this is common there, and don't know why.

Are you going to buy it Lucid?

Brooklyn is different, it's true. Many of the small firms are not members of REBNY, and don't automatically upload their listings to Streeteasy. And some properties change hands without any advertising at all - owners selling to family members, investors changing holding companies, sponsors selling to former renters. That's true in Manhattan as well.

People list with small local brokers - who may have little or no web presence - because those brokers know how to price and sell properties within their own neighborhood. They've been doing it for decades, through boom and bust. They don't have ridiculous overhead expenses to worry about. They know everybody. They put the listing up in their storefront windows and potential buyers walk by and see it, go to the open house, decide whether or not to buy. It's not as crazy as you might think.

We also have a guy who drives around in a red panel truck ringing his bell. He sharpens knives and scissors while you wait. I don't think he advertises on the internet, either.

kgg, I wish I could afford it, but my guess is that, even in this market, it's worth $5-6 million at least, and I'm not. I'm just watching it to see when it actually goes on the market, and what happens then. I'm a pretty dyed-in-the-wool Manhattanite, though the Slope is sometimes tempting. I sometimes have business out there, so it's a neighborhood I keep an eye on, and I also watch Wash Hts, nearby Queens and Riverdale.

Tina, I was interested in a prewar walkup condo in Park Slope earlier this year that was listed by a local broker, and it was complete amateur hour. They couldn't answer the simplest questions (like "how many units in the building?" and "what are the taxes?"), and they tried to convince me that the prices in the Richard Meier building were appropriate comps! I thought the place was overpriced, they wouldn't negotiate, and I passed; they never sold it and finally took it off the market last week. I'd like to start looking again in a year or two when things settle down, and I'm dreading it, because dealing with so many little brokers who don't advertise widely, refuse to co-broke, and have so little info on their Web sites seems like a miserable experience. If anyone has any tips, I'd love to hear them.