Any FSBO open houses yesterday? Any reports?

do you know if you can post a listing on streeteasy if it's FSBO? what are the best ways to find those apartments?

i had one yesterday...got a lot of reading done and a quick nap. i hold a pretty long open house because i live there and i figure "why not?" i had one person come in on the early end and two people come in on the late end. in between i gorged on warm cookies, read and fell asleep. a far cry from last week's 15+ people. i opened my listing up to buy-side brokers this week; not one showed up. this leads me to believe that all those brokers who have contacted me wanting to see the place "with buyers" or claiming "i have someone who is interested in your building," etc. were all full of crap and just angling for the listing. i don't know what else to make of it. any thoughts?

special K - are you trying to post a listing or find a listing? you a seller or buyer? try www.nbpny.com

here is my listing
http://web.me.com/seif69/11K/HOME.html

Last week was a holiday those not going skiing entertained themselves looking at apartments. I am surprised you are willing to pay the 2.5% to a broker but unwilling to pay a flat fee to expose your listing to the brokers you are trying to reach. I guess I have my work cut out for me, change is not an easy thing to implement.

SE people chime in here please. I am willing to list an apartment in a major database used by brokers for the basic rate of $300 dollars for 3 months with other services provided for additional fixed fees.
If you are a FSBO paying the NYT's for ads and offering brokers 2.5% does my "listing" service make sense? Please don't assume any ulterior motives...there are none. When I do role this out officially the fee to list will be higher although will include more service's.

Keith Burkhardt www.theburkhardtgroup.com

I appreciate what you are trying to do and I am not totally against it. i told you that i would be a guinea pig for your service and gladly shout my good experiences from the rooftop for you (and pay upon sale). that being said - over 30 brokers contacted me about my place in the last 3 weeks. i personally contacted everyone of them about my offer and my open house. not one showed. what's to make me think that i wouldn't have had the same result with you plus the fact that i would be out the cash? i would have been happy with 1/30 (3%) but didn't even get that. your model is a good idea but work with me a bit and i will work with you. i am skeptical.
apt11K4sale@me.com

I'm not willing to pay the 2.5% to a broker, certainly not given my current price. It is fine if a buyer forks that over directly to the broker, although, I know that's not going to happen. I will continue with just speaking to buyers directly, as is my right as the owner of the asset.

I think I see more interest, given the low interest rates, and will keep hanging in there.

Sniper, the standard ploy is for brokers to always say they have a buyer. I turned away a broker from my door who claimed she had a buyer! Funny, she was alone. I think you just invite all sorts of trouble by playing this halfway. If you sell FSBO, sell directly to a buyer. Otherwise, sign up with the brokers. Note, I am supporting the brokers with this statement.

StreetEasy will not accept FSBO ads, for any amount of money. They will not provide a level playing field because they are supported by the real estate companies. Support the New York Times.

i am only willing to pay 2.5% to a broker if IT DOES come out of the buyer's pocket. i have a number that i am looking to net for my apartment. if an offer comes in that does not net me my number after the broker has taken 2.5% then the offer will not be accepted. if the broker brings me a buyer that nets my number, then they can have whatever comes above that number. it is a matter of semantics but the fee is in actuality coming from the buyer.

Brokers calling you with the supposed buyer=want listing 99% of the time. Most likely these brokers didn't have buyers. You are running ads in the NYT's with little success so far=Out of money. I am not running some new idea here it is understood that most deals are done with brokers whether you like it or not.

I am offering to act as your listing broker for a flat fee=your listing will have the same exposure to the brokerage community at large just as if you signed with Elliman for 6%-This is what I am trying to get across. This is not some FSBO site just posting ads in the same place's you could.

All this said whether you list with the burkhardt group or Elliman the market is in the crapper and no sale will come easy. However you get virtually the same sell side exposure at a nominal fee. You are trying to sell an $875,000 dollar apartment, a $300 flat fee to expose you to all the brokers a full price exclusive will is a no-brainer! IMHO.

My point is I am not "testing" something this is the current system and it works because it's all we have. I am just offering an alternative commission model.

sniper, thanks for the link. i am a potential buyer trying to find listings.

Sniper,
Let me know how that goes. Buyers will certainly balk at shelling out +2.5% of the price they see listed. You're stuck in a quandary. So, you're going to let the brokers list your apartment for +2.5%, right next to your ad for -2.5%? Talk about confusion in the marketplace. I don't think there is an easy way around this dilemma and I'm not playing that game. You can do what you will.

407 - email me apt11K4sale@me.com

I must say I feel good about not wasting my time talking to thirty brokers who claim to have buyers when they have none. I have a limited amount of breath and it would be wasted on all those phone calls.

407 - you are making some assumptions that are not correct.

Hello Sniper,
You'll have to tell me where I am mistaken.I cannot guess. ;-) I wish you the best of luck, it is just that I have been through this experience before, as I have sold FSBO successfully.

I find it funny that we are two FSBOs who are at odds with each other. I think you should just sign up with a broker. All in or all out, that's my motto.

Sniper,
By the way, you can write to me on 407pas@gmail.com, if you do not want to post my mistaken assumptions here.

we are not at odds - same side just with different plans.
i will email you more detail

burkhardt,
Would your listings appear on SE?

All in all out is the status quo...won't change much. Find a listing broker willing to work for a flat fee and save a bundle(ask patient09). As Digs has said here before change is coming! Look into exactly what a sell-side broker does, if you really think it's worth 3% then I guess we can agree to disagree. Selling FSBO that's your prerogative...When the market was so hot you could sell sand in the desert, I often wondered why so many sellers were willing to pay out big bucks to have a broker mind the shop during and open house four Sundays a month while buy-side brokers brought the masses.

That said it can now take quite a bit of a sell-side brokers time to sell a property but it's hardly manual labor. 4 open houses a month is still only 8 hours and factor in maybe 2-4 hours a week. I should be able to make a killing representing sellers but first they have to understand the process and not be fearful of something new.

Why on earth would you, should you pay a listing broker 3%!? $1,000,000= $30,000

Yes and OLR I also have a lot of other innovatve exciting ideas to offer both buyers and sellers.

I must say it is hilarious to see the buy-side and sell-side brokers arguing over who does the work. I am sure there are plenty of sell-side brokers who would disagree with the idea that the buy-side broker does all the work because they happen to be standing next to the buyer. It is all divide and conquer and I have had enough of it.

I say a plague on both your houses. I stand for a seller talking to a buyer. Most people will not want to do this so you brokers will always have plenty of work.

I doubt the real estate industry will change in any substantive way, they are too interested in maintaining the status quo.

I am not arguing I have been on both sides of the field many times and understand the roles better than most. But I am trying to get you to understand the roles. The power for change lies in the hands of the buyers and sellers- they give the power to the big firms. I am an optimist and believe things can change, look who just got elected President of the United States. Change? Can't happen? here I am.... Later time to work.

Yes, if the buyer and sellers have the power then the buyers and sellers should speak to each other. As for change, I suppose this is the same real estate industry that lobbied against fair housing laws in the 1960s. I think the real estate industry is slow to change. Good luck.

Special_K,
Are you an interested buyer who is looking for an apartment? I am selling FSBO. Please email me on 407pas@gmail.com, if you would like to see my listing. Please do not email me if you are an agent.

"over 30 brokers contacted me about my place in the last 3 weeks. i personally contacted everyone of them about my offer and my open house. not one showed."

Amazing. So, let me get this straight, 30 brokers claimed they had buyers and not a single one showed up with a buyer or contacted you about setting up a showing where they could bring along a buyer? Is that right? That sure is an amazing amount of lying.

sniper- i should mention that the way you are offering to work with buyer's agents I do not think will fly, most notable because buyer's agents cannot offer their buyer's a grossed up asking price that includes their commission, it is actually illegal in New York State, and any reputable agent will not participate, and since the model in New York right now is still with the seller paying a commission, it is highly unlikely that a buyer will knowingly pay a buyer's broker commission directly. An agent can only offer to their buyers a price quoted by the seller that INCLUDES the commission, or alternatively ask the buyers to pay the commission which simply produces awkwardness. Also in the case that a buyers agent brings a buyer to you directly and you DO agree to terms, the buyers agents fiduciary duty automatically switches to you first and foremost, and they must sign a dual agency disclosure which creates even more awkwardness.

i am not asking them to bring their buyers "a grossed up asking price." i am asking them to come to me with a buyer, have the buyer make an offer and if i find the offer acceptable than i take that offer and pay the broker out of that. don't over think it.

Let me clarify for sniper.

Sniper is looking for $x. If a buyer comes in without an agent, the lowest they could get it for is $x. If they come in with an agent, the lowest offer sniper will accept is $x/.975 which nets out to $x for him.

Bingo!
Get that man a Nat Sherman cigar!

Post the list of brokers.

who didn't show, that is.

perhaps i will after i sell

Thanks nycbrokerdax. You're dead on. Lots of awkwardness in these broker deals if you don't follow the model exactly.

I also have a 1BR FSBO. 142 East 16th St between Irving and 3rd Avenue. Please email me at gramercynyc10003@gmail.com if you would like to see my listing. Please do not email if you are a broker. Thanks.

you are right, it must be awkward asking someone to pay you $25K-$50K for that amount of work.

sniper,
I don't think you can ask for help from the brokers with one hand and slap them with the other. ;-) The sales commission model has developed over a long period of time. When valuations were much lower, that 6% did not hurt as much, but now, it stings. That's just the way it is.

it was a joke, which i am sure was not lost on most.

in addition, all sales and commission based jobs come with plenty of slaps in the face - it is not for the thinned skinned. people take the slaps because in the end they pay well. if they are not getting paid well then they have not taken enough share of their slaps. in this climate i am sure most brokers would take a slap in the face, a punch in the gut and a kick in the shin if they were all followed by a $25,000 commission.

Do you know of any sites to list FSBO's without paying fees? My FSBO in heart of Greenwich Vill has been listed 2 weeks on NYTimes only. my website: 138w10th3re.com

Keith... look you ever see "Something About Mary"... you know the 7minutes abs.... it's just a race to 1 second abs. FYI... people are willing to pay (even me) for the right services, you have to figure out the right mix.

Why don't you try starting a grading system... similar to the diamond grading system (size, condition, locations, views, services, laundry etc).... pick a building, neighborhood... you "create" this standard and if people like it you become the de-facto "market" guy.... ala Case/Shiller... he makes more money selling data then homes :)

Good luck.... if You ever not list a sq ft.... I'm throwing a commode at you :)

w67th I'll be at the re-opening of the Holland passing out pens with "the burkhardt group" on them.

"Do you know of any sites to list FSBO's without paying fees? My FSBO in heart of Greenwich Vill has been listed 2 weeks on NYTimes only. my website: 138w10th3re.com"

Craigslist, of course. There is a "for sale by owner" section in the real estate ads. Craiglist is mostly junk, these days, but it is always worth a shot. I post my open houses on Twitter as well. Maybe you could post some listing in your neighborhood places to see if you could find a renter who wants to buy.