highest and best at the majestic!!!

I suggest everyrone here email a link to this thread to the email listed in the NY Times article:

E-mail: bigdeal@nytimes.com

Maybe we can get a follow-up story on the results of the "auction" and the overinflated square footage.

Hmmm and here I thought all publicity was good publicity.

LIke the vampire, this thread will not die; it will haunt the Streeteasy discussions from here to eternity, feeding off the blood of the bitter and thrifty.

This thread is StreetEasy's Stonewall, a place where abused buyers finally stood up and told the brokers, "Enough with the lies, you are unable to correctly calculate the total area of two rectangles."

not unable...unwilling. and we all go along like a bunch of dummies making excuses for them

Very few have made any excuses for them. Including me.

Maybe we can get someone interested in the State AGs office. If we put together overinflated square footage listings from all the top brokerages, the AG can threaten to charge them all with fraud or something, and get them all to sign an agreement to stop doing it, agree to a methodology for measuring from now on, and charge them $$ for the settlement. Seems like a slam dunk easy case to win. Probably multiple different statutes are bing violated, from fraud to consumer protection.

very few for sure...but a number have made excuses. i will try not to bore you by copying here.

modern, your idea might be timely. i think in very pro-development times it might be difficult to get such a standard passed (if one looks at today's developers calculations v. those done in the past many would be shocked). I defer to some of the more savvy real estate gurus here (who might no longer be looking at this thread, but who knows). I'm not sure what kind of settlement you could be looking at, as you'd have to prove actual harm (unless there's some sort of UCC provision?), but at the very least trying for some standard going forward couldn't be a bad idea. My only fear is that brokerages would give up on providing floor plans at all, which would be within the rights of the sellers. Many, if not most, markets don't provide floorplans for significant portions of the properties on the market. I'd hate to lose the floorplan porn, even if the numbers are unreliable.

This might be a great new thread.

I have often said there are not enough circumstances in life that warrant the use of "tomfoolery", one of my very favorite words. This thread is full of tomfoolerishness ;)

oh for god's sake---the damn muffins at starbuck's have the calorie count displayed (city law i believe). something tells me that the stupid brokers could figure out how to multiply x times y.

uwsmom, i have enjoyed any of your threads, but tomfoolery? Come on...stop it....Just stop it.
Rachel Glazer made the mistake of using her name, coming on a real deal RE forum and posting some stupid stuff. And guess what, she gets flamed, to the next level, because unlike regular stupid flame posts, real estate agents have HURT people and she, being a young naive waif, learned from them and decided, "hey, i'm young, i know the internet, let me use it to my advantage and get some information that will impress my bosses"
shame on you for saying, "let her be"
Shame on you...let no one be...she is adult enough to post, she is adult enough to live with the consequences.
enough of these "mothers, fathers, parents" saying, "ohhh, if it was my kid posting they deserve respect"
you know what, if you're kid is stupid enough to post like she did, SHAME ON YOU
teach your kid better and stop wagging your finger at me
christ, i'm sick of it
brokers screw us day in day our, for decades, and they've TAUGHT you to act like you are
ENOUGH
i say no more...and apparently streeteasy WON'T censor me
so get ready, cause i refuse to stop

Welcome to the internet
all allowed

It's tomfoolerific. Actually, no, cc, they really could just quit providing them. In many cities you don't get them.

The inflation of square footage has been around forever and it has obviously been profitable. Think of all the people living in their 900 (actual 750), or 1200 (actual 1050) square foot apartments. Somehow, I doubt that anything will change.

How about if we agree that square footage should be a range of numbers? We could come up with the StreetEasy range of square footage numbers. You know, "I got 1343", "I got 1535", etc and list those in the listings. We could send out a crack team of StreetEasy posters to measure apartments and post their results, for a fee, of course.

HOW ABOUT THIS: BE HONEST
I hate this, i'm sick of it
it's like saying, "i weigh 200 lbs" when you weigh 220
YOU ARE A LIAR
christ
we want to be so goddamn high and almighty, but lying is OK????
BE HONEST
ENOUGH ALREADY

ridiculous....

how about we agree that all of the numbers, maintainence, price, acreage, you name it are made up?

why?

yo, about ready...tell us about 4 cities that don't provide sq ft. numbers.

all I'm saying is the necessary slap on the hand took place about 200 posts ago. call the rest what you will...for as long as you like...using whatever words you choose. xo to all.

THANK YOU CC
tell me 4 other cities that lie.
NONE

stop accepting it people...come on...it's up to us to say, ENOUGH
we can say that you know...
it's like a revolution...you may laugh, but it starts with the people...come on...

check this out:

http://www.stonehouseproperties.com/148EastMtWashington/listing.html

are they lying?

Ok, so you think Geithner deseved a slap on the hand?
HE LIED
UWSMOM, you're sweet, but you're part of the problem if you don't want to put your foot down.
Seriously

This is an analogy for everything that is wrong with the US.
Tell me how it isn't...lets go, i'm ready for debate time

yo---uwsmom---get cute with your ridiculous where do you want to live nonsense.

we are in the midst of a massive recesssion, depression and you want to be cute and chat about "oh, where do i want to live?'

enjoy yourself.

:)

Seattle, San Francisco but those are only the ones that I know, because I've looked there. New development may be different, because ostenstibly they have plans that have been done recently, but I haven't looked at new development in those places. Sorry I don't have a third and a fourth, but I'm not going to make up something for cities I haven't looked in. Houses almost everywhere don't provide floorplans.

There are different measurement standards for sf. If you don't recognize that, you haven't looked at that many floor plans (with architects sf'g). Ciao, sleep well.

upperwestrenter, rant away. i'm so happy you're perfect and can thus cast all the stones you'd like (oh, wait, that wouldn't make you perfect, now would it?).

you uwsmom...while you're at it...give us your take on this

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/03/11/us/AP-BristolPalin.html?hp

ok...about ready

what about this

http://www.windermerenorthwest.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=detail&startrow=1&cfid=13936690&cftoken=45218272&CFID=13936690&CFTOKEN=45218272

It would be great if the brokers had to pony up $500+ per square foot of exaggerated floor space out of their commission. We would get accurate numbers if that were the case.

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize being honest = BEING PERFECT
I AM HONEST...that's not perfect you idiot
There is a difference.
If I am caught in a mistake, I ADMIT IT

And I have lived in SF and LA, and Chicago and Austin, and Houston, and the majority of the listings I ran into were true. And did I run into mistakes? Sure, and they admitted them...they didnt play games with me.

The stone I'm casting is thus: DON'T KNOWINGLY LIE
And if YOU ARE CAUGHT, BACK DOWN

But clearly, AboutReady, you have a problem using a calculator...sorry about that...I'm sure you can get help somewhere.

btw, I didn't say those cities lie, I said they DONT PROVIDE floorplans, generally. I'd much rather have a floorplan to look at, with or without the correct sfage than nothing at all.

bristol has something to do with NYC real estate? wow, the palin's have more reach than I thought.

407PAS, am I totally off here? CC, am i totally off here?
Someone set me straight (someone who is honest)

what about this one?

http://www.zephyr-re.com/listingdetail.cfm?ID=7823

its about lying.

palin was thrilled to have a teen age daughter having a child.

until she wasn't

oh well.

who cares.

Woah, If a floorplan and sqr footage isn't listed, how can THEY LIE?
I'm not beefing about that...I'm beefing when THEY LIE

come one Aboutready...I'm not crazy...even if i act that way...i'm not

I don't see the floorplans in your examples, cc. That was my point. They are generally not provided, although in seattle if you are trying to sell something for $4.5m maybe you'll hire someone.

upperwestrenter, have a good day. and next two weeks or so. i'm off to sunnier climes to enjoy spring break with my family.

you guys have made AR the lightning rod for your anger at society in general. that's a harsh burden for anyone, much less AR. perspective, my friends.

uswmom, good luck on your rental search.

the listings show sq ft...maybe they too are lying.

enjoy your travels.

ooh, enjoy aboutready! We're planning one for next month.

she's gone?

I called and spoke to Agent Rachel this afternoon. She is going to let me know how the auction goes. She seemed perfectly nice and I get the feeling she thinks you are mad. Perhaps I'll ask her out for a drink!

get over it...you are agent rachel. how stupid do you think everyone is?

I think I might ask Agentrachel and UWS8883 out for a drink and see who (how many) show up....ahh but I'm happily married, maybe one of you single dudes (or girls) will step up.

lol @ patient09

so..uws8883---how did the auction go? signed, sealed & delivered?

So what up Rachel:
Do I owe you a gift certificate at Gari, going there tonight so can get it sorted if need be. Did the apt travel at >2mm??

rachel is notably absent - not only here but on the bhs website as well.
i do hope we didn't cost the poor thing her job...

I spoke to her

how mysterious!

She asked me not to tell you the results until they verify a few things

Back from dinner. I bought the gift certificate, just in case their strategy worked!

are you going to meet her patient?

Not a chance, but I will live up to my agreement. I will mail the gift certificate to her at BHS if the auction was a success today.

you are so her...this is hilarious...split personalities!

uws8883---you are ridiculous. all this for a lousy gift certificate.

I'll happily take a gift certificate cc. Although I won't take the agent's. If things work out, she deserves it for all the abuse.

UWS8883 defending AR is as transparent as one of Rufus's alter egoes defending Rufus.

Speaking of the devil, we've had a couple of weeks free of Chicago-related spam. I wonder what happened.

still no results?

Of course no results...they are trying to decide whether or not to accept the low-ball $1.49MM bid.
AR will probably be peddling flyers on the street for this place soon.

Technically, according to state law, all agent postings should be identifiable and traceable. Under my New Jersey license, anything I post on the Internet should contain my full name, my firm's name, a landline (how behind-the-times is that? I don't think I've even used a landline once in the last 12 months), a physical address -- and that's every blog post, every page, even if it doesn't deal with New Jersey concerns.

Since most of us feel that those laws somewhat lag current technology, we compromise by making sure that other readers know that we are pros and that they can find us. Rachel isn't being stupid by using her real name, she's following the code of her industry.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Alison Rogers
DG Neary Realty
57 West 16th Street
NY, NY 10011
ali [at] dgneary [dot] com
Office phone: 212-633-2727
Personal website: www.frontporchllc.com

In New Jersey:
Realtor Associate
Jordan Baris Inc. Realtors
50 Mt. Pleasant Avenue
West Orange, NJ 07052
Office phone: 973-736-1600

I believe it was her refusal to admit that the apt sqr footage was wrong, and the wonderful phrase, "Sick Deal" that is stupid...posting her name just allowed people to put a name to a stupid post.

Anybody see Cramer on Stewart last night? Talk about reamed...I'm sure there are people here who will whine that Stewart was way too tough on poor Cramer.

perhaps she is being stupid by insisting that she was right about sq ft? or was she stupid to have inappropriate pictures posted under her name on another site? or maybe by pretending to be uw8883?

"rachel is notably absent - not only here but on the bhs website as well. "

She is sill on bhs website: http://www.brownharrisstevens.com/agent.aspx?id=RAG

I have nothing against her personally, I just hate all lying thieving idiot brokers. Apologies to the 2 or 3 honest brokers with a brain in NYC.

I like the idea that brokers should identify themselves on this site. I think that would clarify people's intentions.

So if UWS8883 is AR and she is not identifying herself as AR she would be breaking a rule, correct?

Let's see if UWS88883 disappears now....

wave: u sneaky, nice work

Thanks patient09!

ok...so its now going on two days and the listing still says highest and best by last thursday. apparently, power broker Wendy sees no need to update with results? interesting to see how they are going to handle this.

Maybe BHS is having trouble with their webserver. Anyone got the number for the Geek Squad handy? If so maybe you can forward it to BHS.

always best to blame it on the equipment. as in "the tape measure made me do it. I tried to get the real number but that damn tape measure has a mind of its own."

Can we know the outcome or did I not sell like we all pretty much assumed?

If you must know, you can always call the broker and ask to schedule a visit to this apartment ...

Hi everyone. We need to verify certain requirements is all I can say for now. Thanks to everyone who wished us luck.

Also, thanks so much to Sticky for having my back. He is the only one who posted on this thread that actually met me so I value his opinion. Thanks also to Harold who I am going to be meeting this week.

You're welcome Rachel!

I tried to email you but it keeps bouncing back. I ended up buying a place in LA, a spacious 1419 sf 2BA/2BA condo (according to the developer's measurements, I got 1219 when I measured useable area) for $541K in an auction. I don't think Manhattan prices will come down to that price per sf even once the market bottoms out, and the finishes in the condo were sick ... ebonized hardwood floors, 9.5' ceilings, a 60 foot-long wall of exposed brick & mahogany-framed windows:

http://i41.tinypic.com/16k76eq.jpg

that looks awesome Sticky! i switched over to brown harris so different email (rglazer@bhsusa.com). best of luck in LA!

i don't get it...i see one post from sticky....is that also you, AR? what's the bottom line, AR? did you and the power agent get someone to bid 800K less than the asking? verify certain requirements? sounds like your usual crap.

Sticky, It sounds like you bought a place that is 1,219 sf...not 1,419.
How "sick" were the finishes?
REALLY SICK?

AR, keep it up...this is cute.

Why do you guys think that AR would post under different names? That sounds like a waste of time. Why would she do something like that? I think you guys are just bored and looking to entertain yourselves.

Stoyvel, I am sure they now think that you are also one of my mulpile personalities :)

multiple that is

> Why do you guys think that AR would post under different names? That sounds like a waste of time.
> Why would she do something like that?

Hmmm... let me count the ways.

1. Because she is dishonest
2. Because she is a moron
3. Because she is really dishonest

(btw, the moron has already accused other people of doing exactly that)

meanwhile...still waiting for highest and best.

bump - any updates?

she and the power broker are verifying requirements...guess that means they're counting the cash in the suitcase

Patience people, there is the whole "due diligence" process before the parties get into contract. Even then, I don't think they'll be saying anything about the price until closing. You guy have a long wait ahead of you.

will that include the part where the purchaser takes out his/her tape measure and goes into cardiac arrest?

wait a second, Phil, the chief technodouche, thinks power brokers are good for the market...Long Live Wendy!

AgentRachel is Sticky? That would make sense...literally and metaphorically.

All this who-is-whom ... It's like "Usual Suspects"--getting confused and a headache.

correct 407.

Yes upperwestrenter ... REALLY SICK. Ebonized maple floors with sound insulation between the foors, a 60-foot long wall of exposed brick with huge mahogany-framed windows opening to awesome views of LA's financial district and the San Gabriel mountains, Scavolini kitchen cabinets with caesarstone countertop, Bosch washer/dryer. Plus they beautifully restored the common areas's century-old details Carrara marble.

I decided to leave NYC for LA because the real estate bust hit there earlier and so prices are closer to reasonable levels there. Plus I work in TV. I hardly think a New York RE agent would be cheerleading the better deals to be had in LA. I'm not Rachel and have no ulterior motive in defending her. She showed me some apartments in Harlem which I felt were overpriced, just like almost every other apartment in this city.

bump for update?

Why are you guys giving AgentRachel such a hard time? She's already flatly admitted, earlier in this thread, that she's a liar:

AgentRachel
10 days ago
ok, columbia, I'm a liar.

"AgentRachel is Sticky? That would make sense...literally and metaphorically."

hahahah....very funny!

bump for update?

perhaps the paramedics are still working on the fellow with the tape measure?

I would say you have about a three or four month wait ahead of you before you hear anything about the contract price. Bumping this thread every day is not going to hasten anything.

don't you think they will show the listing as "in contract" if in fact it is?

Yeah, but it probably a week to two weeks for the "in contract" to show. It won't be exciting to see that displayed as nobody is going to tell us anything about the contract....

it's kinda fun just to bump it.

you're right..i just didn't want to say it.

What's the record for number of postings on a Streeteasy post? I feel stupid for not being able to make a witty observation earlier in the thread.

I AM COMMENT 301!

BUMP.