Buyer's Agent?

downtownster I think a broker would try and get you the best price he could. The sales business is, or any business for that matter, is built on referrals.He would hope you would use him in the future and send him clients because of the good job he did. He could help you with the board package,a good lawyer but more important these days is a mortgage company that does lots of business in NYC and will not show up at the closing and want another 10% down which seems to have happened here in the past. He could explain how much you will need in closing costs and keep track of all the paperwork and make sure it gets done on time. Just a thoght. But if you feel you can't trust a broker to look out for your best interest or be of help then maybe you would be happier doing it yourself. Best of luck.

I would be happy to start sending you all new listings everyday and price reductions.
If you would like any infromation on Real Estate below 14th street, please feel free to email me at
Alberto.vandermije@sothebysrealty.com.

I have been working downtown for a couple of years, and my boss -- who has sold me three apartments -- has been doing it for 25. A good agent can steer you away from buying something that is going to be a millstone around your neck (which we did, during the boom), can get you the best possible price, and can steer you through the mess of paperwork involved in buying an apartment.

But if you don't want someone else to negotiate price for you, then don't hire a buyer's agent. That's kind of like asking a doctor to run a bunch of tests for you so you can perform your own surgery.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

downtownster, I think there's some value to having an intermediary between you and the sellers when negotiating price. The couple of buyers' agents I've worked with never struck me as aggressive enough on price negotiations as I would have liked (though with the second one, that just meant I had to be more aggressive in how I approached my own agent about price; problem was he advised that I would need to pay more than I wanted to offer in order to get a deal done - and, after some pretty hard negotiations, I was actually able to get an accepted offer 4% below what he was suggesting). Of course, this experience can't be generalized to all buyers' brokers, and I'm sure there are some who will feel far more like partners with you in trying to negotiate the best price. If that's something that's important to you, and you want to capture the advantages of having (1) and intermediary, and (2) someone to organize the search and ultimate purchase process for you, then, as you're interviewing potential brokers, focus on finding someone who will really go to bat for your in negotiations.