Property Grunt

Monday, September 19, 2005

Same s**t, different day

The New York Times has published a fantastic article on how sellers are trying to circumvent real estate agents and avoid paying a commission. The Grunt has been following this trend for a while through Inman news and since I already wrote about it I am not going to bother rehashing it. The only thing I will reiterate is that this trend will become the norm in the island of Manhattan. It is just a matter of time.

I am just surprised that it took the NYT this long to write about it.
Below are the entries.

Perfect Storm

I stand corrected on somethings

Outsourcing rental brokers

posted by Grunt at 11:26 AM | 6 comments

6 Comments:

  • People will need brokers because they are idiots, however. I bought my apartment in 1999 from a couple who were selling without a broker who wound up pricing it significantly under market, because they did not realize how fast the market was going up at that time. I was one of the first people they spoke to, I pretended I'd just fallen in love with the place, and they were just pleased to get their asking price and astounded that they'd managed to sell in three days.

    People who sell without a broker invariably price too high or too low. Rational people know what a broker is for.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:15 AM  

  • I disagree.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:05 AM  

  • Owners typically suck at pricing their listings and showing their apartment. Especially in Manhattan - they typically set the price too high because they don't know the comps and couldn't be bothered to do their homework. The other issue is they don't realize how hard a board can be even in non chi-chi buildings - a bid a few thousand bucks lower from rock-solid buyers is way better than the absolute highest bid. Also, buyers are understandably more reluctant to disclose their financials face-to-face to the sellers (even though in reality, the sellers get to see the financials anyway through their broker). Though I agree with Grunt, it's only a matter of time before a website is set up for Manhattan listings by owner that is comprehensive and usable.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:30 PM  

  • That site already exists. Craigslist will evolve in the coming years, and soon you'll see it works.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:35 PM  

  • I find Craigslist next to useless because the listings are so disorganized and the content so poorly written. Make fun of Corcoran/Elliman all you like but if Craigslist FSBO could evolve into something like the content on Corcoran/Elliman, then the market will be truly transformed. At the very least, I need a street address, floorplan, good pictures, open house dates, how long the property has been on the market, co-op requirements, and perhaps a link to comps. And it would be great not to have duplicate listings. If Craigslist could do this and perhaps a comment section from people who've gone to see the open house ala Brownstoner, the brokers would be out of business tomorrow.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:19 AM  

  • I thought the Sunday Times was NYC's MLS.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:33 PM  

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