There are many reasons to hire a real estate professional to help you with your search.  It’s picking the right person to handle all your real estate needs that really matters.

Here are some considerations in finding the right agent or broker:

1. Does your agent have access to all the co-brokered listings?
2. Do they have expertise in the areas you would like to live?
3. Are there other agents in the company that would help manage your search if your agent becomes unavailable?
4. Is your agent punctual in responding?
5. Does your agent seem to understand the market?
6. Does your agent have the support of his/her agency? If this is a less experienced agent, do they have the advice of more experienced agents at their company?
7. Is your agent always reachable?
8. Does the agent you’re working with have the upper hand on technology?

The right agent will show you apartments in your budget and just above your budget to allow for negotiations.  To figure out your budget, they will ask you questions about your income and assets.  If you’re buying there will be additional inquiries into what you have to put down, where money is coming from and what assets you will have after down payment, closing costs and other charges associated with buying a co-op.

It is important to work with the agent you feel comfortable with.  Real estate professionals work on commission, and commission alone.  If you searching for the right agent do so only in the preliminary process.   Due to REBNY rules, all REBNY members share the same listings.  Stick with the agent you have come to know and trust.  Of course, if your agent is not representing your interests, it is always advisable to find a new agent as quickly as possible.

If you have any questions, Ask LaLa!

ShareThis

A little history: The Real Estate Board (aka REBNY), a trade association that is controlled by the big brokerage firms, started a residential listing service a few years ago. These exclusive listings come from REBNY members, and their distribution is tightly controlled. The independent brokers who subscribe to our BrokersNYC service would have to pay through the nose to access them in any readily usable form. When we asked REBNY if we could disseminate the listings to our members through the BrokersNYC website, REBNY refused.

We filed an antitrust suit in 2004, saying it was anticompetitive to prevent services like BrokersNYC from distributing these listings to independent brokers at an affordable price. (And of course, the lack of competition doesn’t just hurt BrokersNYC and the independent brokers; it hurts consumers, too.)

Our lawsuit asked that REBNY be required to deal with any listings information service that, like BrokersNYC, operates on behalf of REBNY members, and to integrate directly with our software so that independent brokers could get a product equivalent to what the majors were getting. We also asked for at least $78 million in damages.

Last August, a judge threw out REBNY’s motion to dismiss the case. In January, we met with Magistrate Judge Dollinger and agreed to settle, and the settlement went into effect recently. While we didn’t get everything we asked for (that’s the point of a settlement), BrokersNYC is now free to compete on an equal footing with its competitors that service the brokerage community – and our clients, and ultimately the consumers, will get a better deal. We’re looking forward to rolling out new features for BrokersNYC very soon.

ShareThis

The next week, Steven Spinola, the president of the Real Estate Board of New York, sent a letter to the editor defending the industry’s reputation, saying,

“In 2006, there were only 206 complaints brought to the Department of State by real estate clients in the entire borough of Manhattan. And as noted, the Department has received fewer and fewer complaints statewide each year.�?

But Spinola’s whitewash isn’t helping anyone. Consumers need to know that Ms. Toy’s article didn’t propagate “false stereotypes,�? as he claimed it did. They need to know that the behaviors Ms. Toy wrote about aren’t rare at all – that, in fact, much worse things go on every day. And they need to know that the number of complaints brought to the Department of State (DOS) is meaningless. (There are many reasons people don’t report unethical behavior to DOS, one of which is that DOS doesn’t do anything with the information.)

Why do consumers need to know all of these things? So that they will make an effort to find and hire the responsible, ethical real estate agents, and to avoid the bad apples.

In my last blog post I wrote about bait-and-switch ads by Manhattan rental agents, and pointed out that some of the blame lies with the commission-only system that draws too many agents into the industry, only to set them at each other’s throats.

The industry has other structural problems that encourage duplicitousness. Consider the fact that agents are only paid when a sale goes through. “Window shoppers�? often waste the time of agents they know they’ll never have to pay (there are about fifteen times as many lookers as buyers in the market). And when so many customers aren’t serious, some agents begin to act as if no customers are serious. Again, this whole state of affairs is perpetuated by the large brokerage firms, which have resisted changes to the all-or-nothing payment model.

So what should consumers do to protect themselves? First, they should know that hiring a broker isn’t a “take it or leave it�? proposition – consumers have choices, and they should understand and exercise those choices.

For example, sellers can choose between “exclusive agency�? – where they don’t owe any commission to the agent if they find a buyer on their own – and “exclusive right to sell�? – where the broker earns a fee regardless of who sells the property, including the owner. Many agents don’t bother explaining to their clients that exclusive agency is an option. As another example, a potential apartment renter or buyer may be better off with a “roving�? agent than with an agent who represents landlords or sellers.

Second, consumers should get referrals for agents they’re considering working with. Getting a referral doesn’t just mean asking, “Did you like this agent?�? It requires asking very specific, pointed questions about the agent’s behavior.

Here are some questions you can ask agents you’re considering hiring, or friends who are willing to give referrals for agents:

If you’re a renter or buyer:
- What types of apartments does the agent specialize in?
- Does the agent preview properties before taking clients to them?
- Is the agent showing landlord properties (that is, properties that could have been rented directly) or broker exclusives?
- What is the agent’s commission? Is it negotiable if the renter takes one of the first few properties shown?

If you’re a lessor or seller:
- How many similar apartments has the agent rented or sold?
- How long does he expect the property to be on market?
- What kind of marketing campaign does he mount?

ShareThis

ShareThis

More from Inman News.

ShareThis

ShareThis