Second ave subway crane
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Second avenue subway construction
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second avenue subway construction on the upper east side
Excuse Me Mr. Real Estate Broker - Can You Clean My Toilet?
October 10th, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Our Food is Fresh. Our Customers are spoiled is a great tag-line from Fresh Direct - A New York City online home delivery service for fresh food.
In the recent Wallstreet Journal article, Real Estate Agents Who Clean Your House and Run Errands, June Fletcher shares some interesting real estate stories. It seems that in this tight real estate market, home sellers are asking their agents to bend over backwards for them by doing some pretty weird tasks. Things like toilet cleaning, chauffeuring, painting, yard sales and more. Is that asking too much of your real estate agent?
My short answer is, it depends. Every real estate agent, home selling situation and client relationship is different. So how does a real estate agent know when to say no? Should they say no? What should they do when asked to do a menial, degrading or unusual task?
It all starts with how you value yourself. You should never do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. Then again, you shouldn’t put yourself on a pedestal either. Having a marketing plan that you can provide to your client should spell out the things you will do for them. Maybe it should also state what you won’t do. When both parties respect each other and have a clear channel of communication, the chances of the client asking you to vacuum their house diminishes.
Not all clients are the same. Some respect you while others try to walk all over you. Once you sense that someone is trying to take advantage of you, speak up. Communicate. Professionally. You may be surprised how quickly the client will respect you for being honest.
Then there’s a whole other side of the coin. Screw your self worth, do whatever it takes to satisfy the client and to get the place sold - within the law of course. Remember fiduciary duty? Always putting a clients best interest ahead of yours? How does an agent decide what to do ? As a rule of thumb, use your gut instinct, most of the time, it’s right.
I have been in this situation a few times. My very first seller client had two beautiful dogs. They loved to pee on the lovely original hardwood parquet floors. Over time, the wood had absorbed the pee. The smell was virtually impossible to remove or cover up. The seller was a great guy and sprayed the place down but it just wasn’t enough. He asked if I could freshen it up some more every time I showed the place. I said no problem.
Before I showed the place to a buyer, I would make sure the windows were open and the air conditioner was on. I poured some febreze bottles on the stained floor to let it absorb. Amazingly, it did a good job, but didn’t kill the smell completely. I was honest with every buyer that I showed the place to and told them about the dog and floor situation. I would say that everyone appreciated my candor. The eventual buyer gut renovated the place anyways.
Another time, my seller asked me to help them rent a truck and move some of their furniture to their country home 70 miles away. Although I told them I would have loved to get down and dirty with them, I suggested they use a professional company for the move. They heeded my advice and were glad they didn’t do it on their own. Some things are just better left to those who specialize in that task.
Here’s one last example for you - on the buyer side. I love working with buyers. A couple of years ago, I had some buyers with eclectic tastes. Not only did they like unique apartments, but before they decided on an apartment, they wanted to experience the neighborhoods on weekends - both day and night. So, on a couple of occasions, they asked me to join them. I did. We had breakfast, lunch and dinner together. We went shopping together and even walked through some street fairs together. Yada Yada Yada.
At this point you must be thinking I was nuts for doing this, but hold on. Why did I do this? They were more than just my customers, they were becoming my friends. They trusted me to help them with neighborhoods, transportation, shopping, parks, nightlife and more. I helped them evaluate more than just the apartment. I helped them find their new home. Eventually, we did find it - even though we lost a few good ones during some crazy bidding wars.
So for me, I evaluate each situation on a case by case basis. Thus far, it has worked for me. Sure, I have done some things like cleaning the kitchen counter top or throwing out some left over Chinese food that stunk up the place. But hey, that’s me. As an agent, you decide what to do for yourself. As a buyer or seller, just put yourself in the other persons shoes. Treat others how you would like to be treated. All will be good.
Technorati Tags: New York City Home Buyers, New York City Home Sellers, Real Estate Brokers, Fiduciary Duty
Does This Co-op Building Permit Washer-Dryers in the Apartment?
October 8th, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Is having a washer-dryer in your New York City apartment something that interests you? If so, join the club. More and more home shoppers consider this a must have. They dread having to lug their skivvies down the stairs or elevator to the basement. Even worse is the idea of seeing your creepy neighbor handle his dirty drawers. Yuck!
Many Manhattan Co-op’s do not permit washer-dryers within the unit for one simple reason - apparently, the buildings plumbing can’t handle the load. The theory is that the soap suds produced by the washer could build up and flood some of the lower floor apartments. Whether true or not, many co-op’s don’t want to take the chance. Thy may also have some financial incentive to disallow them - e.g. money from the building laundry room vending company. So they don’t permit them.
Yet some co-op’s do permit them, but with board approval of course. These co-op’s usually ask that you complete an alteration agreement of some sort and have the work completed by a licensed New York City plumber. If you choose to do the work on the down low, you may be asking for a whole lota trouble. If you are the DIY’er, this is not the time to be one. Imagine having the unit spring a leak and flood all the apartments below you. Assuming you have homeowners insurance, in all likelihood, they would not cover you for an illegally installed washer /dryer. Additionly, when it’s time to sell, having an illegally installed washer dryer may be a problem. This is clearly not worth the risk.
So what’s the solution? If having a washer-dryer is a must have, simply focus on buildings that permit them. Sounds easy enough doesn’t it? But with so many buildings, where do you start? Can you guess?
Post Inspiration:
New York Magazine - Can You Hook Me Up With a Maytag?
Technorati Tags: New York City Co-op’s, Washer-Dryers, Manhattan Co-op’s , Co-op Boards, NYC Apartments, Kiosk Realty
Sometimes A Fantasy - How Did You Come Up With That Asking Price?
October 8th, 2007 | 5 Comments
What’s an Asking Price? It’s the price a home seller hopes to get for their home. But a more important question is, “How the heck did they come up with that asking price?” That’s the question all home buyers should be asking the real estate agent or home seller. Have you ever asked this question? If not, you should.
When a home is being prepared for market by a real estate agent, the agent should go over comparable closed, pending and active sales data with the home seller. Together, they come up with an Asking Price that hopefully is based on current market conditions and not fantasy. But how does a home buyer know if the asking price is fantasy or reality? Simple - they have to ask for the data.
The listing real estate agent should be able to provide you the data that shows how they arrived at that Asking Price. If they can’t or wont, then that’s a big red flag. Maybe they just pulled a number out of the air or they just didn’t do their homework. Either way, you’ll need to analyze that data to determine what your bid for the apartment will be. By working with a competent buyer broker, you can be sure that you’ll have the information necessary to make an informed offer for any apartment. Don’t buy the fantasy.
Source: YouTube Billy Joel - Sometimes a Fantasy
When searching for a home, we pretty much have a certain price range that we have in mind. This range is usually based on what we can comfortably afford to buy based on our current and future financial situation. A good idea is to also include homes that are 20% over your comfortable price range. Maybe these home are overpriced. Maybe, under the right circumstances, you could make a deal with a “motivated” seller. This is especially true if the apartment has been sitting on the market for an extended period of time and has had a number of price reductions. With they right amount of data on your side, anything is possible.
Always remember to ask about the asking price, for it may be a fantasy.
Technorati Tags: asking price, home buyers, sometimes a fantasy, billy joel
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