In the Comments section of yesterday’s post on the alleged cracks in the real estate market, the discussion drifted towards the topic of exclusives and whether they make sense from a seller’s perspective. We know the argument that you’ll hear from brokers: That the seller will get better attention and more consistent service from a broker who knows he/she will ultimately get paid. The danger is that a broker promises the moon in terms of price to get the listing and then the property takes forever to sell. When we sold our first apartment in 1997, we did it ourselves but let brokers bring clients. When we were selling our second apartment in 1999, we gave an exclusive to a broker at Douglas Elliman and had a fairly positive experience. What do people think about this? It would be interesting to hear from both brokers and owners on this, so please identify which you are.