Bait-and-Switch on Washington Park?

See my forum post of yesterday in Roslyn Huebenor. They practice the same deceit. If you look below their headline listings there is no assurance what claims to be available is actually available.

Fillmore also leave good looking / good value listings up for weeks after they closed as bait.

Firms that do this should be shunned - or maybe I'll just do the same thing: make offers to get properties pulled then drop out after I get the contract in hand.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 11:45 AM

A testament to how rough it has become out there for brokers. If business were booming, they wouldn't have the need nor time to "bait".

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 11:49 AM

A $4.5 million bait & switch? Holy shit. Who would ever believe that a house in that location would go for that price? Even 181 Washington Park, as good and high-end opulent as it gets, went for $3.03. WTF? Pretty ballsy even if it is bogus.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 11:52 AM

how much does a ny times real estate ad online cost?

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 11:54 AM

A NY Times online ad costs $125 for 14 days.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 11:56 AM

And 181 Washington Park just closed in June 2007.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 11:58 AM

Putting up a completely fake listing is unbelievably cruddy and scuzzy. Nobody should ever ever do business with this realtor. Why reward this person for her idiocy. NYC is officially the least regulated city for real estate on the planet. It's the wild west. The city doesn't make the realtors all join REBNY. The DOB lets builders do whatever they want. The ECB lets buildings fall down and remain abandoned and dangerous for decades. It's disgusting.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 12:00 PM

So is the plan to prime the market, make people think this listing actually attracted buyers and sold at $4.5, in order to introduce a similarly astronomically priced listing?

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 12:01 PM

Exactly, Rehab at 12:01! A potential buyer capable of paying $4.5 million for a house is really going to just say "oh okay, gee, well if this little ole house ain't available, shucks ma'am, sure you can show us more houses."

Erf.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 12:05 PM

Talk about bait and switch -- Brown Harris is the worst. I was looking at coops and condos in Brooklyn on and off for a year and a half. Went to an open house at 354 2nd St in Park Slope. Very nice modern condos in small building that blends in well. When I call to inquire, was told that they had several bids over asking. As the agent at the open house had said there were two units available, I called back when I saw another listing a few weeks later, and the agent got mad at me. Then had someone call me back and try to switch me to a really ugly building in Windsor Terrace for $25K MORE. Rude all around, and I don't believe those units in Park Slope were ever available. Ended up buying a loft condo in the Chocolate Factory in Clinton Hill (the yellow one). Dealt with Elliman; they are excellent!

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 12:12 PM

I'm in the market and I responded to this ad to see a.) if the property was real, since I cannot fathom that there would be a $4.5 listing in Ft. Greene, and b.) to see what said $4.5 listing could possibly look like to command that number.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 12:26 PM

I was curious if the BHS broker who was rude at the Vermeil open house I attended was the same broker 12:12 might have encountered, and I tried to look up the Vermeil website or listing on BHS. It's all gone! No more Vermeil website and no more listings on BHS. Does that mean they sold them all? The building isn't completed yet and I thought it wasn't completely sold.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 12:26 PM

Vermeil dropped Brown Harris Stevens.

They have a new rather nice looking new website and not sure who is the broker now. I think just an independent.

They've resumed work outside, put up a cornice over the last 2 weeks and seem to be moving along. I live near there, so have been trying to figure out what the deal is also...

www.vermeilcondominiums.com

Did you know BHS is expanding to twice its size on 7th Avenue???

Sucks.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 12:34 PM

The worst bait and switch i've seen is ADShaye Realty. They had the same ad in the NYtimes up the entire summer.
Amazingly enough, Corcoran seems to be good about taking down listings and noting them as 'in contract' on their website.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 12:45 PM

I didn't like that one particular broker with BHS at the Vermeil, but I'm a big fan of BHS in general. Our broker is with them, and I know others with BHS just as friends. Through them I have heard a little bit about how BHS is administered from on high, and it's a well-run company with experienced, intelligent brokers.

In the end, you have to evaluate the broker him/herself as an individual. That's the person who will be doing all the work and riding herd on their colleagues, etc.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 12:57 PM

Hey 12:45 - Do you know which ad on NYTimes that was, I think I may have fallen for the same one?

Thanks!

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 1:19 PM

Sorry but BHS is the worst firm I have ever encountered in Brooklyn bar none. Rude, unprofessional and thy try to steer you away from listings they don't have a co-broke on or an exclusive and they do it in a very negative manner, either trashing the broker, project or neighborhood. My friends had the same experience. Interesting how one poster said they were expanding because they hardly have any listings!

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 1:33 PM

A $4.5 bait and switch! What a sick joke.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 1:52 PM

so interesting you say that, 1:33....

i walked by there this weekend...almost always take a look at the listings and noticed that they had almost none also. then saw the sign about the expansion and wondered how in the world they could afford that space. that's an EXPENSIVE corner.

anyway, i did happen to notice in looking at a few of the other brokerages, that in general there doesn't seem to be a lot of inventory but still...BHS had up like 25 listings, 70% of which have in contract or sold up (which they've had up ALL summer) and so few new listings...

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 2:15 PM

Yes, the ADshaye ad was for a 699k 3BR condo in WT.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 2:43 PM

I can't believe brokers support this site to get this abuse. I love it.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 3:06 PM

This is a coup for increased transparency and hopefully, will lead to the adoption of better business practices in the real estate industry. And when/if it doesn't, then unethical and misleading firms deserve to be called out.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 3:12 PM

I can't believe brokers support this site to get this abuse. I love it.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 3:19 PM

Pretty grandiose 3:12. Seems like another opportunity to snaipe at each othr.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 3:20 PM

Did you mean coup or coop?

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 3:24 PM

coup--look it up.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 3:42 PM

Fishy indeed. Do they think people are that stupid?

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 3:45 PM

Although... there was a recent forum post asking whether brokers are capable of lying...

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 3:46 PM

I thought you meant coop like for chickens.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 3:50 PM

You know, like this this site is a great cage for high-minided brokers.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 3:55 PM

oh...got it.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 3:57 PM

Who take the bait very easily. Officious idiot.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 3:59 PM

Wow!

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 4:53 PM

Yesterday Brownstoner posted elsewhere on the site that he wasn't going to allow anonymous "guests" to trash companies on here because it encourages really lame bashing of one's competition. What happened to that policy today I wonder? Thank goodness most of the brokers who frequent this site are truly professionals and don't take it to the new lows we've seen lately.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 7:50 PM

The link is no longer working. Seems someone got the clue and pulled the webpage.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 7:50 PM

Good time for sellers. Frustrating time for buyers and their brokers. Most good new listings seem to last a week or two max before they get in to contract. Seems like nobody has listings because they all get sold so fast, including Brown Harris Stevens. Hopefully more will come on the market soon. Does this mean that the new developments are all selling out fast now too I wonder?

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 8:02 PM

I am sorry to hear that people are associating the Bait & Switch at Washington Park with Brown Harris Stevens. They were the firm that sold that listing legitimately. I am appauled that people believe that BHS is associated with this when they do not know the true facts. A firm called DJK Properties an unknown brokerage is running a scam to get unsuspecting buyers to deal through them. They placed the ad in the NY Times on Saturday and provided a link to their own website that even had a designated id number assigned to the property. They used photos and description that they hijacked off of a website from another brokerage that once had that listing. Meanwhile, the property was sold months ago and the new owners have moved in. These brokers are located in Manhattan and think that they can just put up an already sold listing and claim that they are marketing it and no one will be the wiser. I particularly like how they changed the price by a mill five to throw off anyone who might suspect.... Instead of bashing the legitimate agencies and agents that work here, live here and care about doing business here, we should be joining forces to keep brokers that behave in such illegal ways out of Brooklyn! Buyers and sellers always want to throw blame onto the brokers - well there are many legitimate and good brokers here - even at BHS - but brokers like the one's who engage in this kind of thing - they should be put out of business - don't deal with them!

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 8:34 PM

I thought the same thing, first post at 7:50pm. What happened to the requirement to log in if you bash a business? Because I thought the posts ranting against BHS sounded like bitter competing realtors making stuff up. Not potential buyers. I truly doubt any laypeople or buyers would get SO upset as that over whether a realty firm has new listings or not! That was hilarious. Potential buyers would a) move onto the next realtors window to see what they have, or b) chalk it up to the slowdown in the market. And I daresay buyers in Brooklyn capable of spending 7 figures on a property are sophisticated enough to correctly blame the market slowdown.

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 8:52 PM

Good Point 8:35- I have been looking for a house for about a year now and have met both good brokers and some bad ones too! I can't believe that someone would try to pull a scam like this - it's so obvious but again this is NY Real estate and if you look long enough you see just about everything! Literally....

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 8:56 PM

if my broker has hairy palms, does that mean he/she whacks off a lot?

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 11:44 PM

I had one experience with Brown Harris Stevens (as a BUYER who was outbid, no less) and it was excellent. I felt that my broker was honest and not pushy. As someone said previously, many times it depends on the individual broker.

Posted by: guest at October 9, 2007 1:48 AM

Hey 11:44, probably if they wear glasss and spend alot of time in the bathroom during open houses.

Posted by: guest at October 9, 2007 6:09 AM

quest 10-8-07 8:34PM you are soooo Lee Solomon!

Posted by: guest at October 10, 2007 7:55 AM

my good friend is an agent and he tells me how many crazy mo fo's are out there...SEE they just don't have a site where THEY can bitch and complain about y'all. (im not an agent) I just think its silly to expect agents not be on this silly site. Some People on this site are seriously NOT NICE! its supposed to provide information, not bash people, accuse people and so on. so what if the agents are on here, even if they are trying to settle the score, some of you crazy bitches need a slap anyhow... do you actually read what is written on these blogs!! GET A LIFE!!

Posted by: guest at October 23, 2007 8:25 PM