Forum Archive: Brokers

We have been working closely with a broker who has been extremely helpful with helping us find a home. We are currently in contract on a townhouse – but there’s a catch: the seller’s agent does not co-broke. Therefore, all the hard work our broker has done on our behalf is all for naught. We want to give him some money, but have no idea what would be appropriate. Any advice is appreciated!

Our open houses have not had many visitors lately. Curious to hear from others on how much traffic they’ve seen and whether its been particularly slow lately. The apt in question is in a good location in park slope and reasonably priced, but open house traffic has been very low. Is this across the board? or should I be questioning my broker? Is it seasonal? thanks for your help.

Hello all,
I have entered into an ‘exclusive right to sell’ with a broker, with an end date listed on the agreement. Do I have the ability to break this agreement and find another broker before the end date? I don’t feel this broker company is producing enough interest. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

I’m on the board of a smallish (16 unit) coop across from the Brooklyn Museum. We have a basement medical office that’s been vacant for some time despite being listed with a local real estate agent.

Does anyone know of any brokers or services who specialize in medical spaces? Or have any suggestions for good ways to find a tenant for a medical space?

Can anybody recommend a good broker who deals with apartment rentals in Prospect Heights? Fee or no fee does not matter.

Thanks!

We are about to start looking for a place in Park Slope or Windsor Terrace. Can anyone recommend a broker who’s familiar with those neighborhoods? Thanks!

I know recommendations from first time posters (sorry been bit of a lurker) may sometimes seem suspect, but I really want anyone thinking of working with a buyers broker in Brooklyn to know what a great experience I had working with Ari and Erin from HBW.

www.housebywe.com

I recently acquired a brownstone in Stuy Heights. All in all it took me over 18 months to find and successfully buy the right house. When I started the process I thought it was going to be relatively easy, believing that being a buyers’ market I would have lots of options (and the upper hand). In fact it proved much harder than I thought. There were ones that got away (in competitive processes, when the market was meant to be flat!), ones that failed inspections, one that ended up not being what it was meant to be certificate of occupancy wise. Ari and Erin went way beyond the call of duty and hung in through all of them, always acting in my best interests and offering untiring assistance. I know some people are skeptical of the value buyers brokers add, but it does in my opinion really depend upon the quality and experience of the broker. Aside from being lovely to work with and extremely patient (I was not the easiest buyer) one of the main things Ari and Erin offer that many other brokers don’t is that they have a tremendous first hand knowledge about restoring brownstones, so their advice extended well beyond the usual which I found invaluable, particularly given I was looking at places that often needed a lot of work. If anyone would like to speak to me first had about my experiences with them by all means contact me. My email is jamesjenkin@me.com.

Please bear with me on this very newbie question: what is the best way to find out about newly listed townhouses in Brooklyn? I have been checking the NYT and bigger sites, but I always feel as though I’m missing something, particularly when I poke around the smaller brokers’ sites. Are there a handful I should be checking daily, eg? Is there any way to feel certain you’re seeing everything short of checking every brokers’ site? Thanks for any insight.

Does anyone know if it’s legal for a real estate broker to reveal the amounts of competing offers in a bidding process? I know it’s ok to say things like “there are two offers higher than yours” but can they actually state the dollar figures other bidders have offered? It seems fairly unethical considering that there’s no way to verify if those offers are real, and there’s a direct financial incentive to get the sales price as high as possible. I know it’s common practice but is it legal? Thanks!