I thing Babs said it best, "joe the bummer" is just that a "bummer" what would you expect froma guy who uses MLS for his Brooklyn listings search?!?

Posted by: IrieMan at October 23, 2009 1:38 PM in response to Using a Buyers Agent?

totally illegal. Corcoran is in the wrong here, they can be held liable if you get hurt in the building or worse. No builging can have people living there without a c of o. A friend of mine works for a Real Estate company that got in trouble for this exact situation and now they verify every building before ever listing or renting in the building.

Posted by: IrieMan at October 3, 2009 11:00 AM in response to Broker Rented Us an Illegal Unit

You have more control than you think. You can make things very difficult for your landlord ie. leaving something special in the toilet before the showings. This is of course if he doesn't want to reason with you. It's all a compromise. If you don't give accesss he'll be a pain in the ass for the next six months, if you do give access it should be within reason. If anything were to happen to your stuff sueing the landlord will hold up any sale so he doesn't want that. The 6 months is reasonable only because it can take that long to sell in this market....I would come to an agreement of a window each week they can bring prosepective buyers through, this way you can have control and not expect any random calls to show spur of the moment.

Posted by: IrieMan at October 2, 2009 12:34 PM in response to Right of Entry

6. You're excited for a reason, you're offer is accpeted, now STOP being excited and pay attention, you're a long way from closing and moving in, anything can happen, so take a deep breath and make sure everything is in order and make sure your attorney and mortage broker are reputable and doing their job. They could screw things up in a jiffy.

Posted by: IrieMan at September 24, 2009 1:01 PM in response to Offer Accepted - Now What?

yeah, and if they're short they probably have a Napoleon complex so make sure they're tall as well!! HA!

Posted by: IrieMan at September 14, 2009 4:16 PM in response to Choosing a Tenant?

Rob, where did you get that ridiculous number? so all those people tied up in landlord/tenant court for NOT paying rent only make up 1%? come on!! Half of my tenants don't pay in the 1st, they pay later. I'm sure they but their smokes first as well.

Posted by: IrieMan at September 14, 2009 1:05 PM in response to Choosing a Tenant?

wait, so people with good credit are high maintenece but they pay the rent right? Would you prefer to have tenants that are "wonderful", never complain, but don't pay the rent? I would rather have the rent paid then chase after tenants any day of the week, even if they insist on changing the light bulb for them.

Posted by: IrieMan at September 14, 2009 12:09 PM in response to Choosing a Tenant?

um, yeah, I think the credit check is your deciding factor, that should help, you'll be surprised how "not wonderful" someone is when you run their credit. The fact that your looking for answers without even running the credit is weird to me, I don't ever consider anyone "wonderful" until I see their credit and they're in my buildings for 6 months and I don't get complaints.

Posted by: IrieMan at September 14, 2009 10:27 AM in response to Choosing a Tenant?

Grease the super=problem solved

Posted by: IrieMan at September 9, 2009 11:23 AM in response to Questions About Subletting

Actually, a laundrymat is whats needed on Smith, but I guess it can't survive, I go to the one between Bergen and Dean and it does the trick, but always has machine issues and turns off the hot water in the winter to save money...

Posted by: IrieMan at September 2, 2009 2:50 PM in response to Streetlevel: 216 Smith Street

The skater kids have already taken advantage of the extra pavement, I saw them enjoying the sidewalk just yesterday as I was just thinking "Haven't seen many skater kids lately" as far as a newstand goes, smily dude that sells papers outside the F train entrance wouldn't be too happy. Overall it's a great addition. I've seen too many people fly through that intersection up Bergen which has 2 schools by Court, much safer. It's taken them a year to do it, hopefully it won't take another to make good use of the extra pavment.

Posted by: IrieMan at September 2, 2009 12:36 PM in response to Calming Traffic at Bergen and Smith

10% with Corcoran is pretty good, I hear that Corcoran just rasied there fees for Brooklyn to 15%!!! Which is ridiculous for Brooklyn, 1 month-12% has been the standard for a long time.

Posted by: IrieMan at August 31, 2009 3:41 PM in response to Negotiating Rental Fees

Broker=Middleman

If you go buy a ring in the Diamond District you pay a alot more for a ring than you would if you "know a guy" who is a Diamond Dealer because you're dealing with the middleman & not going straight to the dealer. If you go directly to the dealer you pay what the diamond is worth with a mark up. If you go through a broker you most likely pay a fee, if you go driectly to the owner you do not.
My broker also does buisness in Manhattan and he was telling me how due to the economy and job loss people are trying to break their lease & asking for brokers for help to get replacment tenants & are offering to pay the fee. These are in buildings that have onsite management so they they require a broker, so the same people that rented direct because they wanted to avoid brokers, now need brokers help. Hey, as they say what goes around comes around! Whether people like it or not, brokers provide a service, yes a lot of people suck at their job i.e. those investment bankers, that laughed all the all to the back years back, but now can not find a job & are stuck with a huge mortagage payments or rent becasue they demanded that lifestyle when they had the money, now it's gone, but their are brokers out there that are actually good at what they do. I delt with a few brokers that SUCKED, & finally found one that works hard, 7 days a week, on commision,no guaranteed pay checks just to pay the bills. He also gives me the peace of mind so I don't have to deal with prospective tenants. I've never had to pay a broker fee & never will. Why? because we live in the greatest city in the world & people pay for things here. In most cities they do not, but here they do. If you want to live here you pay the price.

Posted by: IrieMan at May 6, 2009 10:10 AM in response to Downtown Rent Reality Check

Well said North Sloper, I always have priced my apartments to rent and had brokers rent them quickly since I'm not as stubborn as most landlords that rent driect & listen to the market, that said, the owner next store overpriced his apartment by $300 & rented directly to the public, he had the time, I did not. So that's $3600 more on a 12 month lease, so if you rented his place you would have saved some money in 07, but would've been over paying throughout the year. In todays market my broker gets a months rent for services, so in that scenario your losing money at the end of the year. Most brokers only showed you 2 apartments so you worked with multiple brokers it sounds like, but paid them nothing for their time. They aslo probably showed those properties to 20 people & finally got a check. Everyone has a right to make a living, the market decides what rents are, & supply & demand determines what the public will pay. These are the facts. 2 years ago I had NO vacancies & rented my apts in a day, now it takes a few weeks & I'm getting less rent. In another 2 years things wil be back to normal when jobs start coming back. By that time people will be paying brokers high fees again.

Posted by: IrieMan at May 5, 2009 12:13 PM in response to Downtown Rent Reality Check

Well said North Sloper, I always have priced my apartments to rent and had brokers rent them quickly since I'm not as stubborn as most landlords that rent driect & listen to the market, that said, the owner next store overpriced his apartment by $300 & rented directly to the public, he had the time, I did not. So that's $3600 more on a 12 month lease, so if you rented his place you would have saved some money in 07, but would've been over paying throughout the year. In todays market my broker gets a months rent for services, so in that scenario your losing money at the end of the year. Most brokers only showed you 2 apartments so you worked with multiple brokers it sounds like, but paid them nothing for their time. They aslo probably showed those properties to 20 people & finally got a check. Everyone has a right to make a living, the market decides what rents are, & supply & demand determines what the public will pay. These are the facts. 2 years ago I had NO vacancies & rented my apts in a day, now it takes a few weeks & I'm getting less rent. In another 2 years things wil be back to normal when jobs start coming back. By that time people will be paying brokers high fees again.

Posted by: IrieMan at May 5, 2009 12:13 PM in response to Downtown Rent Reality Check

Yeah, don't use a broker, unless of course you want selection. I find it so funny how people are so anti-broker, when it's the owners of these properties that ask brokers for help renting them since they don't have the time or want to bother screening tenants, dealing with tenants ridiculous expectations before lease signing, etc....brokers do help, lot's of shady ones out there, but if you want a good place in an area like Brooklyn Hieghts you will most likely be going through a broker. I tried to rent my place once, what a pain in the a**, I had people constantly wasting my time, the applicants all acted like they were buying the palce and had all these rights before moving in, when it was my property!! I hirsed a broker so they could deal with the headache of renting my units. I need that buffer between myself and the public as a lot of landlords do.

Posted by: IrieMan at May 5, 2009 11:48 AM in response to Downtown Rent Reality Check

Have that 5 day BS tossed out of the contract, in todays market in takes a lot longer to get a commitment from banks. Get a mortgage broker, Manhattan mortage is highly reputable, a good one can save the deal....

Posted by: IrieMan at November 24, 2008 6:55 PM in response to Getting a mortgage (contract signed)

From what i hear the rental market is very soft right now. Apartments are taking longer to rent & prices are getting chopped. $1200 sounds about right, but if you want it rented by 12/1, take what you can get.

Posted by: IrieMan at November 17, 2008 7:23 PM in response to help pricing a 1 BR rental?

AWESOME!!(sarcasm) Another Asian influenced restaurant for Smith Street. I like to see the store fronts fill up, but can't see all this Asian spots on one block making it through this economy...

Posted by: IrieMan at November 14, 2008 3:17 PM in response to Streetlevel: Japanese Restaurant for Smith Street

Thanks for all the love Brownstoner... I appreciate making QOTD Mr. B!!

Posted by: IrieMan at November 13, 2008 11:09 PM in response to Quote of the Day

Irieman you have me confused with mopar. MLS is not really relevant, but all the listings brownstoner people care about are visible on the NY Times or on the seller brokers' websites.

babs, I'm sure you're honest but the reputation of your industry is in shambles. I've had brokers lie to my face quite often.

OP -- whether or not you use a buyer broker, verify ALL of the information (school districts, transportation, % of building sold, etc) and don't take any referrals.

Posted by: joe_the_bummer at October 23, 2009 2:02 PM in response to Using a Buyers Agent?

I agree with Babs and IrieMan...

1. I think we're all adults here and can draw our own conclusions about people's posts. Frankly, I'd rather have as much information as possible from a variety of sources and make my own judgments about credibility, usefulness etc... than have someone appoint themselves gatekeeper.

2. Joe: Let's keep it civil.

Posted by: SJ at October 23, 2009 2:04 PM in response to Using a Buyers Agent?

I think it really depends on how comfortable you are with negotiating real estate. If you're new at it or just uncomfortable, then maybe it makes sense. But on the other hand, since the seller is paying out broker fees, there may be less $$$ to negotiate w/ you. I would think that the sellers are ultimately looking to maximize what they put in their pockets...and it may not matter whether its as a buyer credit or a broker fee.

Posted by: brwnstngrl at October 23, 2009 2:09 PM in response to Using a Buyers Agent?

Guys, you had an OP ask a fair question, and you had someone come on and give a broker's sales pitch as an answer, without disclosing that she was a broker. It deserved to be called out.

I don't care if you all use Bernie Madoff as your buyer broker. I call BS when I see it. Good luck.

Posted by: joe_the_bummer at October 23, 2009 2:18 PM in response to Using a Buyers Agent?

That was not a sales pitch and I have never hidden the fact that I am a broker -- as anyone who's ever read my posts can attest. No BS involved and I am currently working with enough buyers not to be trolling here for business.

Posted by: babs at October 23, 2009 3:32 PM in response to Using a Buyers Agent?

OP (yeah you know me) here.

Thanks so much for the lively and varied responses. All of of our offers were within 10% of asking and one was over asking. And we've got 15-20% down payment, our credit is excellent, etc. I was just wondering if using a buyers agent was a potential negative factor that we hadn't considered in the whole process.

One thing I will say, is no matter how crazy NYC and Brooklyn real estate is...one thing works: this forum! Thanks!

Posted by: noodlemanias at October 23, 2009 3:33 PM in response to Using a Buyers Agent?

My first time buying I felt that there was really no such thing as a true buyer's broker here in NY. I could never really tell how honest and upfront an agent was, and they always seemed to have THEIR best interests at heart--and that was quite often in conflict with MY best interests...

The second time I bought (here in BK), I was living out of state and was SO happy to have gotten a recommendation here on Brownstoner to call Erin at HouseByWe.com. She and her partner offer buyer's (and seller's--I think they have a few listings of their own) broker services, as well as home renovation management. Basically, they provided me with true buyer's broker services--like you might find in a state that legally requires them (like CA), and very unlike here. She worked her ass off for us and found us the perfect, perfect home! It was really helpful to have someone who felt truly "on our side" take us through the whole bidding, contract, closing process. But most of all, it saved me from devoting every spare second of my life searching the market, meeting with brokers at every real estate house, etc.

This is all to say, I wouldn't recommend using a "buyer's broker" if it's someone from one of the big real estate houses... but someone like HouseByWe I wholeheartedly WOULD recommend.

BTW, the comment that seller's might be more reluctant to sell to you since they pay your broker doesn't make sense unless it's a FSBO. Otherwise, I don't see why the seller should give two craps--they pay their 5 or 6% to their broker, who must split it with any buyer's broker who brings the deal.

Posted by: tanner at October 23, 2009 3:42 PM in response to Using a Buyers Agent?

I am a broker, and tanner I think it's great that you had such a wonderful experience with a small company but that doesn't mean that there aren't brokers that work for larger firms that provide that same level of service.
Also,in nyc unless you have a contract with and are paying a fee to your buyer's broker, they do not really represent you. That is not to say that they aren't trying to get you the best possible deal and looking out for your interests but the seller's broker can provide that same service. It really all depends on what your needs are. If you are a real estate junkie like many NYers and enjoy doing your own research and going to open houses, etc, you are probably better off on your own bc you will get a better deal without a broker. Most selling brokers agree to accept a lower commission if another broker is not involved in the transaction.

Posted by: rpnyc at October 23, 2009 9:55 PM in response to Using a Buyers Agent?

If 90 percent of listings are not on the MLS, isn't that another reason for a buyer to approach the seller's agent directly?

Posted by: mopar at October 23, 2009 10:06 PM in response to Using a Buyers Agent?