Brown Harris Stevens vs. Corcoran?
I am looking for the public’s impression of Brown Harris Stevens and Corcoran. Is one firm viewed as more trustworthy? Does one provide better service? I am not looking for specific agent recs or info, just the company as a whole……what is your first impression when you hear their names? Please provide your general impressions…
I am looking for the public’s impression of Brown Harris Stevens and Corcoran. Is one firm viewed as more trustworthy? Does one provide better service? I am not looking for specific agent recs or info, just the company as a whole……what is your first impression when you hear their names? Please provide your general impressions of these two firms.
Thanks
A unit in my former building was on sale with BHS. The BHS agent wanted us to redo the front garden, which we did – shared the cost thru an assessment. She did nothing in the messy apt and it did not sell. The owner then went with Corcoran. The Corcoran agent lowered the price by about $20,000 and did a bang up job of cleaning and staging the place. It sold. It may be the agent more than the company.
I’ve bought two apartments in BH through BHS, and the process in each case was very straightforward. The realtors were helpful, experienced, and pleasant to deal with.
I walked away from one deal in CG when a Corcoran broker couldn’t or wouldn’t give us accurate an abatement expiration
date. Of course the lawyer found the info, but it was the way the broker wasted my time that was infuriating.
Nice website, but I wouldn’t want to deal with them.
I too think it is the individual agent and not the firm you need to evaluate. Agents almost seem like subcontractors for the firms. Corcoran seems to have better website – also many more brokers and but many do seem inexperienced.
And as other person said – Brown Harris brokers do seem to have been in field and neighborhood pretty long time.
P.S. I forgot but it’s important, another huge difference between our BHS broker (on both our sale and purchase) and the Corcoran broker who repped the house we bought — our BHS broker paid for professional photographs and floorplan and this was just for a 2 BR coop in PS, not some big fancy brownstone. Whereas the Corcoran broker who WAS selling a whole house, for a lot more money than our coop, he took the photos himself with some cruddy pocket digital camera. And no floorplan. He actually told us he never does floorplans.
Always ask an agent what they will do for you in the way of professional photography and floorplan. In this competitive market when it’s so difficult for brokers to get listings, they should bend over backwards for you.
Well my experience is clearly anecdotal but all the Corcoran agents I’ve dealt with have been knowledgeable but at the same time very VERY deceptive. I know this may seem the norm in RE but i am talking extreme stuff here. I met 2 Corcoran brokers a few months ago who seem to really know what they were doing. The provided useful info and seem very courteous but then they took offers for the property and after 2 weeks re-listed the house for a higher price after wasting everyones time with open houses, credit checks, etc. I mean very slimy stuff raising asking from $1.35m to $1.6m. Brownstoner even did a piece on it i.e 279 Clermont Ave Shenanigan.
I know this is a specific example but I’ve heard many such complaints from other buyers in Brooklyn.
My wife and I returned to the same open house three times. The seller was represented by Corcoran. We were without the services of an agent. When the time came to make a bid, we had some concerns about the 421a tax abatement status of the unit. What amazed us was the total disregard of our questions. Somehow, we were never taken seriously. An educated bid proposal was not possible. This is inexcusable in any market, but when this unit has remained unsold for months, despite a price reduction, there is no explanation. Is this par for the course??…or just Corcoran?
phf, Corcoran does strongly feel their website is a competitive advantage, according to their brokers. THey feel a large percentage of Brooklyn buyers come from Manhattan, and that Manhattan buyers check Corcoran’s website first. Don’t know if it’s true or not, but in my last coop the vast number of buyers came from Manhattan.
I don’t think Corcoran has a policy to overprice the listings. I think it’s more greed on the seller’s part than the broker. After all the broker would love to collect 6% of a slightly smaller sure thing than dick around for a year or more with price cuts, multiple showings, etc. The Corcoran broker I dealt with for my coop sale specifically said she was under-pricing the listing to start a bidding war. Since I had been there a decade and had plenty of profit and since I wasn’t trying to be a pig I got a fast sale that made everyone very happy.
Like I said, the individual broker is more important than the firm, if we’re talking a similar level, i.e., Corcoran vs. BHP, not Corcoran vs. Fillmore.
I gotta say that as a seller I have had very good experiences with Corcoran. The folks I have dealt with their have been almost uniformly very professional and knowledgable. There is no doubt that they price very aggressively but as the seller you have the final say so if you tell them you want the house priced appropriately and you know the market you can make that call. I just sold my two bedroom co-op in Clinton Hill with Corcoran and I was very happy with the price I got and with the professionalism of the whole experience. They took great photos of the house, which I think really helped sell it. Anyway, I know it is more fashionable to diss Corcoran but I have sold two properties with them and they both worked out well. Haven’t ever used BHS.
As a buyer I find the Corcoran website the easiest to use with the most info and therefor I go back there most often. My experience with Corcoran brokers has been fine.