RE Agents Hate Brownstoner
So I been doing lots of open houses the past few months looking for a place. Every time I encounter a real estate agent and mention Brownstoner, their demeanor changes. Some have flat out said they hate this site. What’s with all the animosity towards Brownstoner? This is a great site! Most probably feel we…
So I been doing lots of open houses the past few months looking for a place. Every time I encounter a real estate agent and mention Brownstoner, their demeanor changes. Some have flat out said they hate this site. What’s with all the animosity towards Brownstoner? This is a great site! Most probably feel we (users) force RE agents, developers, etc on being more honest. So they cant cut corners and blatantly lie. What do you all think? Similar experience in the field?
I would actually WANT my apartment to be listed on Brownstoner. As the saying goes “There is no such thing as a bad publicity”. The more people see it, the better.
“One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure.”
Of course there are honest brokers, and if anything, a site like this keeps them all more honest. Somebody needs to point out when listings are full of lies and exaggerations (from counting an unfinished basement in the SF to extending the boundaries of Prospect Heights to Broadway Junction.) The net benefit of the site is invaluable for people looking to rent or buy in this city, and brokers who are afraid of informed customers are S.O.L. I found my house, FSBO, through the comments section of this blog. It was a delight not to see any brokers at the closing.
Comments here are as bad from RE and devs.
There is nothing special about the internet and blogs specifically. There are agendas, no liability and childish name calling. However, that can also lead to more honest replies.
However, however – more often than not most are overly exaggerated criticism or praise.
So basically, you get a very high signal to noise ratio. It is more entertaining than down right informative. If you are serious about a place you are better off doing your OWN primary source research. This means NOT a blog site or RE agent. All of them have their primary purpose and it is NOT to get your the best house. That is often just a side effect of such process.
It is like a reality show – it is a reality only for some and a show for the rest of us.
The reason why realtors HATE this site is because brownstoner keeps them honest and allows the community to comment and vent on their underhanded ridiculous behavior. And yes things do get a bit crazy from time to time BUT Brownstoner is extremely informative and invaluable to me as a Brooklynite.
Realtors need to focus on getting their acts together and do a better job…to many people on this site have had terrible experiences with realtors in the Brooklyn area…myself included.
PS: not all realtors suck…just most!
The underlying problem for realtors here is not Brownstoner; it is the internet.
Ultimately the internet should do to real estate brokers what it did to travel agents (i.e., put most of them out of business).
The best way for realtors to slow down this transformation of their industry (and keep their jobs) is to prevent information from being centralized and effectively organized online.
As more and more sites like Brownstoner or NY Bits collect and store this information, the “need” for realtors begins to go away (esp. in the rental market).
And with the persistence of information online, places like Awaye that get caught doing something shady are put in a tough spot. Pretty soon anyone Googling their name will find this information, and they are going to have to work hard to rebuild their rep or change their name.
Boerum,
That could be. But last week, Mr. B posted a thread about 2 houses outperforming the widget by about 15-25%. Readers added three more, all of which sold for at least 15% above widget. Hopefully, in a few more months we’ll get a real rundown of the widget and enough data points to really assess.
I think it’s because there are posters on this site that undervalue properties. A year or so ago I would have loved to have my house featured as a house of the day. Now I would beg Brownstoner NOT to feature it if I were selling. Posters on this site tear up houses for sport.
I think developers that embrace this tech do well, for example, One Sunset Park. The place is fantastic and it seems like they’re selling. I think it also makes these guys want to develop higher quality living places.
I checked out this open house in Slope over the weekend and my girlfriend tried opening up a cabinet in the kitchen but couldn’t, because the stove was blocking it. The cabinet would not open ONE INCH. Come on really? New development and you have that happening. I can only imagine underneath, where the might have screwed up.
“maybe it’s because half the comments on this website are misinformed and ridiculous.”
That must really annoy the subset of realtors who ridiculously use the words stunning, breathtaking and luxury to describe the mediocre, mundane and standard so as to misinform potential buyers.