Buyin a Place via Warren Lewis?
Would appreciate input from owners who’ve bought their place from Warren Lewis or other smaller firms that don’t co-broke with Corcoran, where our broker is. Curious how things work when one wants to make an offer on a place that’s a Warren Lewis listing but has a broker that’s not from Warren Lewis. In such…
Would appreciate input from owners who’ve bought their place from Warren Lewis or other smaller firms that don’t co-broke with Corcoran, where our broker is. Curious how things work when one wants to make an offer on a place that’s a Warren Lewis listing but has a broker that’s not from Warren Lewis.
In such a case, we’d have to go it alone without a buyer’s agent who’d otherwise pull the comps, advise on appropriate offer price, spearhead negotiation or bidding strategy, shepherd paperwork, etc. A daunting thought given all the other variables in play.
I’m aware that a single broker from any firm can represent both parties of a purchase transaction, doubling their commission, but I’m not a fan of that arrangement, preferring instead when each side has their own representation.
So, if you’ve been in this scenario, especially if your broker was from Corcoran, what was your solution? Since you’d be hiring a real estate attorney anyway, did you need to ask and pay for their help with those additional needs, service that’d come at no cost if you were allowed to have your experienced broker involved? Or did you just guess your way through it? Thanks.
Using the listing agent and only that agent is called a “direct deal.”
Because they know they don’t have to split the commission, many brokers will offer sellers a lower percentage commission on a direct deal (ours did) and consequently this discount is often passed along to a buyer who comes without a broker. When we sold our place, people who came with their own broker paid more.
In my experience (I don’t think there is a legal entity of a “buyers broker” in NYC), adding an extra realtor to the process adds little except drama and expense.
You may think your realtor is great but we have gotten to know a lot of realtors and when chips are down, they are good at surface stuff, but not really good at tough stuff. Get a good attorney for the contract stuff and negotiate the price yourself.
All of the above, but a RE attorney cannot get you a better deal unless your initial offer is accepted and you have moved to the engineer’s report stage. So, if you do your homework, have your offer accepted and are ready to sign a contract, don’t just get a good lawyer, get a good engineer. If your report turns up things that were not disclosed during negotiations, your lawyer can try to negotiate an additional amount off purchase price.
Since in my experience most brokers are the devil’s spawn, I can’t imagine wanting to deal with not one but two of them! Don’t bother with a so-called buyer’s broker. Frankly, their motivation is the same as the seller’s broker — a quick sale so they pocket their share of the commission. Do your homework (there are so many tools online — including this one) and hire a really good RE attorney.
I was under the impression that in a co-broke, one broker still formally represents the buyer, but all fees were paid by the seller to their broker who then splits with the buyer’s broker. I think this in part is because fees are tax deductible for the seller but not the buyer.
Anyway, the main advantage to having your own broker is that they can also advise you on specific property related issues — like is the co-op well run or have there often been complaints, is the condo developer prone to being sued in the first years after the initial sales, etc., is the lot around the corner in the process of applying for a Scarano-fied expansion, etc.
As for comps, NYC is relatively transparent about comps through pay services like Streeteast and Property Shark, and you can even take on the task manually via ACRIS on a block by block basis. Where a buyer’s broker can add value there is (1) helping the buyer distinguish outliers in value (e.g., by knwoing that the recent sale on the next block over was compeletly renovated and thus could command a higher price), and (2) assisting the buyer in dealing with banks that use sub-par apparaisal processes (aka driveby appraisals) that undervalue the property and thus the LTV process. This is especially true in non-prime neighborhoods. However, by that stage usually the seller’s broker is trying to get the sale done, so they should be assisting the buyer even w/o a broker.
In terms of a negotiating strategy, some brokers are helpful, other add little.
If you want your Corcoran agent involved, why not offer them a flat fee of $5K with a $10 or 20K bonus on signing to provide advice in your efforts negotiating with brokers who do not co-broke.
Finally, WL in fact did a co-exclusive with Corcoran on that classic 7 on GAP earlier this year, so the exclusivity issue there is apparently on a case by case basis.
Please see 2nd posting above, and these few clarifications: the BUYER pays the buyer’s broker. You and that broker can agree- commission or a flat fee.
A Co Broke is an agreement between two brokers which allows/requires them to co- operate, and to share a commission. This is NOT doubling of commission, only division. The broker works for the party that pays them; it’s very simple.
You can’t force brokers to co broke. They promote an offer that they get from an open house or ad, over a co broke. Do the math. Why should they split a commission if they don’t have to? It’s less $$ for them and ~ the same amount of work.
A buyers broker may be a good idea if you aren’t clear ‘on co-broke/ procedures/ etc. There are steps involved after accepted offer, and most of them aren’t free albeit they are for your benefit. (comps, appraisal, inspections, lawyers, mortgage broker, title insurance, etc.) Make sure that you know the broker you choose, so that you have a good advocate.
The law says that the selling broker(s) must submit all offers to the seller. If you can directly approach the listing broker to submit an offer, consider doing that and hire your Corcoran friend for other assistance.
Buyers brokers never really caught on in NYC and are the exception. For the record, Corcoran did the same thing twice to me when their precious exclusive listings were involved… so there are two sides to that coin.
Good luck!
Make sure that it is their exclusive to co-broke. Unlike the likes of Corcoran, many smaller firms advertise non-exclusive listings. If it is an exclusive, then you can ask the WL listing agent if they would consider co-broking. Honestly, your “experienced” corcoran agent should be asking this.
If they say no, you can go it alone, many people do, if the listing agent is half-way competent, they should be able to provide you some assistance (it’s the least they can to if they’re not co-broking) Just remember – they represent the seller(‘s interests) and owe you “fair and honest” dealing only.
You can find comps on sites like street-easy, property shark, even the new york times but at the end of the day, it’s about how much you can afford and how much you’re willing to pay.
If that’s not an option, you can pay your corcoran agent a commission to be your “buyer’s broker” either directly or offer to tack it on to the accepted offer price.
I guess I didn’t even know there were buyers brokers in NY. What you call doubling a commission, I’ve always heard as being described as splitting. Hmm, interesting cultural difference. What exactly would such a person do for you that a cursory internet search wouldn’t? It isn’t really rocket science. The bidding I’ve been involved with has been at most a couple back a forths, and then the rest is dealt with by the lawyer. No really paperwork, etc. Of course if you are talking about some fancy pants Manhattan co-op, perhaps your own agent might be of value. But out here in Brooklyn we just keep adding cattle to the bid until the farmer is willing to hand over the homestead…