Ever sold your NYC home yourself, without a broker?

Yes, completely agree with Slopefarm. A good lawyer can also help with the negotiating if you decide you need an intermediary. Brokers’ commissions in the UK are 2%. the fees paid here are daylight robbery.

NeoGrec

in General Discussion 7 years and 2 months ago

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katerina | 9 years and 2 months ago

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In addition to listing on NYTimes and the advice about hiring a professional photographer, I’d also recommend listing on StreetEasy. We recently bought and looked for listings exclusively on StreetEasy, which is a much better website than any of the RE firms’ sites I’ve seen. We purchased a FSBO and I can’t imagine why I’d need a broker to sell if/when that day comes. As first time buyers, we used a broker but I seriously regret it. He did little more than look up comps on StreetEasy, which I was perfectly capable of doing on my own.

FishieFishie | 9 years and 2 months ago

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Thank you all so much, with all the different input! I realize I should have mentioned that I wasn’t determinedly embarking on a must-sell quest; I just wanted to float the possibility experimentally for a couple of weeks. So I wasn’t going to do the whole drill, staging, and all that. And, yes, I did talk to a couple of brokers (I didn’t realize the norm was 6%, which stunned me), so I do have a good idea of a reasonable price. Dave/DIBS: I think that despite my ignorance, I might disagree that most buyers are working with brokers. I get the impression that buyers just read the ads (unless they’re really wealthy, and my place isn’t in that category). Rob Mills: Thanks about the attorney recs, which I’ll check. Nancy: Thanks for the rec of RealDirect, which I’d never heard of. Despite the warnings about protected classes, this still bothers me. For instance, if I get a guy who comes off as a thug or lunatic or tyrant, I know perfectly well that the co-op board will reject him, so even beyond my own distaste for dealing with him, why waste the precious time? You guys have me thinking that perhaps I should find out where I can look up the list of protected classes. I could probably think of ten or so, but if you think there are twenty, there are probably ones I haven’t run across.

angelique.m.west | 8 years and 8 months ago

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When it comes to selling a co-op (or condo) one thing you’re paying the broker for us to work as the go-between for buyer and the board. These days even the most relaxed boards require reams of paperwork from prospective purchasers. It’s not just the volume of material they ask for but the specific and unique ways they may want it submitted. It’s easy for even the most organized purchaser to screw it up, which delays the closing. The broker can ride herd on the purchaser and review the package pre-submission to ensure everything’s as it should be. You want that package to be submitted to the board once and not bounced back for a missing doc. Ask yourself if you have the patience to play that role once you actually agree with someone on price. If you aren’t sure ask the board for the list of documents they require from purchasers. Then decide. Btw, 6% isn’t firm. Many brokers are willing to do 5% these days given the scarcity of listings. Just ask.

jeanneholland

in General Discussion 7 years and 2 months ago

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Selling FSBO in NYC is quite common, actually. Even for co-ops, as long as you are actually interested in helping with the board package and managing the sale process you can absolutely do it yourself. In short, you just need to take professional photos, price it appropriately and make sure you list on RLS, StreetEasy, etc. There are companies that offer this service (called Flat Fee RLS/MLS) – i.e. Hauseit. This is a good article on FSBO in NYC: http://observer.com/2016/09/the-biz-of-the-fsbo/

If you aren’t prepared to spend 3-4 months working on your sale, or you think you are easily discouraged and may give up – then I suggest you hire a broker!

slopefarm | 7 years and 2 months ago

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Presumably you will want a lawyer for closing, so if you go FSBO, why not get your lawyer in place early and get some sound legal advice on dos and don’ts. This won’t add much if anything to the legal costs and it sure beats (a) 6% or (b) being sued.