House of the Day: "Location Plus Market Value"
We found this place on Craigslist last night and agree with the selling broker who so unbiasedly writes that it “Won’t Last Long”. This is a great line from the listing too: “Owner is motivated to sell to private buyer or investor that understands the meaning of location in combination with market value.” Give that…
We found this place on Craigslist last night and agree with the selling broker who so unbiasedly writes that it “Won’t Last Long”. This is a great line from the listing too: “Owner is motivated to sell to private buyer or investor that understands the meaning of location in combination with market value.” Give that man a pullitzer! Despite actually being in Bedford Stuyvesant (man, do brokers like to stretch that Clinton Hill boundary!), this 4-story, 2-family brownstone has lots of historic deets and is on a very prety block. We recommend that you check it out–but if you’re a broker, forget it–Isaac at Doctor Realty is keeping the commish on this $729,000 pad all for himself.
2-Family Brownstone [Doctor Realty via Craigslist]
This posting is not worthy of brownstoner. The house is in Bed Sty and it is very crappy.
To Anon 8:03am, I’d prefer to use a broker who participates in the multiple listing service. I would think that broadens the pool of potential buyers. As a buyer in Park Slope, it was a pain in the neck to have to use different brokers to see different coops. I’d have to explain the same story to different people about what I wanted to buy, my financial situation, and my schedule. The counterargument is that a broker who doesn’t co-broke will work that much harder than one who does, because s/he would be looking at the full 5% or 6% commission (before the agency’s cut) instead of getting only 3% in a co-broking transaction.
i always wonder why sellers stand for listing agents refusing to co-broke. or is that in trade for a lower commission rate? I imagine a broker willing to list for 3% would deserve the entirety of the fee.
On brokers: the fee is negotiable.
On using appraisers to set an asking price: that’s insane. Those people don’t know anything. I work for a company that buys mortgages from banks, and the people in valuations have nothing good to say about appraisers.. it’s not a coincendence that one guy’s place got appraised at exactly the right price, it happens all the time.
On coming up with a price: Ask a few brokers, and look at the current market to get a good sense.
Final comment on fsbo: If you think you have a place that is perfect and will sell itself and you don’t care about getting “top dollar”, I’d say you can do it yourself, otherwise you may be in trouble.
“How could anyone list their house with a company called “Doctor Realty”? or am I missing that it’s a company with a target audience of Doctors…maybe I’ll call Isaac and ask…”
Also, how can they not have a website? What broker in 2005 doesn’t put up a website to market his/her listings?
It’s fine to “gazoomp” here in the US so long as there is no signed contract, it’s just a bit of bad real estate karma if you’ve already orally accepted an offer, but it happens all the time.
Brokers’ commissions are insanely high in New York — especially when the property is in good condition and in a good location. Sometimes you wonder what the brokers are really doing to earn that %. The real estate market in the UK is red hot and highly competitive (with unsavory practises like “gazumping” — whereby a buyer who thought they had a deal can be pushed aside by a johnny-come-lately offering more moolah) yet estate agents over there never earn more than 3%. If I were selling today, I’d do it myself and pay my lawyer a premium to handle the final negotiations. I went to an open house on St Mark’s Ave between 5th and 6th Ave back in March where the owner, an architect, was selling the place himself. He told me it was his 2nd time selling w/o a broker.
I think it depends. I had an appraisal on the place I bought recently and it was $180,000 more than what I paid. I don’t think it should always be exactly the same, otherwise it is a bit dodgy and not very independent sounding.
Question about independent appraisals in conjunction with a refinancing. What role, if any, does the estimate you provide to the bank as to your property’s worth play in the appraisal.
In other words, if you tell the bank you think your property is worth $1M, and the terms of your new financing is contingent on an appraisal at that rate, does the appraiser have an incentive to appraise your house at $1M and no more (i.e. just enough to the give the bank a yes-or-no), or will they appraise it for more if indeed it is worth more?
I ask because the last time I had an appraisal done it came back at *exactly* what the refinancing amount was for, which seems too coincindental.