Here in New York just about every buyer north of New York City working with brokerage uses a buyer agent. It just makes sense; the seller has an advocate in the listing agent looking out for them, so buyers should have the same advantage in the largest transaction of their life. Moreover, it almost never costs the buyer anything out of pocket beyond their purchase. A good buyer agent can help with many things, but there are some things we can’t do.

Let’s start with what a good agent can do. 

• Due diligence on the property background, sales history, and condition. I’m the guy that advises you to test that oil tank, septic system, and presence of radon. I check with the municipality to ensure that the taxes are correct, the square footage is accurate, and everything represented by the listing agent is true. 
• Market activity- Is the house overpriced? Underpriced? Competitive for the area? Listed previously with another broker? I can tell you what houses like it are selling for, and in many cases I know the other sales in the area very well. I may have personally made some of those sales!
• Negotiate– I can sniff out a divorce. I know what questions to ask. I probe for weaknesses. I know exactly how to handle the listing agent, certainly far better than an unlicensed, first-timer. I have seen listing agents hang buyers out to dry in cases where the buyer thought themselves wise to deal directly with the lister. 
• Advise– I can tell you if the time is right to raise your offer, stay put, how to handle a counter offer, and tons of other things you may not have even thought of. I do it all the time. 
• Refer you to competent lawyers, mortgage sources, inspectors, and other specialists you need to make sure you have proper representation and assistance. Need an estimate on a new deck? I’ll get you 2 contractors. Need to know if a roof is going to need a replacement? I’ll get you 2 honest roofers who’ll tell you the truth, not shake you down for a job. 
• Serendipity– I have verified estimated fuel and utility costs, listened for train noise of a nearby line, timed a commute, and hundreds of other things you may not be able to do yourself. 
• Is there more? I could probably write for hours. But you get the point. 

• Predict the future. I have NO IDEA what a seller will take. Don’t ask me to ask their agent. They are ethically bound to represent the asking price, period. I have NO IDEA what the house will sell for in 5 years. There is no way to tell. I have NO IDEA when the roof or furnace will go.   
• Steal a house. Well, in most cases. Yes, it is a buyer’s market. No, that doesn’t mean that you can insult the seller and presume they are desperate and will take anything. Have we gotten some fantastic deals done well below asking price? I have. But once that lowball offer is rejected or countered at full price, you need to understand that the odds of a steal are remote. 
• Hypnotize the seller and their agent into taking your 80c on the dollar offer. This is especially the case with highly desirable properties with recent price reductions and plenty of interested people looking. People are all about the money. If you are in a competitive bidding situation, they take best and highest.  
• Manipulate reality. This is somewhat like hypnosis. If you are making a low offer with a low downpayment and a pre approval from some Internet lender, you are not giving me the sufficient tools to make you look good in the eyes of the seller or their agent. 
• Beat the other side into submission. Being adversarial doesn’t work. Sellers aren’t bad people for wanting to maximize what they net for their property, so getting insulted when they counter offer or don’t accept all of your terms the first go around doesn’t make them unreasonable. It makes them people with their own wants and needs which should be respected and considered. Advocacy is not pillaging. 

A few other observations to keep in mind, especially in this environment where the buyer has the upper hand:

• Not every seller is desperate.
• A win/win outcome, or even the appearance of one, is superior to a win/lose outcome. I have seen sellers who felt like they were held over a barrel by a smug buyer replace large appliances with cheaper ones and do other things the buyer didn’t like but couldn’t fight because of ill feelings over how they were treated. 
• Never underestimate the importance of psychology and perception. If you are going to offer $395,000 on an opening bid consider 400k instead. 
• Nobody likes a bully. Sellers bullied buyers back in the hot market. It wasn’t wise. It isn’t wise to demand that a 75 year old vacate their home of 40 years in 30 days instead of 60 just because it works for you. Think win/win again. 
• Don’t overplay your hand. A 10-year old kitchen with corian counters and black appliances instead of chrome isn’t outdated or 3rd world.  
• If you adore a fantastically priced, spectacularly appointed property you probably aren’t alone. Don’t be shocked if such a home has competitive bidding. 

Here’s the bottom line: if it sounds like I am defending sellers I am not. I am trying to portray that there are people on the other side just like you. Empathy makes you a better negotiator, and better negotiators get better deals. 

I sent a buyer client a Dear John letter this evening, and it was sent with a heavy heart. I have been working with this couple on and off for 2 years now and after this afternoon I realized it was time to tell them I cannot help them. To paraphrase Abe Lincoln, a real estate brokers stock and trade is their time and advice. Your agent’s time is valuable. We cannot be a tour guide; we’ll go bankrupt.

I have enormous patience for people considering a 6 figure purchase. It isn’t done lightly, nor should it be rushed. But 2 years is enough. It isn’t even the length of time, at that, because this past summer I decided to let another buyer go after a month. In both cases, the problem was the same:

You cannot buy a $650,000 house for $400,000.

Real estate markets are highly localized. Westchester County is not Miami, Las Vegas or Pheonix. We aren’t down 50%. Is there play with most sellers? Yes. But you can’t offer a competitively priced house 80 cents on the dollar and justify it with the fact that it hasn’t sold in 90 days. The Mrs. is not the issue; he is. If it were just her they would have bought in late 07 or early 08. She came out hobbled with a cold and was in the car as we spoke in the driveway. I explained to him that this was the best we’ve found, and that he either had to raise his price or make some concessions.

His reply was disconnected; I don’t care about the friend of a friend who bought Shangri La for the back taxes. I’m an agent, and I should have found a steal for my family, right? Wrong, I bought the house my wife wanted. That’s what you do. Those words didn’t resonate with him. It was at that point that I realized this was hopeless. I had to say goodbye to them. If you want to be a wheeler dealer, I suggest baseball cards or ebay. I sell homes.

Not every house is 2009 updated and on a level, square lot at the end of a cul de sac for the same price as one with a 1980 kitchen, a cliff in the back, and a double yellow out front. If it is, it will sell in a day. You either have to raise your price point or lower your expectations if you’ve seen 100 homes and nothing is good enough. In some cases, you’ll also have to find a new agent.

I wish these people the best. I hope this will be a wake up call for them. I have a business to run, and no business survives on window shoppers.

****Caution: Bragging Father Alert*******

One of the neat things about parenthood is seeing your son or daughter do well at something, especially if it is unexpected. This morning our oldest son had to put in a shift, in the rain, at the local grocery for a cub scout fundraiser. They had a table set up outside the Stop & Shop in Ossining, where they were selling popcorn to benefit Pack 49. Luke was part of the first shift, from 11-12am, and the first 10 minutes was punctuated by 2 other scouts sort of mumbling to passersby with limited success. 

Now, you have to sort of appreciate the setting; it is raining, people are in a hurry to get to their cars, and nobody really wants to part with more money after leaving the store, especially for popcorn at double what they just passed in aisle 7. Moreover, Luke was a little slow to get started this morning, a bit shy with strangers, and very sensitive. I sort of hoped he’d blend into the background to avoid rejection, frankly. 

However, I can’t not sell. I knew the kids could do a better job with their pitch, so I stationed Luke right by the exit and had him get the line down cold:

“Would you like to buy some popcorn to support our pack?”

Then, yes, no or maybe, say “Thank you!” cheerfully. 

The first 2 or 3 people walked on by, but after about 5 minutes of practice, Luke was a natural. Every person who left the store got a faceful (and earful) of the little guy’s well-articulated pitch, followed by that adorable tooth-deficient grin. Even many of the people who didn’t want to buy anything would look right at him and say “wow, aren’t you cute!” or something like it. The little bugger stole the show. 

As every parent will attest, our children do the cutest things right before or after we turn on the camera. However, I was able to capture on my cell phone, Luke turning around a “NO” with his cheerful attitude. As you can see, he is standing right at his little station, and the lady compliments him on his politeness and sweetness, and then heads over to the table to make a purchase. The quality is a bit Zapruder-like, and another scout puts his hand up in front of the camera to be a wise guy, but you can still make it all out. 

Whats the moral of the story? Attitude is everything. It could have been a rainy, boring hour but Luke’s decision to give his all made my day. I am very proud of him. He might end up being a better salesman than his old man. 

I have a listing that is a “mystery.” Nice house, aggressive price, well exposed location, and no deal. We’ve had two offers, but neither went together. One factoid: I get more lawn sign calls on this property than any other. What to do? 

Hold an open house? Are you crazy? I HATE open houses.

An open house on a weekday afternoon? Are you nuts?

Well, I guess I’m nuts. Given the close proximity to a local school which dismisses at 3pm and the nice weather, mortgage broker Trevor Curran (who came up with the idea) and I held 180 Weyman Avenue, New Rochelle, open from 2:30-4pm yesterday. No print ads, just web-driven stuff.

The tally? 4 visitors, one of whom has already scheduled to meet with the mortgage broker for a formal pre approval. Every one of them told me they had been watching the house and waiting for an open. Every one of them complimented the house, as it is very nice

Go figure. So we’ll do it again next week.

 180 Weyman Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10805. $449,900, 3 BR, 1.5 Baths

OPEN HOUSE Thursday, October 29, 2:30pm-4pm

I just listed the sweetest property in White Plains tonight. I was very jazzed to enter it on the MLS when I was reminded that I cannot. The Westchester-Putnam MLS has been down all day.

At first we scrambled to the ledger to make sure we didn’t miss paying a bill. We didn’t miss it. There is a big upgrade going on, and all we can do is wait for them to work out the glitch. I have never seen a technical problem like this, ever. They are quite rare, and very brief at that. So, with our biggest tool down for the day, all we can do is occupy ourselves elsewhere. This is a great excuse to get to sleep early. 

6:14 am update: Still down. The MLS is going on 24 hours offline. Unheard of. 

Having lived in Rochester, Austin, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Boston and Maryland, I am sometimes curious about those markets. I do have the occasional pipe dream about getting a condo in Center City Philadelphia or vacation home outside Rochester. Until now, my only option was Realtor.com. Now, consumers and licensees alike can find the official public MLS search for dozens of markets, sponsored by the local associations with MLSCloud.com. 

Billing itself as a “Network of MLS Public Web Sites” with the listings of almost 600,000 agents, the site links, in one comprehensive place, a growing list of areas across the country. Hawaiians can price an Alaskan Moose lodge. Landlocked Mid-westerners can peruse the Florida coast.  So, if you are relocating, getting transferred, researching a new life or just curious, check out MLSCloud.com to see if they have the MLS portal for the area that suits your fancy. 

I have been meaning to write about this for quite a while, and two recent incidents have moved me to do so.

1. While inspecting the basement of an older home, I saw old furnace pipe insulation that was probably asbestos. When I pointed this out to the homeowner, he said “Oh, that isn’t asbestos,” and promptly flicked at it with his bare hand. I was halfway up the stairs in a jiffy. 
2. I met a buyer at a home in the Bronx. We walked in the kitchen, and a nice pile of obviously recently dumped asbestos like material was right in the middle of the floor. Some rocket scientist had obviously put it there out of carelessness or worse. Who knows how long before or what was in the air. If this isn’t criminal, it should be. 

Asbestos insulation is harmless. Asbestos dust that is airborne is a carcinogen. If I were to disturb asbestos every time I saw it, I could be breathing in huge amounts of the stuff. So I don’t touch it, ever. I’ve actually gotten into arguments with people over disturbing the stuff. “Please don’t touch that” isn’t enough for some people, who will often deny it is asbestos, or say something dumb, like “I know what I’m doing.” Yeah, I know what you’re doing too, and it can make me sick. 

Think about this: If you take your pen and poke at asbestos in a basement of a home for sale, you might not breathe it in. But if some poor slob has a showing right after your viewing and they come down the stairs a few minutes later, even if they don’t touch it and figure they are OK, they just breathed in your cancer-causing stupidity. So don’t even touch it. 

There is no reason to touch it. Touching asbestos doesn’t confirm it’s existence, make it less lethal, or help in any way. It just increases the chance that particles will become airborne. Most people would never knowingly harm another. Yet they are drawn to asbestos like a moth to a flame. Here’s the thing: You might see it once, but I see it several times per week, maybe more. And I like being alive and watching my kids grow up. So, as a personal favor, if I am showing you a house and we see what looks like asbestos, leave it alone. I thank you in advance. 

It seems that anything the New York Times writes about suddenly becomes the fab new trend. Renting is now the chic thing in New York City. The upshot of the article is that renting is simpler, often cheaper, and has far fewer headaches. While one of the people interviewed did get a little misty eyed at not having a Viking stove, overall he was at peace with it. 

This is not what I would call the best reporting from the Times. I could care less about yuppies with a “been there, done that” attitude about writing off their mortgage interest on their taxes. I thought initially it was more hard hitting reportage about people who lost their homes and had to rent, which would have been timely and relevant. Instead, it was fluff, no doubt pandering to some in the Times’ ever shrinking base: limousine liberals who were victims of the economy who would love to hear that renting is cool because the Times says it is.

Why is renting the emblem of conservative republican oppression when a Bush or  Reagan is in the Oval Office, and the new cool fad when Obama is the Chief Executive?   

Of course, the subjects in the article are mentioned as paying $5000 per month in rent like that is some bargain. Would you (can you?) pay $5000 per month for 800 square feet? I’ll bet the rest of the 99% of Americans who bother to read this just shake their heads and view New Yorkers like Martians. 

Feedback. 

Feedback feedback feedback. 

Sellers want feedback. Listing agents want feedback. I’ve been out showing homes to people and had listing agents call me while I was still with the buyer for a showing 30 minutes prior and ask for it. I have sellers who have literally asked “Did they like it? Did they like it?” like some sort of Sally Fieldian cathartic event.

Feedback is essential, but not for the reasons you might think. Quality is more important than quantity. Asking buyer agents for a debriefing when the house simply wasn’t a fit isn’t a productive use of time. Decrying an agent as unprofessional when they don’t answer an email or call back right away distracts us from our purpose. No buyer ever bought a house because the listing agent mauled them or their agent. They bought the house because it felt like home, and they probably had some space to reach that conclusion. 

Most of the time, there is no Earth-shattering feedback. It just wasn’t for them. I only married 1 girl, I dated dozens. The ones that didn’t become Mrs. Faranda weren’t all bad, nor was I a bad fit for them in many cases. It just wasn’t a bullseye. We should all consider that when we don’t get an answer within a day. Buyers might be poker faced. What is their agent supposed to do, debrief them? Demand an explanation? Those agents have skinny kids.  

On the flip side, if a listing agent doesn’t track down feedback for their buyer, it doesn’t necessarily constitute dereliction of duty. We have to work on our business as well as in our business, and updating a craigslist ad might be a better use of time than leaving a 7th voice mail asking if the pig farm next door was an issue. We send 2 email requests. Some get answered. many aren’t. If I really have a question, I’ll make a phone call. But I can’t allow it to consume me, because if they aren’t going to buy, I still have to find a buyer. 

Am I going to ignore requests for feedback? No. Am I going to stop asking for feedback? Hell no. But if I don’t get it after 2 emails, I won’t take it personally.