Hook, line and maybe sinker, some brokers hope

Anyone who has tried to rent or maybe even buy an apartment advertised on Craigslist knows the drill.  They call the broker, hear that place is gone and face a determined effort to keep them on the phone with promises of gold at the end of their particular rainbow.

Frequently, the listing is just fake and the product of, therefore, an unethical broker.

Still, genuine listings can be found everywhere, not only on Craigslist but in the New York Times and on the Web sites of numerous real estate brokerages. Except. . . they are not what is implied: the individual broker’s exclusive listings.

These are called “open listings.”