With keys, the dark ages prevail here

Brokers in Manhattan apparently are a shady lot.

That’s the impression I developed after I moved back to the Big Apple from Washington, D.C., where I showed properties to buyers as well as in the ritzy suburbs of Maryland and Virginia.

In that region and just about everywhere else, brokers only have to call ahead, even just leave a message, to say they plan to show the apartment or house as soon as the same day.  If no one calls back to postpone the visit, brokers are free to show the place.

The procedure there is for the listing broker to have left keys with a concierge or in a lockbox.