Going around in an amusement park, a dance floor or an athletic field makes sense. But it doesn't when it comes to your broker. (Flickr photo by gaco79)
Congratulations, you decided that a real estate broker is the best way to find, negotiate for and ultimate purchase a new home.
Well, I suppose you should congratulate me if I’m that broker. But that’s beside the point.
What is not beside the point is how to get the most from your broker.
A buyer of mine who had visited a new condo in downtown Brooklyn a couple of times struck up a relationship with the listing broker. Fine so far. Then, after discussing price, he asked me to represent him. Although my buyer was late in asking, the listing broker–whose exceptional honor I documented a while back–said he was happy to share his fee with me.
Although I had explained to my client that he henceforth should deal with that broker only through me, wouldn’t you know that he began asking for concessions and upgrades on a subsequent visit to the apartment in my absence.
The way that he expressed his requests resulted in a loss of any leverage. His, and thus my, negotiating power plunged to near zero.
Another buyer whom I already was representing also had developed a relationship with the listing broker for a condo, this one in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights in a building that my buyer had checked out numerous times. Despite my warning that it could be financially harmful, he, too, innocently tipped his hand and thus failed to achieve what he wanted.
I have deliberately avoided going into detail, but I hope my message is clear: When you have a broker of your own, don’t go around your representative in a transaction. Always, always go through the broker, even if it’s just to ask for another showing.
Your broker’s job is to protect your best interests. And it is in your best interest to let your broker do his or her job.
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Malcolm Carter
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
Senior Vice President
Charles Rutenberg Realty
127 E. 56th Street
New York, NY 10022
M: 347-886-0248
F: 347-438-3201
Malcolm@ServiceYouCanTrust.com
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