Should merely curious buyers seek appointments?

Flickr photo by Michael Simmons

When buyers call brokers to say they are thinking about a home purchase, those brokers respond almost literally like Pavlov’s celebrated dogs.  They may even actually drool.

I don’t plead guilty to drooling, at least not in such instances, but I admit to having made appointments for buyers who are unfamiliar with the housing market to see various properties.

Is such a practice fair to the sellers, who may spend a couple of hours stashing toys and scrubbing tubs, or to their brokers, for whom time is supposed to equal money?

Next Queens auction to be held September 10

This Forest Hills semi-attached residence, which is subject to tenancy, has a minimum bid of $488,000 in the public administrator’s upcoming estate auction.

Queens Public Administrator Lois M. Rosenblatt will auction off four co-ops along with 14 single-family houses and other properties on Sept. 10 at 11 Sutphin Blvd. in Jamaica.

Properties range in price from $19,500 for 1.2 acres of vacant land in Greene County to $1.688 million for a one-story, 4,960-sf commercial warehouse in Long Island City.

You can find all the details here.

To take your own bite out of the Big Apple, you have the option here to search all available properties privately.

Subscribe by Email

Malcolm Carter
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
Charles Rutenberg Realty
127 E. 56th Street
New York, NY 10022

M: 347-886-0248
F: 347-438-3201

Malcolm@ServiceYouCanTrust.com

What buyers don’t understand can hurt them

There are buyers who know what they are doing and those who only think they know how to proceed as they search for a new home.

I happen to favor those who get what works best.

You won’t be surprised to learn that their key understanding is their appreciation for the help a real estate broker can provide.

Even though buyers these days are about as good as any agent or broker in finding online properties that have been put on the market, those buyers

Many things should never be left unsaid. Ever.

“Oh, you say you’re taking the drapes? I don’t think so.”

When it comes to the purchase of residential real estate worth hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions, some matters can stall the signing of a contract or even reduce a settlement to hours of prolonged battle.

Those matters frequently turn on the cost of items the value of which often can be calculated in the hundreds of dollars.

Disputes commonly rest on

No place like home — sometimes unfortunately

Example of an air conditioning unit that would be installed on a rooftop.

The following headline in the New York Post caught my eye:

Manhattan couple says hulking Duane Reade air conditioner blows away their view

According to the newspaper, they own a $3 million duplex on East 86th Street next to Duane Reade.  Lo and behold, the store is planning to construct a huge eight-foot-high air conditioning unit on its roof.

Uh oh, there goes any view (from the second and third floors) and down goes the Upper East Side co-op’s value.

So