TRD Article - SHOCK RECEDES INTO STUBBORNNESS
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Interesting article on The Real Deal SHOCK RECEDES INTO STUBBORNNESS April 30, 2009 06:33PM By Candace Taylor This past month, a real estate broker advertised that he would dress up as the Incredible Hulk at a Sunday open house, hoping an appearance by the muscle-bound monster would lure buyers to his listing for a Midtown condo. He even went so far as to place signs around the unit warning that... [more]
Interesting article on The Real Deal SHOCK RECEDES INTO STUBBORNNESS April 30, 2009 06:33PM By Candace Taylor This past month, a real estate broker advertised that he would dress up as the Incredible Hulk at a Sunday open house, hoping an appearance by the muscle-bound monster would lure buyers to his listing for a Midtown condo. He even went so far as to place signs around the unit warning that lowball offers would cause the Hulk to get angry. The stunt may have been a joke, but the sentiment was real. This spring, despite a flurry of activity caused by bargain-hunting home-seekers, deals are still rare as buyers and sellers exhibit contradictory expectations. "For every one seller who thinks pricing will be going up soon, I have 100 buyers telling me the opposite," said Paul Purcell, the co-founder of Charles Rutenberg Realty. At the end of March, there were 11,028 available listings on the market, according to appraiser Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel. That's a leap of 32.5 percent from 8,320 in the same month last year. Manhattan market reports for the first quarter of 2009 produced more evidence of the market slowdown, as closed sales plummeted 50 percent in the first quarter from the same period last year, according to reports released by the city's major brokerages. Sales in new developments fared even worse, dropping 67 percent from the prior-year quarter, the Corcoran Group's report said. Contract signings in the first quarter slipped 40 percent to 1,324, from 2,225 in the prior-year quarter, according to a report by Streeteasy.com. Despite these figures, brokers throughout the industry reported that they are busier than before. "What was a very dormant January, February and early March have been followed by a marked increase in buyer traffic, but not in actual sales," said Leigh Zaph, president of Manhattan Homes. The shock of September's financial crisis seems to have faded into incredible stubbornness on both sides of the fence. Even as buyers become brasher and less willing to meet sellers' terms, many owners refuse to believe their homes won't fetch the same eyebrow-raising prices that similar apartments fetched last year. "The average seller is still too reluctant to relinquish their inflated expectations set by the boom," said Jordan Tepper, the executive director of sales at Century 21 New York Metro. "Sellers are still citing recent sales by their neighbors, which reflect the boom market of '07 and '08, and subsequently alienating buyers and their new expectations." For their part, buyers intent on getting a deal are increasingly unwilling to see sellers' points of view. "Sellers are living in denial, and some buyers think they can make lowball offers on already reduced properties and get away with it," said Barak Dunayer, president of Barak Realty. "They are both ridiculous, and no one is making a deal." The same applies to renters. "The renters are thinking that the ball is in their court and are trying to negotiate everything in their favor," said Adina Azarian, founder and principal broker at rental firm Adina Equities. "I almost feel like tenants are trying to bully the landlords, and I don't like it." It falls to brokers to bridge the gap between the two sides, which is becoming an increasingly time-consuming task. Marie Yeljenic, a sales associate at DJK Residential, said she recently had one renter put in six different bids on six different apartments. "I think the biggest frustration of brokers is working harder, showing more apartments, going to more open houses and doing few deals," she said. "There is very heavy negotiation and more time spent on every deal." Brokers must convince buyers that their purchase is a good deal, a task that's harder than it sounds, since many buyers are convinced prices will continue to drop. "Buyers are excited about the drop in prices, but remain concerned about when and where the bottom will be reached," said Zaph. "[They] understand there's been a substantial drop in prices but they don't know how to gauge these new values." Deals are happening, brokers say, but only when sellers price their apartments at a significant discount. "Those willing to price 20 to 30 percent below height-of-market comparables are meeting with swift action from buyers and going into contract briskly," Tepper said. Here is what real estate pros had to say about market conditions: Frances Katzen senior vice president, Prudential Douglas Elliman The strongest part of the market is under $1 million, with 65 percent of transactions happening at this price point and only 2 percent transacting between the $2 to $3 million range. Bob Eychner president, Eychner Associates We are all devoting more time and attention to the principals in the deals. The measures we take are primarily extra hand-holding. Albert Feinstein managing director and general counsel, BidOntheCity.com The weakest part of the market is no one can accurately value current market offerings; there is too much turbulence in the market. Marc Lewis president, Century 21 New York Metro East and West Village, anything below 23rd Street, are slightly stronger than the Upper East or Upper West Sides. But generally all areas have excess rental inventory and a shrinking pool of tenants, which is rarely seen in the spring. Rae Gilson vice president, Classic Marketing Everyone has different reasons to buy a home now but they are all looking for the right price. When you compare apples to apples, you're going to buy the one that is priced better. Buyers are much more knowledgeable about the real estate market these days and it goes without saying that the weakest part of the market is overpriced inventory. [less]
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"The renters are thinking that the ball is in their court and are trying to negotiate everything in their favor," said Adina Azarian, founder and principal broker at rental firm Adina Equities. "I almost feel like tenants are trying to bully the landlords, and I don't like it."
"And I don't like it"...LOL. But when it was the opposite, she was in heaven, raping tenants for exorbitant rent and broker fees. I am born, bred and still live in NYC, and can deal with relative high rents, but tenants paying broker fees is definitely one thing NYC does worse than other cities.
Oh, and one thing I don't like. http://www.adinaequities.com
Her website
ha ha ha ha ha ....what a lowbrow amateur. Really lame website, nobody will take her seriously. Too bad the Real Deal reporter bothered with her.
the rental market is going to take everything lower. when landlords realize at the end of this month that the new crop of kids isnt coming into the city, panic will set in.
adina should just pop out a nipple... does cleavage give you an advantage?
"I think the biggest frustration of brokers is working harder."
Well gee isn't that too bad?! $60,000 commission on a $1 million flat, AND YOU HAVE TO WORK FOR IT?!
Say it isn't so, realtors!
"The renters are thinking that the ball is in their court and are trying to negotiate everything in their favor," said Adina Azarian, founder and principal broker at rental firm Adina Equities. "I almost feel like tenants are trying to bully the landlords, and I don't like it."
Totally agree with Beseder on this stupid comment by this broker.
Also:
Marie Yeljenic, a sales associate at DJK Residential, said she recently had one renter put in six different bids on six different apartments.
"I think the biggest frustration of brokers is working harder, showing more apartments, going to more open houses and doing few deals," she said. "There is very heavy negotiation and more time spent on every deal."
OMG, brokers actually have to WORK for their money now? (well sort of). They are the biggest culprits in the RE bubble which is the main cause of most economic woes. Their was an oped in the WSJ on this a few weeks back and I agree 100%. RE brokers are the ones who make too much money and do little to no work. And its Wall Street who gets an undeserved bad rap?
adina should just pop out a nipple...
hahahahha..totally
@5thGenNYer
Whats scary is this retarded perspective by Adina is not just a sole broker. She manages a brokerage, spewing and feeding this type of thinking to all the brokers that work for her. Thus why you get stuck with John Q. Dipshit showing and pressuring you to take apartments when you work with him on a saturday afternoon.
And some moron trained her to think that way. I want to see that person tar and feathered. It's similar to how you look to the parent and not the child when you see a child behaving poorly.
I think Obama needs to create the No Broker Left Behind program. We need to ensure the future generation of brokers do not have 45% pass rates on common sense, etiquette and manners.
:)
Beseder - totally agreed.
I'm sorry but why would you give someone all that money to say "this is the second bedroom, which is currently being used as a nursery but could also be converted into an office or den". Gee- what fabulous insight and intelligence.
"Res tantum valet quantum vendi potest."
A thing is worth only what someone else will pay for it.
We had utter denial before the crash... why be surprised that the sellers are still in denial well into it, especially when they're already expecting 20% less.
But, this is why you don't get v recoveries in RE... you get Ls.
1987 RE crash took FOUR YEARS to stop declining.
Love Adina's picture.
"Would you like to pet my hairy pooch?"
"I would, but..."
"I think the biggest frustration of brokers is working harder."
Does that mean lying twice as much?
hold on...everyone has got to check this out.
http://www.adinaequities.com/
I just negotiated $200/month off my rent -- asked for $300. Still I got a reduction and I'm going month-to-month. So I would say that you can negotiate rent especially if your a good tenant.
...and brokers are working harder-- which translates into we finally had to start actually doing our job. which imo they still don't.
beatyerputz... she's got a pooch? Gotta pet that hairy thing ASAP :)
columbiacounty... LMAO... no she didn't just update her picture? adina ... you need to re-do your roots...and might want to speak to someone about the hair loss thing...
That was some huge slip by Adina, they showed the link to her brothel, now thats funny. Adina, next time insist on a final look see before it goes to print.
"live where you love" and all that.
@ncy10025
If your initial rent was $1,000, awesome, you did a great job.
"""""""""""""""""""""""" $3,800, awesome, your landlord did a great job
Can't say enough about context...
live where you love, so interestingly similar to corcoran's "live who you are"
broker = no effort
im no lawyer but with sleazy enough litigators corcoran could have a case
Wow. "We are the only women owned firm in nyc specializing in exclusive apartment rentals". What does that even mean? Why is this the sales pitch? I feel embarrassed for her for that site.
keep clicking on the link..she's got a rotating home page (pun intended).
beseder - rent was 2800 - so ok job - but it's on the park -- over 800sq ft - renovated and 24 hr doorman - even with rents on the decline i couldn't find a comparable apt for 2600.
"RE brokers are the ones who make too much money and do little to no work."
Really? How many realtors got tax payer funded bonuses? When Corcoran is giving out AIG style bonuses with GOVERNMENT MONEY, then you can bitch. Otherwise just zip it.
no you didn't..... no you didn't a292.... okay let's get some things straight.... THE HARDER something is to get the greater the value of it... like getting into a HOT girls pants.... getting through 4 super saturdays.... getting into Harvard.... etc etc etc..... are there HARVARD MBAs flipping burgers, yes!.... but the last time I checked, the requirements for RE Brokers and RE Flippers was/and is cleavage, platinum blond hair and spreading of the RE Mantra.... buy now... buy now.... buy now.....
Let's just put things in perspective.... I don't like bailing out AIG anymore than you..... but let's just say.... a slow RE selling season was the least evil path we took by saving AIG in fall 08'.... CANNIBALISM.... :)
"stevejhx"I think the biggest frustration of brokers is working harder."
Well gee isn't that too bad?! $60,000 commission on a $1 million flat, AND YOU HAVE TO WORK FOR IT?!
Say it isn't so, realtors!"
Well, let's be a little more accurate with the numbers, for most, it's $15,000, not $60,000.
It's not $15,000 when they take the unethical path of steering you towards buyers that are unrepresented, and away from buying brokers because they don't want to split the fee. Broker is in it for himself, often times at the expense of his own client. It's a shame.
"I think the biggest frustration of brokers is working harder."
It's not working harder, it's working differently. We've been in SUCH a frenzied market, that brokers really have no concept of what it is to "sell" Real Estate. For at least the last 8+ years (going back to before the start of the downturn). Very few brokers knew how to, or did "sell" Real Estate. They "sold" owners exclusive listing agreements, and most of their skill sets are still extremely heavily rooted in doing this. however, very little of this translates into selling Real Estate: it's the difference between selling a service (any service business) and selling "hard goods". Even on the buyer's broker side, there was very little "selling" going on: the vast majority of brokers were "waiters": they took "orders" from their buyers, showed them the "menu", and the buyers picked which one they wanted (and usually quickly, because the prices on the menu changed while they perused it).
Now more than ever (but in reality it's always been this way) buyers who really know exactly what they want have no need for a broker. The brokers job has always been to show a buyer the things they thought they didn't want, but actually were the best mix of trade offs at their price range and list of needs. No one ever gets (ok, very rarely gets) what they thing they want when they first start looking. A good broker shows the buyer a mix of apartments which have most of what they want, with different trade offs and sees which the buyers can actually live with. As an iterative process, they whittle down till they get to the "best" fit that can be hag given the budget and needs.
The problem is this hasn't been what has happened in the recent past: the waiters... errrr. brokers.... simply had the buyers go on the internet and make a list of what they wanted to see, and the "brokerage" work was mostly acting as a secretary setting up appointments to see what they buyer "ordered" (and worse, most of the time not even making and showing up for appointments, but simply sending them to other broker's open houses on their own).
But with the market change, things will flip: listings will become easier to get, and become worth less, and "good' buyers will become worth more. the problem is very few buyers will sign an exclusive for the brokerage services, thus guaranteeing the broker a commission no matter how lousy a job they did. buyers will see many more apartment before making the buy decision, and both buyers and sellers brokers will have to know an awful lot more about the properties they are selling because buyers will be asking a hell of a lot more questions than they ever used to when they were told (mostly correctly) "I'll try and get you this info, but odds are by the time I get it the unit will be sold to someone else".
This should be the mission statement for the new real estate brokerage model going forward.
"the requirements for RE Brokers and RE Flippers was/and is cleavage"
Really? So then what about male brokekers and elderly female ones? Seriously, I really don't want to see Noah Rosenblatt or Sharon Baum in a bikini. Really, I don't want to see their cleveage.
You think the seller denial maybe comes from the fact that brokers are lying to them?
Many buyers are also in denial. So let's not blame everything on the mean old sellers.
How are buyers in denial? They see the price, they choose to make an offer or not....
The true value of a thing is what someone else will pay for it. (not what someone puts the price at).
Buyers aren't in denial, because they know exactly what they will pay for it, they may choose to just not buy at the current price. They aren't in denial when doing so, because they are setting the market.
> So let's not blame everything on the mean old sellers.
And they're not mean... just not very smart.
plenty of buyers are in denial. Read some of the comments on curbed and smiliar sites. 60% off. No 70% off. No, 75% off. 1999 prices. No wait, we will see 1995 prices. Those comments are nothing more than denial on the part of buyers.
Alpine, you are the king of denial... but you don't understand what it means.
BTW, you were also the same person who said everyone saying 20% off was in denial. You screamed and yelled about how there was no decline.
The more you protest...
Denial isn't about correct/incorrect predictions, its not admitting where are are.
Sellers pricing at 2007 levels. You screaming that we haven't declined 20%.
Thats denial. Its refusal to admit what is currently here.
Making predictions is not denial.
"You think the seller denial maybe comes from the fact that brokers are lying to them?"
I think it may be equal / going both ways: Brokers are lying to sellers because they know
http://www.nebo.edu/misc/learning_resources/ppt/sounds/You%20want%20truth.wav