New brokerage model....feedback?

New model? Is your point just lower fees, or am I missing something?

Obviously lower fees are better than higher ones, for buyers and sellers, landlords and renters. There are trade-offs to using brokers, which is why some people do, and others don't. I would certainly be more likely to use a broker if the fee is lower (assuming the quality of service was as good or better). And I would imagine you'll get some market share from other brokers that still insist on the higher fees, although you'll piss them off too.

As for who pays the fee (i.e. renter or landlord), I don't think it really matters. It's friction costs either way, and both will end up paying implicitly, even if only one side pays explicitly.

Just one opinion.

First thing I'd do if I were you is clean up your website. It looks extremely unprofessional (start with posting a more business-like picture, dude) and, frankly, it's a bore to slog through. You want to grab potential clients with concepts that are easy to read and understand.

Use good grammar and dump tacky catch-terms like 'our famous no-fee tour' (Famous? Says who?). That kind of stuff just looks cheesy and reminds one of dermatologists who advertise their 'famous' skin peels in subway ads.

If you're serious about expanding your business, consider investing a bit to have a web designer overhaul your site. Better layout, easier-to-read font color--these things may seem insignificant but they can make a tremendous difference in how you (and you business) is perceived. Honestly, if I were a seller and you directed me to the haphazard mish-mash you call a website I might think twice about trusting you with my business.

This is not intended to be harsh, just some plain-spoken input.

Squid, thank you for the feedback and I will consider some of your suggestions, I am going to dump the whole no-fee tour-agreed that "famous" slogan is silly. I kept the website simple with the text short and to the point. I found that there was just way to much content on some of the other sites, a lot of it very unreadable in my opinion. I must say I don't understand the "haphazard-mish-mash" comment? The site is simple, easy to navigate and gets to the point. Grammar yes a weak point I will have my girlfriend proof read it. This site is an off the shelf template done by www.thedesignpeople.com and I must say I have actually gotten quite a bit of good feedback, also very cost effective. The font color is black and orange, I like orange but was not always sure about how it looked with the gray template I will try some other color scheme. Dude- Why hate on the picture? I was more interested in what people thought of the fee structure as this seems to be a bone of contention with a lot of folk-both those using and not using brokers. Any investors out there? Let's talk...lol.

Newbuyer: Well perhaps "new model" is a bit ambitious..lol. Yes the main point is lower brokerage fees but no small point as we are talking about saving very,very big money on this schedule I propose. Some other changes will be a much more seller friendly exclusive agreement-you will never be locked in if you are not satisfied with the service. Regardless of the website, my picture and all the other fluff it really comes down to the broker and that requires a meeting to sort out if that person is right for you. Selling an apartment isn't brain surgery but does require a certain level of competency and personality.

I have made a good living at this for over 15 years, raised two children in the Village(in college now)so I understand a few things about the market and how things get done. There are a few others out there who are very big players in this business thinking along the same lines as me-I have had a meeting with one of them. A $5800 dollar fee to rent a $3000 dollar apartment is just crazy especially in these times and perhaps $60,000 dollars to sell a $1,000,000 dollar apartment is a bit steep? I am a very small fish going up against jaws but I think what I propose makes sense. Foxtons didn't work because they excluded the rest of the brokerage community, hired very incompetent "agents" and had zero presence. I don't want to go this alone, I will pay a fair commission to the big houses and I am sure they will agree to take a little less rather than nothing at all. Most buyers do work with brokers, but they also search the listings online and will instruct there broker to show them what they find. As a seller you will have a couple advantages working with me, in a weak market you can price much more competitively than a similar listing and not have it cost you as much on the sale. In a strong market you keep more of the profit as the commission is much, much less. If there are buyers out there without a broker and they find a place I am listing the fee may be 1-2% now we are talking saving big, big money! For the most part where do 99% of the listing's get advertised? The NY Times and although we don't have an MLS here 99% of the brokers use a listing data base that we all share and where we all look when searching for available properties to show our customers-no big secrets here. Also the internet has made marketing homes directly to a broker via there in-box as easy as pushing a button and e-blasting a listing out to 2000 brokers in 5 minutes. I am not trying to reinvent the wheel just keep doing what I have been doing for the last 15 years but more cost effectively for everyone involved. That said it's not easy to get people to try something new, although they will complain like hell-change is hard for most.

I have to agree with Squid on the photo. You've got a beautiful head but I think the photo is too emotive; use one that shows strength & resolve - & maybe you want a tie? Also, I think you want CIAO in the title of one of those properties. Sadly nobody proofreads on the web but you're doing a professional site & errors are troubling because it shows a lack of attention to detail, the exact opposite of what your clients will expect.

Good luck. Lower fees sound like just the thing for this tumbling economy.

Never been a broker here, but I've bought and sold property in NYC. My feeling is you break the price and the major firms will stonewall you. You can carve out a niche for yourself, but the odds of serious growth would be slim IMO. Barbara Corcoran seemed to grow her business by focusing on condos and exploiting the Internet early on, among other factors. I recommend you focus on particular neighborhoods or landlords and work for less if it suits you.

PMG currently that is exactly what I am doing and so far so good, but I would like to grow and I would love to get back into some selling. The current state of the market is terrible to point out the obvious, at this point I'm just trying to make a living. But I started in 91 or 92 when there really was no sales market downtown and 0 new development. But people still needed to live somewhere and so we all made a living renting out apartments, the owners paid us. It's hard to say where things are going to end up but it's not looking good. I believe you will see a major consolidation going on in the brokerage business and many firms closing up/scaling back and those of that can be creative will survive. Thanks for your comments.

Look for a new photo soon I just bought a new suit. I will go over the site again and correct spelling/grammar(but hey it's not that bad!) I have already taken some of squids suggestions and "cleaned" things up a bit.

""I must say I don't understand the "haphazard-mish-mash" comment? ""

Yeah, that may have been a bit harsh. The problem is the site simply does not look professional. I'd rather see some polish graphic-wise, plus better organization with regards to the content. You don't want your customers to have to wade through your copy to get to the point. I'd edit and tighten the copy as much as possible, then use headline/bullet-point format on each idea to make it simpler to absorb. Remember, on a website (as in TV), you have only a few moments to grab your 'viewer'. If they get tripped up in long-winded copy they may just hit the back button and you've lost a potential customer.

As for the photo, I didn't say I hated it. It is very sweet, actually. Like something one might post on a dating site. Which is just the problem. You want to come across as experienced and competent, not young and green. I nearly fell off my seat when you mentioned in one of your posts that you have a kid in college. Your photo makes you look like YOU are barely out of college.

It sounds like you have great business sense and you want to showcase that in the best possible light.

Please remove the full name and address of your clients in a testimonial -- it is a little creepy from a security perspective.

You want a new model? Here's a new model. People who have money to buy NYC real estate fill out a wish list, such as 2 bedroom, 2 bath, square footage requirement, and price point. Then sellers come to them and offer their apartments. If they like the sounds of it, they go and see it,and see if they can make a deal. This way buyers/sellers don't waste time bidding the market down to reality. Sellers know what price points they need to hit to make a sale. And they don't leave a 1.5 million dollar apartment sitting around for 6 months(or more) knowing all along that they would accept an offer of 1 million but the cash buyer never even looked at that apartment because it was not in their price point. It's sort of like priceline.com for apartments. Since right now there seems to be a lot more sellers than buyers, maybe the buyers who could facilitate a quick sale should be pursued rather than the sellers. Just an idea. We could switch things up a bit.

Actually I have two kids 21 and 24. Squid you must be in the web/design business? I will work on that but I thought by putting "One month broker" fee on the main page I thought that got there attention? I will spend sometime cleaning up the site and have a friend or two who do this kind of work look it over. The new picture is coming soon I promise to look at least 30! lol. NYRENNewbie: You have a lot of faith the the rational thought process of humans.

"And for all the bitter Betty's out there this is not another broker trick, just looking for some honest feedback."

huh, what the hell is a bitter Betty? You should reduce your consumption of meth, it shows in your pic, anger and logic.

By the way, what is the wonderful thing about one month broker fee?

Any renter I ever knew who was more than 2 years out of school and had a blue chip job could negotiate one month.

The current market suggests a fixed $1000 broker fee for apartments under $3K per month, or for an owner to pick up a brokerage fee.

"Bitter Betty" is an expression that most with a "blue chip" job would understand. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bitter%20betty

Methinks DaBulls may be a bit o' a bitter betty.

you think those with a good job use bitter Betty in their daily lexicon? Which definition, this one?

2. bitter betty: extreme bitterness given off by someone who has just lost a game of mario party

Lol. Squid me thinks you're right.

Aww, whatsa matta, Bulls? Bears gotcha down?

huh?