New Year's Res

I'm constantly making new resolutions, setting new goals, all of that self-improvement-y type stuff. I'll admit that somehow the thought of a fresh start, a whole brand-new, un-used year stretching out before me gets to me--in a good way. So no, I'm not in the camp of people who think New Year's resolutions are corny, unneeded, or silly. In fact, I've been known to have kept/fulfilled a few of my own New Year's resolutions.

2008 New Year's Resolution:

To post more to this blog. Also, I have a title change in mind for No Vacancy NYC--something a bit catchier. So I'll probably re-launch this blog under that name sometime in the first month of 2008.

In order to post more, it seems I'll have to go into stealth mode at the office (a bit scary, and not the ideal scenario for obvious reasons.) OR I could simply commit to 15-30 minutes of posting per day. . .which is tough in its own way, because when I'm not working, the last thing I want to do is think about and write about. . .work. Even for 15 minutes.

Speaking of work, today I got out of work early. But damn, was I surprised at the amount of calls I got both today and on Christmas Eve. Forget about real estate for a day or two, people, and celebrate the damn holidays. Sheesh.


Happy 2008, everyone!

Real Estate, A Dangerous Business

By now pretty much everyone in NY who watches the news or reads the local bird cage liners has heard of the grisly murder of "Broker to the Stars" Linda Stein. Now apparently her alleged killer, her assistant who confessed, is claiming that some guy dressed as ninja did the deed.

Whomever killed Ms. Stein, frankly I'm surprised brokers don't get attacked more often. Let's face it, brokers are in the same neighborhood as used car salespeople on the most disliked professionals list. Only ambulance chasing lawyers and telemarketers are lower, and I could be wrong about that, so don't quote me.

Think about it. Brokers often get paid what seems like a lot of money for doing what seems like very little. (In reality, there are few easy deals, but most consumers don't see the nitty gritty of what real estate agents do, so they think we're overpaid).

Brokers are also vulnerable. In what other profession, besides perhaps being a TV reporter or some sort of actor or adult film star, is your picture on the internet? Even worse, your contact info and even parts of your schedule is often online, in order to attract customers to, say, an open house you may be running.

A motivated stalker could do serious damage with this info. In the end, even an exclusive agent like Ms. Stein--someone in that rareified realm of brokers to the rich and famous, someone who should have been nearly inaccessible-- was surprisingly easy to get to.

Scary stuff. Scary enough to make me cancel an evening appointment when I learned the space didn't have electricity.

I Haven't Quit and I Saved A Friend From HELL

Rumors of my demise have been much exagerrated and aren't the least bit accurate. Truth be told, I've simply been unmotivated to face my "home office" and blog after a day dealing with the various real estate snafus and petty office bullshit. Blogging from work could get me canned. And so it goes.

My good deed for the year has been done, my friends. I saved an old college pal of mind from Broker Hell. He was kind enough to check out this blog...he was curious about the biz and perhaps wanted to see what his ol pal (me) had been up to. In fact, he'd been making plans to get his real estate license and take a stab at the commissioned life. It would give him time to pursue creative interests, a super-flexible schedule, blah blah blah (I've called bullshit on that urban myth in the past).

One afternoon sitting around reading this blog apparently cured him of all of those fanciful notions.

And I quote (with misty tears in my eyes...tears of JOY):

but listen, I started reading your blogs intensely and they made quite an impression on me. So much so that I decided NOT to become a sales agent!

Well, I'm half kidding. Well no ... about 66.6% kidding.

While your blogs did get me thinking quite a bit, I ended up not becoming an agent in favor of staying at my current job as they offered me a promotion

Way to go!!! Seriously, I'm thrilled that someone actually got something out of my pissy little rants.

Makes it easier to fall asleep at night, knowing for certain that Broker Hell has claimed one less soul.

No Sure Deals

I thought a deal on a particular vacancy was imminent. Then some associate of the owner's offers them several hundred more dollars a month. I don't blame them for taking the offer, but it sucks for me (and for the person who wanted the space, but can't afford to match the other offer). Ugh. Another payday potentially down the drain.

Property Grunt Gives His Blessing to No Vacancy NYC

Lazy slacker that I am, I just now, as in, today, getting around to posting that Property Grunt likes this blog! Really likes it!

Grunt, just so you know, some of the snarkier, nastier tales of woe are in the NoVacancyNYC archives. I encourage you and everyone else to spend some time savoring my past brilliance. Ha ha. That was meant to be ironic. As always, I am working on yet more tales of woe and misery to bring you, explained in such a way that won't get me canned.


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Dammit I can't get that link thingy to work!!

I Heard a Rumor. . .

. . .That some brokers are charging outrageous fees for rentals. Like waaaaaayyyy beyond the standard 15% of the first year's rent that's common in Manhattan. Perhaps this will taper off until next summer, now that August is behind us.

The most I've ever charged (so far) was 20%. Well, actually we negotiated it down a couple of percentage points. Keep in mind, though, that the apartment was under $800 a month AND rent-stabilized. And gut renovated. So in other words, a rare deal worth every penny to the person who took it and probably won't move out for a decade.

Those August Days

August had me swamped. I was adjusting to a new workplace, dealing with a very busy time of year, and had many to-do's, both personally and professionally.

I know I've been a bad little blogger by not posting several times a day (or even daily!) and providing tons of linkage. Hopefully I won't be so MIA from now on, and we can pick up the snarky commentary where it left off. Dunno about the links, though. Seems other blogs like Curbed and Property Grunt cover that territory pretty well. Pathetic stories of broker hell? Those, my friends, I can provide.

In other news, I'm thinking of renaming this blog "Broker Bitch." Bitch--it can be a verb, a noun, or an adjective. Gotta love a word so flexible and adaptable. Woof!