Monday, January 16, 2006

OUCH, That Hurt!!!

There are some times when you think that everything is going your way, and then suddenly you find out that it isn't. Unfortunately, today is one of those days for me.

I have a listing that I've been trying to sell in the co-op building where I live in Brooklyn. It's a sponsor listing and unfortunately it's very overpriced. But I have it because I can advertise it, manage to get some buyers to take other places, and hey, I might even sell it to that intrepid soul that dares to make an aggressive offer.

Well, I thought I had found that soul. A nice gentleman who has been looking at places in my neighborhood came to see it twice. He actually bid on a fixer-upper one-bedroom in the same building, but unfortunately he thought about it too long and two other offers usurped him. So he was looking at my studio, which at nearly 600 sq. ft is not that small! He was thinking about what he wanted to bid and we were to follow up today. Well, it just so happened that yesterday he saw an open house for a fixer-upper in a nearby building that he used to live in. Since it was in his budget and a one-bedroom, he's going to offer on that instead. So frustrating! But, I figure, par for the course.

But that's not all. I was just advised that another agent who lives in my building was showing the apartment across the hall from me. Since we have the same database, I looked it up and sure enough, they had listed it for sale! These thing blindside you all the time I suppose, but I was sad because I had actually canvassed them - they were originally thinking about renting the apartment, and then it seemed they disappeared for two months and I never saw them. This morning, ironically, was the first day I saw one of them in weeks, and I asked about their new baby. But not a word.

So now I'm Monday-morning quarterbacking. Should I have been more aggressive? They had told me before that they were going to move. They had asked me my opinion about the rental, why not the sale? Do they think I can only rent apartments? Do they think I'm too inexperienced compared to this other agent (who has perhaps four or five years compared to my one) who sold a similarly sized apartment just two months ago? Likely, but maybe there's something else. I'm going to ask.

There is one silver lining in all this - the other agent is with a firm that has to cooperate with my firm. (In Brooklyn, "co-broking", as it is called, is not practiced by all firms, but is mandatory between certain firms, including ours). So, I can still bring buyers and hope to do so.

So anyone shopping with a $550,000 budget who needs a recently renovated 1350 sq. ft three bedroom that is on the corner of Prospect Park, please email me. Perhaps I have not yet closed a sale as an agent, but I have been through several as a buyer, and I have been on the board of this co-op, and I guarantee that I can get the job done. And you will be treated like gold!

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