Jackson Heights Life

I would like to ask those who have bought in Jackson Heights, why did you/did you not decide to work with a buyer's agent? What, in your experience, was the biggest benefit of having one? In general, it seems a good idea to have someone representing your interests but I would like to know what I can expect from an agent. We check the listings on Streeteasy and a number of agencies' websites almost daily, including some smaller and local ones. In the current market situation it does not look like there is a lot of room for negotiation on the price. We already have a lawyer and a mortgage provider. I trust the lawyer to do a thorough job on the financials and board minutes.

A buyer's agent doesn't cost the buyer anything, at least in theory. The buyer and seller agents split the commission assuming the buyer agent found you the listing.

But... if you're familiar with the area and pricing, and you know how to find listings that you want, you can do without.

I have tried buyer agents and they "found" me listings that I had seen months ago, so I ended up doing it without an agent. If you can find one that is very knowledgeable then maybe it's worth it, but I never did.

Thank you for your perspectives. Actually, we don't know the area that well but I still feel that it's quite easy to find listings and pricing. Would a local buyer's agent give you very specific information on buildings beyond what can be found in the financials and board minutes, such as "this small coop has several owners on fixed income who are current on their payments but would not be able to pay more if the elevator needs to be replaced" or "avoid this building because the bakery next doors is noisy"?

seriously doubt it, sounds like you're the type that likes to do things yourself. You'll be fine without an agent. Check out streeteasy.com if you haven't already. Every listing that an agent sent me was already on there, only the agent would take a while to find it...lol. If you set up a specific search you can see the newly listed units as they are posted.

I was a long-term broker in Virginia before I moved to Jackson Heights in 2011. When I got licensed here I was shocked at a couple of things that I was not used to. One was co-ops and the complete control of the boards on approval and rejection without divulging the reasoning behind their decision.Why don't they have to answer to Fair Housing laws?

The other was the resistance to buyer agency. That's just standard practice in any area that I am familiar with and for good reason. If the buyer does not have his/her own agent, who is negotiating for the buyer? Sellers agents and sub agents both represent the seller and owe loyalty to and are expected to get the  best price for their client. It just makes sense to me that the buyer should  have someone working solely for him. The vast majority of listings are in the MLS and the seller and liating agent  have already agreed to the compensatioin. The buyer does not pay.

I believe the role of a buyer's agent is to work in the buyer's best interest and, again, do not understand the resistance except to think that the listing agent hopes to keep most of the commission. I don't see how that is in the best interest of the seller and it certainly is not favorable to the buyer.

Just my opinion!

Ellen Pratt
Licensed Associate
Rock Realty
Cell/text 434-989-7068
Direct 718-440-9458
ellenwpratt@gmail.com

Even as a broker I am of the opinion that a Buyer’s or Seller’s brokers who wedge themselves into the middle of a transaction MUST have a clear understanding of what VALUE they add, or determine if their involvement does the consumer DISSERVICE. There is no one universal tool for every job, Real Estate is no exception. I don’t think that folks are resistant to working with brokers, especially those who are asking the right question - “why should I”, which is precisely the question brokers should be asking themselves in order to have proper orientation with a potential client.

My wife and I asked the same question to this forum when we were starting our home search.  An agent on the board reached out to us and he, gave an answer quite similar to Agentarmen.  I would add that both real estate agents are excellent local real estate agents and if you were to decide upon using a buyer's broker, then either one of them would be a good choice.

We decided in the end against using a buyer's agent.  Our "resistance" to it was that we did not feel that the fee of $4,000 to $8,000 (I think a 2% fee is about standard), as well as us having to sign a contract stipulating that we could only use one agent to look for a place, was worth it.  One real estate agent we met was so keen on getting us to sign them as our buyer's agent that we were turned off by it.  I hope it doesn't become the expected norm here and add yet another required middle man.  Rather it just remain a tool for someone who really needs it.  If you have the time to know the neighborhood, research comparables, goto open houses and give yourself an ideas of renovation costs, then you are already 90% there.  Pick the brains of everyone you know who has bought a house (supply wine!) and that will help too.  Even if you do take on a buyer's broker, you should do those things anyways. 

Jackson Heights does have some pocket listings, in that these listings are not available to realtors at large and cannot be found on the MLS.  With the internet gaining ground, I'm not sure how much longer that will go on, as seller allowing such a pocket listing will be hurting themselves in the end, though that is just a relatively uninformed guess.

We found our JH co-op without a broker at all and we are very pleased with the outcome.

We used Jeff Putterman (http://beaudoinrealtor.com/jeffrey-putterman/) as a buyer's agent and were extremely happy with the choice. He knew a lot about the existing listings and buildings and was able to give us some insight in advance about places so we could better decide which places to look at it. He wrote and called us the moment listings appeared and scheduled us for open houses that we might not have gotten into if we'd waited even a day or hadn't been working with someone who could vouch for (a) our seriousness and (b) our ability to actually close the deal.
The latter is really important in co-op saturated Jackson Heights, since you need to be able to not only afford the place but get past a board. And I think working with someone who really knows how that's done is very important.
All that said, we worked with him on an informal basis, not signing a contract and not paying a fee other than his share of the general broker's fee. I'm not sure I would've done it if it involved a high initial commitment.

I think this is a difficult market if you're looking at 2 and 3 bedrooms. Far less difficult if you're looking at one-bedrooms. Some of the apartments we looked at back in the summer are still on the market. The unit we ended up buying had been on the market for eight months -- probably because it was overpriced. We must have hit the sweet spot timing wise, where the seller was now seeing the extra maintenance payments adding up, and considering if it was really worth sticking to a price no one was biting at.