Hi,
The non-sharing of listings is indeed a problem in Jackson Heights.
Many of us who work on commission find it impossible to show our buyers properties other than those properties that we have the exclusive rights to sell, or those properties that are listed with the larger firms, which are in Manhattan.
So I can work with a buyer, show them my exclusive listings and show them the listings of brokers/agents that share all their listings.
Once I have run out of properties, I am then forced to refer the buyer to another broker/agent that will not share their listings and will not pay a referral fee either. It's an unfortunate situation, but indeed reality.
The other approach is to get the buyer to sign an Exclusive Buyer's/Purchaser's Agreement which will obligate the brokers/agents to show their properties, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the broker/agent will share the commission. So then you have to request that the commission come from the buyer and in many cases a buyer will not be interested in paying that fee.
The other issue at hand is that that if an office is part of the MLS service they may not want to co-broke with a non-MLS member. Due to office rules and procedures.
Another issue may be that a non-MLS member will not want to co-broke with anyone at all. Keeping all listings for themselves. And no one can force them to share anything.
I'm now learning the advantages of sharing any and all listings as the practice in Manhattan is that all firms, i.e, Prudential Douglas Elliman, Halstead, Brown Harris Stevens, Corcoran, Fenwick Keats, etc., share the listings and the commission gets split in half.
This all sounds and is quite confusing, as ultimately we have a responsibility to the seller to secure a ready, willing and able buyer, and to the buyer depending on which side we are working with.
So at it stands, it is not a one stop shopping in JH. Perhaps things will change when some realize that we all need to play nice in the sand box, and that we all need of each other at one point or another. I can't speak for other brokers/agents and/or everyone, but I do know of many trying to make an honest living in JH, I'm one of them.
To be continued . . .
Best,
Topic: Looking for RE Agency/Agent (Read 2612 times)