Accepted offer? You Now Have a Target on Your Back.

So you have been looking for a new home and bam! You make an offer and after some back and forth you get the email you have been waiting for; 'Your offer has been accepted!'

It doesn't happen all the time, but it happens enough that you should be mindful of your new status. I call it the law of attraction, that energized listing is now letting the universe know that it is loved, wanted! Or sometimes it may be Mr. Ego at play. You know that listing agent is still showing the property and now he has a little gas to throw on the pitch, "we have an accepted offer, however it is not signed yet". Whether you are working with a buyer agent or not the listing agent is not your friend :) Even if they are extremely cordial, they have a job to do; get the most money/best deal for the seller!

Nothing like telling a buyer that wants a particular home that someone beat him to it to get him/her all fired up. That said not all buyers fall into that trap, quite frankly our buyer pool usually would take a pass.

Guess i'm just saying if you have an accepted offer on a home that you love, it is in your best interest to make sure that things move along. I would never suggest skimping on due diligence, just make sure your team is keeping everything moving. Most of this will fall on your attorney however there are things your agent/broker cam assist with if for instance your attorney is having difficulty obtaining information. At this stage of the game it can be the managing agent that gums up the works. I understand they are over worked/under paid, but some of them just don't give a shi* (no nice way to say that) and it can cost you your home. If you see early on that the MA is MIA then get on the phone with the listing agent and get the seller involved. Managing agents pay little attention to buyer agents, but the seller (who pays them) will be able to get their attention.

The classic managing agent hang up; getting the questionnaire answered and returned.  There are maybe 10 or 15 questions on this thing but it can be like pulling teeth on a lion to get it back in a timely manner in some cases. The best part, is after all the bs you get back a paper with a bunch of chicken scratch on it, lol. We have had frustrated clients get involved trying to have this sacred document emailed or faxed over to us. When after 5+ days it finally comes through and it looks like it was written by your doctor, they just have to laugh.

We understand that there is so much on the line emotionally for a buyer at this point and your deal hinges on getting simple questionnaire returned! God forbid that you forget to pay the $150 fee to get such a document, now you are really screwed!

There are some amazing managing agents in the city, if you happen to run into one, send flowers etc!! To paraphrase the radio host of an automotive talk show: "A good mechanic (insert managing agent) isn't expensive, they're priceless."

Best Testimonial Ever!

This was a very trying situation for many reasons, that I won't go into here. So the fact Jeffrey stuck with us and had this to say about the service he received means more than you could ever imagine!

And for the record this was a deal that was under $700,000. We go the extra mile for every client we work with regardless of price!

"Good Morning:

I already said to Marty and one of my buddies last night, that I’m eager for the first opportunity to refer someone to you because I am so impressed and happy with all that you did.  I think you manage the obstacles that came my/our way with the best possible skill and strategy.  Further, you tolerated and contained my reactions.  That’s a unique accomplishment!   Those  who know me well, know all of the above is quite a compliment. Historically, I have not been a fan of brokers.  You changed that with regard to your group.  But your words capture my experience: “excellent” and I’m sure you noticed I have a BIG mouth and will use it to spread that around.  So, I hope it becomes helpful to you as time unfolds.  All the best.  I am certainly appreciative of Marc O encouraging me to contact you !

Warmly,

Jeff"

Who Needs to Advertise??

We are coming up on our 10 year anniversary, truly hard to believe. In 2007 I started the company to offer discounted rental commissions, I was of the opinion it was a good time to put buying on the back burner for the moment. 

In 2009 I was approached by a former rental client that wanted to purchase and asked what I could offer him. Hence began the journey and the evolution of what is today one of the leading full service companies that offers commission rebates and discounted listing fees. 

What is most beautiful about our approach is it benefits both the listing agent and the seller. Neither has to accept less money, we absorb that through our efficient business model. They benefit with a seamless transaction and a happy buyer that is easy to transact with. The rebate gives the client confidence to bid more aggressively or at least gets them to 'their' number even if the seller can't get their organically. 

So in ten years I have not spent a dollar on advertising (Though I may have experimented with GOOGLE adsense when I started to the tune of $100).  

This is why:

"Dear Keith, Norman and Christian,

I just wanted to send a quick note of thank you to you guys. I really appreciate all of your hard work over the last (many) months, and getting us over line with the closing last week.
It is very exciting for us and there is no way we could have made this happen without you guys. 
If we ever do this again (which we really hope to) we will absolutely be calling you guys first!!!

Thanks again,
Adam & Ginger"

As a Buyer, Read This Article Carefully...

This is a nice piece on the current market in NYC with support and stats from some pretty reliable sources.

I always read theses pieces and think what goes through a buyers mind when they read these quotes from listing agents?? The gleeful commentary on how they have tried to manipulate reality to get a home with some obvious defects sold. Don't get me wrong, that is their job; but as a buyer do you really believe a listing agent when they say you will be better off dealing with them directly? Lol. Not.

The Most Common Obstacles to a Sale — and What to Do About Them

I Never Tire of Hearing From Our Wonderful Clients!

"Dear Keith, Christian, and Norman, Thank you so much for the good wishes and for all your help getting us to our long-awaited goal. It has been a genuine pleasure to work with each of you; the Burkhardt Group is exceptional for its staff members' responsiveness, sound advice, attention to detail, and even keels. It was immensely reassuring to know we had you on our side during a process that is always fraught, no matter how smoothly it goes. I only wish you were representing sellers when we first spoke years ago. I know you would have saved us a lot of grief! Wishing you the very best,Nancy"

Our First Listing is in Contract!

As some of you know we have recently begun a model for listing properties. To date we have not advertised this offering outside of a news letter that goes out to our client base. Although our buy-side approach has been a huge success, I have held off on representing sellers for a few reasons, first and foremost I wanted a model that I knew would work and be an effective means for sellers to bring about the sale of their home.

My thought is I want to offer this model to sellers who have 'low hanging fruit'; homes that essentially sell themselves. If you have have a home that will sell in 30 days or less, why not expect a reduced commission? That said the unit we have in contract is a ground floor, rear facing home in need of some updates!

From a purely mechanical point of view it doesn't matter who you list with (as long as they are members of REBNY). We all play by the same rules and our listings all go into the same feed. When a buy-side broker has a client they all essentially do the same thing; enter the data points of the search into their listing database and hit enter! This will generate a list of available properties that will be edited down and sent off to their client for consideration.

Remember one very important fact, the buyer agent does 90% of the selling. Now that is not to minimize the work of the listing agent, they have the herculean task of managing, dealing with the sellers! Not easy, especially when a property has sat, with no offer for 30 days! Of course the listing agent also needs to be a competent negotiator as should your buyer representation.

I could go on and on about all this, but in a nutshell I have simply done with listings what I did with buy-side representation: Marrying outstanding full service with a highly effective and efficient brokerage model. We list at 3.75% with 2.5% going to a buyer agent that brings a deal to the table.

Please feel free to call me to find out how we can assist you with the sale of
your home.

http://www.theburkhardtgroup.com/333-4th-st

Best,

Keith
917.770.4951

I was ranked 188th broker by sales volume in the country in the Wall Street Journal/Real Trends real estate rankings. Our model works.

It's Been a Long, Busy Summer!

Due to a number of things I have not written a post in some time, First we were on a family vacation the last two weeks of July in Costa Rica. Then upon our return some old health issue I thought were in my past reoccurred. The good news is I am on the mend and my excellent team kept things running smoothly!

We have a great model and process in place. I wouldn't say it runs itself, however with the right people running the operation, I don't think you could have a more efficient way to buy and sell real estate coupled with excellent, knowledgeable customer service. No one is better than Christian Bari and Norman Brannon, the Dream team!

The summer has been very, very active. We did not get a break from all the buying until last week when someone finally put the brakes on! We set records for closings, signed contracts for July and August, it was just nonstop. We are happy that buyers are finally taking some time off to enjoy the dog days of summer with Labor Day just around the corner.

Best,

Keith Burkhardt
917.770.4951

Another very happy buyer:

"Keith, Christian and Norman,

Thank you all so much for a wonderful experience buying our first home! We learned so much from you all in the process, and we really appreciate how you patiently and masterfully answered all of our newbie questions! 

We felt comfortable to take our time and make every decision with your sound advice and recommendations in mind. We appreciate never feeling rushed, or pressured in any way. Your recommendations to work with Guard Hill and Luk and Luk were excellent as well, as everyone played their part in helping this run smoothly. Norman was so professional, friendly and knowledgeable and he really taught us so much over the course of this process. 

We really felt like we were in great hands, and we will recommend the Burkhardt Group to anyone who asks!

Best,

Liz and Prathap (8/24/2017)"