This article about Real Estate Teams appeared in the New York Times this morning.  The article says that real estate teams takes a cue from medical practices which is a bit of a stretch.  In a medical practice if you go to your internist (the broker) and he refers you to another specialist in his office that individual is a trained and boarded specialist in his own right.  In real estate teams the individual you are handed off to is often new to the business and learning. I often think about forming a team the problem is that I then think about how I would feel about hiring a broker, developing a rapport and understanding with that person and then not continuing the conversations with that person.  With having someone else relay messages to that person, or having to repeat and explain things to another person when I thought that I had an understanding with the broker.  This article explains that one of the reasons for a team is to have someone always available for issues that a buyer or seller might need to discuss, well I am always available by cell, instant message and by email.

This is another way of selling real estate that I am sure works for certain buyers and sellers and brokers it is just not the way I choose to do business. It is a way for brokers to fluff up their sales numbers so when you see an agent sold 6 trillion dollars of real estate for the year that includes the broker and their entire team.  Don't forget about agency laws as well.  When you call a listing broker off an ad and they then assign you to one of their buyer's agent that is a designated dual agency situation if you are interested in their listing.  Would you be better off with your own buyer's agent? Ms. Claymen's quote in the article is exactly the problem a team member available is not the same thing as the broker being available.   You might be working with a brand new agent under the auspices of the team brokers name which is fine as long as it is disclosed.  Disclosure is always key so the consumer can make up their own minds.

"Indeed, many sellers with only one agent worry about getting lost in the shuffle, said Elaine Clayman, a broker with Brown Harris Stevens in Manhattan who oversees an eight-member team, one of the first formed in the New York area.

“Clients tell me, ‘I met the broker, I liked the broker, but I never heard from the broker again,’ ” said Ms. Clayman, who started her team almost a decade ago and often serves as a role model for newer team leaders. “Someone should always be available to hold the client’s hand.”

To read the entire article, here.

I have had several buyers who have relocated to the Westchester County area over the past few months from other areas of the country.  The practice of real estate is local, there are differences from area to area.  These buyers come from areas where real estate is consumer centric, the consumer is foremost.  One of the areas is Denver.  This buyer expected free choice in terms of who she used as a real estate agent and I was glad I could tell her that Westchester County is also conumer centric and that her rights as a consumer to pick her own agent and that she would have full access to available property exists here.  She can work with a buyer's agent who will work in her best interests.  She was relieved.

Historically before the internet, before agency disclosure laws agency's would withhold listings and try o force buyers to use their company.   They tried to sell the listings within their own agency and this is what is called agent/agency centric. They did not share the listings or put them online which meant that a buyer's rights to pick their own agent were taken away from them.  They were forced to use specific agency's for access to listings.  In New York State this is considered discriminatory.  A buyer, according to the Department of State, can not be denied acccess to a property because she is using an agent from another company.  There are pockets in the country who simply do not care about the buyers or sellers in their areas, for them it is about selling within their own agency's and making both sides of the commission.  Buyers rights be damned.  When I began selling real estate it was prior to sharing listings on the MLS buyer's were driven crazy having to go agency to agency simply because the agents wanted both sides of the commission.  One of the agency's in Westchester County that was still trying to sell real estate "the old way"  has suffered the consequences.

If you are relocating to Westchester County rest assured that the real estate community here is doing the right thing for the buyer's and seller's in our community.  The Westchester Putnam Multiple Listing Service works well, is well run and they keep on eye on things for you.  It is about you!  NOT ABOUT US!

Having gone through many deals this year in this market I am hard pressed as to what to say to my buyer's.  Yes, I can say the banks are particularly difficult right now, I can say that their file can sit with underwriters and it may take longer than they think or want.  I can tell them that sometimes the banks question the appraisal and require a second look.  I can warn and guide them.  Then there is the unforeseen.  The seller's attorney going on vacation,  the bank requiring a documentation that you didn't know you needed and don't have, the rules changing mid transaction just when you thought you had a grip on the whole thing it changes and it's a Federal change and you can't do anything about it, the seller who changes their mind about when they will vacate at the last minute.

I can explain that jumping up and down and demanding that such and such happen is basically a waste of time because if you have the right agents, mortgage brokers and attorney's they are on it without you having to have a fit.  

I can say that real estate transaction can be bumpy these days and that is just the way it is.

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