House hunt vent | Imamother

mummiedearest

Thu, Jun 23 2016, 9:35 pm

amother wrote:

mummiedearest, I knew realtors don't become realtors to help frum families stay in Bklyn. That would be pretty stupid. But they tend to raise prices more hungrily than other realtors, and its ends up edging young normal from families out of the market, thats all.

yes, but again, they're not in it to be fair. if the housing situation were fair, real estate agents wouldn't make the amount they do. seriously, selling a house through an agent means a pretty huge chunk of money for the agent. some are knowledgable, others have no skills/knowledge, so the amount is not reflective of the skill involved. and I don't think they raise the prices more hungrily than other realtors. frum jews living in an area raise the market value. it makes sense. there is a high demand for houses in a jewish neighborhood. frum jews probably tend to hire frum real estate agents, but I'd bet a non-frum/jewish agent with any knowledge of real estate would do the same.

amother

Pearl

Thu, Jun 23 2016, 9:53 pm

amother wrote:

Maya I am not blaming all realtors. I am venting about the very hungry frum realtors. And we are not poor looking to buy a yacht. We can afford to buy a house here but its an extremely frustrating experience when the frum realtors are so impossible, that's all.

No, you obviously cannot afford the houses. The prices are crazy but that is the market value if people are paying it.

amother

Wine

Thu, Jun 23 2016, 10:07 pm

amother wrote:

Not rich. But if you don't get it you're not a family of 7 looking to buy a decent sized house in Brooklyn for under a million.

It can't be done unless you want to move to East New York (and believe me, Crown Heights families are already edging in that direction).

But most of us, rich or poor, realize at some point that we're outbid and need to deal with the situation as is. That means either moving to a different neighborhood, or out of NYC altogether, or paying more than we planned, or staying in a rental forever. Obviously your answer will depend on your individual situation. But venting about the realtors does as much good as venting about the weather. No, I don't think realtors are particularly community-minded or altruistic. I used to be one of the people blaming and venting against them until I realized the pointlessness of it all and got out of Brooklyn. Best decision ever!!

amother

Scarlet

Thu, Jun 23 2016, 10:11 pm

So move. It's that simple. No one is forcing you to stay in Brooklyn. There are plenty of other places in the tri-state area which are much cheaper.

That said, I would suggest that you find a real estate broker who is not catering to the Frum community. If you are willing to look a little outside of the box, non Jewish agents might have something that is within what your feel is "normal market value, not marked up." I am currently in contract on a house and we got to it because of a non Jewish realtor. I was willing to consider a house that needed a LOT of TLC and is on the small side, and yes, I did get it for less that what market value supposedly is.

Anon cuz I'm not so public about the house yet.

tryinghard

Thu, Jun 23 2016, 10:20 pm

amother wrote:

Not rich. But if you don't get it you're not a family of 7 looking to buy a decent sized house in Brooklyn for under a million.

Yes rich. Whether you are able to comfortably afford all of your expenses or not, having the top of your housing budget nearly five times that of the median price of US homes ($ 232500.00 in 2015) makes you rich. For your particular situation, money may be tight. You find yourself in a bit of a bind right now.

But to do anything other than agree that these are #richpeople problems is to
a)be completely and callously out of touch with the reality that most people live in
and more importantly,
b)be completely not makir tov to HKBH who has so blessed you.

MiracleMama

Thu, Jun 23 2016, 10:27 pm

amother wrote:

This is not an inquiry , it is a major vent. Why do some realtors feel the need to ask outrageous prices on homes and thus raise the market to numbers beyond anyones reach??? It is so vicious. I see certain frum realtors who just do this to see how high some crazy person will pay ... Don't they want normal young frum families to stay here in Brooklyn?? We have $$ ... but everything needs to be in the millions all of a sudden????

I'm looking to buy (not in Brooklyn) too and very frustrated but when you ask don't they want young families... well, as a realtor or as a seller, the goal is to make as much money as you can, not to list their home below market value to be nice to young buyers.

mommy3b2c

Thu, Jun 23 2016, 10:37 pm

Maya wrote:

I do understand. We're also in this situation of buying a house that was probably priced at 150K lower just a year ago, because of the aggressive market in Monsey right now.

I just don't understand the blaming of the realtors. It's like a poor person complaining that they are "priced out" of buying a 180-foot yacht, or some other excessive luxury, and blaming the retailers for their markup.

You can blame the realtor when the owner is ready to accept the offer , but the realtor refuses to even give the offer to the owners because they want well it for higher. (Illegal btw)
I totally sympathize with you op, the same thing happened to us and it was really disappointing.

I disagree that only frum realtors do this.

amother

Forestgreen

Thu, Jun 23 2016, 10:54 pm

Yes family of 2 adults and 5 kids want a normal size house in Brooklyn. Various reasons, we like it here, family, job,etc. Not moving too far out if we do eventually move somewhere... don't know what Hashem has in mind for us.....grateful for healthy kids and great husband and hopefully, we will find something in a decent block although it may end up a lot smaller than what I really want. Moving out of Brooklyn is NOT so simple

amother

Aqua

Thu, Jun 23 2016, 11:32 pm

Omg forestgreen u sound like me . It is not so simple to leave . Jobs, family, schools, friends. Irks me when ppl tell me to "just move." Thanks. And to the poster who reprimanded me on my lack of hakaras hatov in regard to my "being rich," you are 100 % right. What's crazy is that I don't feel rich or live rich. And I'm still renting.. but yes Bh I have a lot to be grateful for.

amother

Wine

Thu, Jun 23 2016, 11:37 pm

amother wrote:

You're right, it isn't simple. But once you do it... you'll be so glad you did!!

It's like a baby coming out of the womb. Once it gets out you wonder how it ever fit in there to begin with.

amother

Seafoam

Fri, Jun 24 2016, 1:01 am

Realtors make money when they close a sale and nothing from showing a house. They want you to buy. They benefit from a high market, but not as much as you would think.

The prices reflect what sellers can get. The realtors are the bearers of bad news, but they don't drive the market. Your frustration is misplaced.

amother

Slateblue

Fri, Jun 24 2016, 9:59 am

I can understand both sides. We just put our house/condo on the market in Brooklyn because it doesn't work for us anymore for various reasons. We cannot afford to buy what we need in Brooklyn. So we have no choice but to move away even though there are so many reasons for us to stay.

In terms of selling, the price went up tremendously in the past year. It is actually the people who are looking for houses or recently bought who opened our eyes as to what to ask for based upon what they were seeing. We had no idea or concept. We then brought in three brokers who gave us a range. Our feeling was that the same house/condo on the same block sold for a certain price and needed to be fixed up. We renovated ours before putting it on the market and did a beautiful kitchen, ss appliances, bathrooms, painting, floors, light fixtures etc. It is basically ready to move in and therefore we should get a higher price than the one that sold several months ago. That being said, we went for the lowest price the brokers suggested because it sounded right to us. It has been on the market for two weeks and hasn't been snatched up yet although there are people who are seriously considering it. So houses in Brooklyn don't necessarily get snatched up in one day unless they are way under market.