When it comes to choosing a realtor to help you sell your NYC apartment, New York City is flush with options and possibilities. While there are many factors to consider when picking a realtor to manage your apartment listing, picking friends or family can only complicate your experience.
The Need to Help
I can see the appeal of wanting to help a friend or family member. We want to help the ones we love and care about, it’s just part of the human condition. Since you are going to use a realtor, why not use someone you know personally, right? Let them benefit from the sale of your apartment as well, rather than a stranger.
But what happens when you have a bad experience? You don’t get the sales price you are looking for, the apartment takes seven months to sell instead of three, or something just doesn’t go the way you anticipated? You will forever associate that bad experience with your friend or family member, even if it is not their fault. Realtors don’t control the market. Everyone has to wait for the right buyer before a deal can be completed. Failed deals can ruin relationships.
Father and Daughter
Per U.S. news, realtors also find themselves in sticky predicaments dealing with family and friends. Familiarity impacts business. It drives your decision making differently. With a new client, there isn’t any familiarity.
Realtor Karyn Glubis experienced this issue first-hand while trying to find a house for her 68 year old father. He was looking for a move-in ready three bedroom townhouse, but all she would she show him was fixer uppers. Ms. Glubis knew that if her father invested a little time and money into one of these fixer-uppers, it would make him a great return-on-his-investment and provide financial security going forward.
The only problem: he didn’t want a fixer upper. He was at a stage in his life where that didn’t appeal to him, a great investment opportunity or not. Because it was family, it was hard to separate what each party wanted. Ms. Glubis kept trying to show him what she “thought” was best for him. She was just a daughter who wanted the best for her father, but this hurt their business partnership.
Friends and Family Know Best, and Everything
One of the most important roles of a realtor in any transaction is to act as the voice of reason. Realtors need to make sure economics stay the priority in the transactions. It is very easy to fall in love with a property out of your price range. Beauty has a price. The realtor needs to keep your search on track, and keep showing properties within reason. Your friends and family are here to help you make sure that you don’t make a mistake. But learning about each others’ finances can lead to awkward interactions.
Sound Decisions.
The devil is in the details. In the end, you have a friend or family member that is a licensed realtor that can list your NYC apartment for sale. That’s great, but in this instance you need to save your relationship. Don’t choose your realtor because you know him or her and you feel obliged. Choose a brokerage that is known for delivering exceptional results along with top notch customer service. The team at TripleMint will make sure that your listing is handled with care from beginning to end.
