Recent Purchases

[AngusM]

I think I'm overpaying too . . . .

Common ground! I think I see the difference in where we're coming from. The general practice (so I'm told) in my area is to set a due diligence period instead of putting contingencies in the contract. If the buyer can't get its info and/or financing to its satisfaction, it backs out and forfeits the nominal fee it pays to keep the due diligence period open and enforceable (usually 0.1% of the purchase price). Thus, there are no contingencies for the selling agents to work out, other than ensuring that any existing liens are cleared (and that's easy, in the average case).

Sounds like in your area, the selling agent does the heavy lifting and there's no real point to using a buyer's agent. That's probably the more common setup, now that I think about it. It's certainly closer to the process I learned about in real estate law.

[hornsup84]

You know the real estate business is a racket when realtors make attorneys look cheap.

This. And good stuff on realtors / representation issues, too. They love making double money on self-represented parties.

[Shomas]

In NYC, Realtors (aka apartment brokers) get a broker fee on each apartment rented, which is typically 1 month's rent (sometimes as much as 10-15% of annual rent). It's a huge monopoly and they do a terrible job at the very little work they have to do.

Also, if you have any lawyer friends, you might want to look into having them act for you in the closing as opposed to having 2 realtors involved. In certain states, they allow lawyers to be realtors without any additional training or certification, which could halve your realtor fees.

This racket just drives me up the wall. I found my last apartment through a friend living in the building. He told me a place had just opened up in his building, suggested I call his landlord, and gave me the number. The landlord insisted that I call his apartment broker. Why, I don't know. I can only assume they had some sort of kickback scheme going on because the broker did f*ck all. The broker--we'll call him "Dick" for this story--told me how much for rent and the deposit, handed me the key, sent me on my way, and chillaxed until I'd gone and taken a look at the place. Without him. Then a few days later, Dick sat there blinking, reeking of cheap cologne, and fondling his gold chains while the landlord and I signed the lease in his office. For that, Dick got $1200. The landlord paid none of that amount. I should have taken that whole setup as a sign of the misery to come from dealing with that landlord, but that's a whole other story.

[hornsup84]

This racket just drives me up the wall. I found my last apartment through a friend living in the building. He told me a place had just opened up in his building, suggested I call his landlord, and gave me the number. The landlord insisted that I call his apartment broker. Why, I don't know. I can only assume they had some sort of kickback scheme going on because the broker did f*ck all. The broker--we'll call him "Dick" for this story--told me how much for rent and the deposit, handed me the key, sent me on my way, and chillaxed until I'd gone and taken a look at the place. Without him. Then a few days later, Dick sat there blinking, reeking of cheap cologne, and fondling his gold chains while the landlord and I signed the lease in his office. For that, Dick got $1200. The landlord paid none of that amount. I should have taken that whole setup as a sign of the misery to come from dealing with that landlord, but that's a whole other story.

Similar to my dealings with them -- my current building is great, but only rents through brokers... I was staying w a friend who lived there when visiting to find an apartment, but still had to pay a $2500 broker fee for them to do nothing except show me the specific apt once (total time involved, 30 min, including time signing the lease documents).

[M. Montaigne]

A simple purchase, but one that I am excited about.

[Vicious49]

This racket just drives me up the wall. I found my last apartment through a friend living in the building. He told me a place had just opened up in his building, suggested I call his landlord, and gave me the number. The landlord insisted that I call his apartment broker. Why, I don't know. I can only assume they had some sort of kickback scheme going on because the broker did f*ck all. The broker--we'll call him "Dick" for this story--told me how much for rent and the deposit, handed me the key, sent me on my way, and chillaxed until I'd gone and taken a look at the place. Without him. Then a few days later, Dick sat there blinking, reeking of cheap cologne, and fondling his gold chains while the landlord and I signed the lease in his office. For that, Dick got $1200. The landlord paid none of that amount. I should have taken that whole setup as a sign of the misery to come from dealing with that landlord, but that's a whole other story.

Wait, so you had to pay the agent?

Similar to my dealings with them -- my current building is great, but only rents through brokers... I was staying w a friend who lived there when visiting to find an apartment, but still had to pay a $2500 broker fee for them to do nothing except show me the specific apt once (total time involved, 30 min, including time signing the lease documents).

Here the buyer pays nothing. All the fees come from the seller. I had to pay 6% total on the sale of my house (3% to each agent) but paid nothing on the purchase of my new house.

If I was renting my house out, I'd pay 1 months rent to the agent. The person moving in wouldn't pay anything.

[sethtvaughn]

Recent Purchases

A simple purchase, but one that I am excited about.

That's a nice watch. I really like that white face. Skagen has some very nice watches that are a bit underplayed on this site.

[M. Montaigne]

That's a nice watch. I really like that white face. Skagen has some very nice watches that are a bit underplayed on this site.

Thank you! And I agree. I have seen some pretty good looking Skagen watches that are quite inexpensive and well made (for quartz watches anyway).

[Vanquish]

Got 2 shirts from Kamakura and I must say the fit is fantastic and the quality of their materials is great as well.

[uklawdawg]

Got 2 shirts from Kamakura and I must say the fit is fantastic and the quality of their materials is great as well.

I'm looking at new dress shirts. Never quite found any that I think fit really well. Just ordered a Ratio shirt yesterday, so I'm hoping that works out, but I might snag one of these to compare, too. I hear Ratio is about a month...what's the wait time on these?

[Vanquish]

I'm looking at new dress shirts. Never quite found any that I think fit really well. Just ordered a Ratio shirt yesterday, so I'm hoping that works out, but I might snag one of these to compare, too. I hear Ratio is about a month...what's the wait time on these?

It depends on what they have in stock. They aren't MTM, but they have 4 different fits depending on what you're looking for and give pretty accurate measurements to make sure that the shirts you order will fit. I got mine in 2 days.

[Shomas]

Wait, so you had to pay the agent?



Here the buyer pays nothing. All the fees come from the seller. I had to pay 6% total on the sale of my house (3% to each agent) but paid nothing on the purchase of my new house.

If I was renting my house out, I'd pay 1 months rent to the agent. The person moving in wouldn't pay anything.

Yup. Renter pays. It's a racket.

[hornsup84]

Yup. Renter pays. It's a racket.

I'd note that some buildings say there's no broker fee, but will just increase the rent to make it back over the first year (which obviously is a bad deal for you, if you wind up staying more than one year--which is almost a given since you don't want to pay a broker's fee each year).

[M. Montaigne]

Speaking of shirts, has anyone here tried Book-A-Tailor? My wife had gotten me deal for a few shirts from them for Christmas and I finally got around to getting measured. Curious to see how they turn out.

[mattface]

I picked up two of these Linen-Cotton Stafford jackets in blue and khaki from JC Penny today for $33.74 each


The "Classic Fit" is great on me.