Vacancy Rate Jump

This can't be good for the rental market, or the agents who inhabit it.

Dead Last

This would seem to confirm my unfortunate and long held assumptions. In a poll measuring the most prestigious careers, Real Estate Agents came in dead last. Bottom of the barrel as usual... at least in public perception. Thankfully we are in good company along side Business Execs, stock brokers, journalists, and black market baby smugglers. Firefighters top the list, which seems a little ironic to me. The person who found you your house is a dim wit, but the guy who stops it from burning down is a hero.

Crazy Brokers

If you've got a crazy broker story or you are a crazy broker, drop me a line at Brian.Carterny [@} gmail.com I'd love to hear some war stories or which shady angle your agent tried pitching you. It's a desperate business with a ton of sneaky characters, so let me know if you've run into any.

Bob Updated

If you've read the column on "Bob" you know what a difficult individual he can be. You also may have a better understanding of why agents are often....let's just say...a little less than forthright. The saga with Bob actually continued after publication. Bob did finally fill out an entire application on his first choice, and he did finally go back and see his second choice one last time. Again he was initially distraught over not being able to rent this second one. The second one rented again, before Bob could make a decision, and as we waited almost a week to pull the trigger on the first, Bob lost that one as well. So, less than a week before he was hoping to move he had yet to secure an apartment and had lost two good ones. For my part I wasted two weeks working with a complete zero. Two weeks work in this business often results in exactly that...nothing...no paycheck...no compensation for hours of work. Hate your job? I understand...but you probably get a paycheck at the end of the week. A difficult job that doesn't pay though...well...is there a name for that? Bob disappeared after that. A glutton for punishment, or trying to salvage some money for my part, I called him with the bad news about his first choice and mentioned another apartment that had just come on the market. He never called back.

Told You So

Proving my point , that for every dishonest, pushy broker... there is an idiotic, unrealistic client. It's all cause and effect. No one comes into the business hoping to screw people over, but after getting beat with the short end of the stick a thousand times, you spend less time worrying about the renters and more time watching out for your own end. Makes perfect sense when guys like this are out there.

Mentor Me Babs

Babs Corcoran gives me some...well a lot of advice on Curbed thread this morning. She in leather...me a naughty little agent, almost too good to imagine.

The Gruntster

Tourists in Chinatown???

This guy guy cracks me up.

An interesting take on the Chinese surviving the invasion of condos into their neighborhood. Pretty hilarious if read in the right light. This is serious real estate reporting.