From the November issue: It can help find everything from restaurants to auto mechanics. And now users of Yelp.com, the fast-growing consumer-review website, have turned their attention to real estate brokers.

Yelp, which launched in San Francisco in 2004, allows users to rate businesses by giving them one to five stars, accompanied by detailed descriptions of their likes and dislikes. The site now has more than 63 million users in 12 countries, the company said, and New York City is among the most heavily trafficked cities on Yelp.

An increasing number of New York City real estate brokers and firms are now being listed on Yelp, according to industry insiders. And the number of stars on a broker’s Yelp review can mean big dollars for agents — or can redirect those dollars to a competitor. [more]

From the October issue: In a city where so many strangers share cramped quarters, is discrimination ever justified in hunting for a roommate? That’s the question before a federal appeals court in Pasadena, Calif., and real estate insiders say the court’s decision could affect how roommate listings operate here.

The case dates back to 2003, when two branches of the nonprofit Fair Housing Council sued the classifieds website Roommate.com over features that, among other things, required users to disclose their gender, sexual orientation and family status. The site then let users filter roommates based on the same traits, which are protected by 1968’s Federal Fair Housing Act or, in the case of sexual preference, by California’s housing law. [more]

From the June issue: In past years, many New Yorkers depended on the searchable classified ad service Craigslist.org to help them find affordable apartments, often without brokers’ fees. But these days, many are trading hours of scrolling through apartments on Craigslist for posting housing queries in the form of status updates on Facebook or Twitter.
For the consumer, social media is a way of avoiding the possibility that what’s advertised on Craigslist may not really be what’s available. For the broker, it’s a new opportunity for marketing.
[more]

R.A. Dickey

From the April issue: Florida’s youngest snowbirds — East Coast Major League Baseball players — make a pilgrimage each year to train among the royal palms. For the New York Mets, that means heading to Port St. Lucie, Fla., which is located beyond the northern tip of Palm Beach.

Most of these players live in New York City during the season, so finding a Florida pad for spring training can be a challenge. To find a comfortable roost, players use all the tools at their disposal, from staying with friends to — yes, that’s right — Craigslist.

“I found my place on Craigslist,” Mets knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey told The Real Deal last month at Digital Domain Park before the team’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals. “That’s how that worked out for me down here for the last two years.”

This year, Dickey said, he rented a three-bedroom home in Port St. Lucie with his family during spring training, which wrapped up late last month. [more]

Zeyn Soylemez is charged with burglarizing Turtle Bay buildings, including 238 East 50th Street. A super says Soylemez worked with a male partner.

A woman accused of burglarizing a string of Turtle Bay buildings claimed to be a real estate broker to get in to at least one of them, witnesses say.

Zeyn Soylemez, 37, who was arrested on March 29, faces 16 counts of burglary and possession of stolen property for incidents at five apartments in two buildings, though she appears to have gained access to other addresses, too.

Soylemez does not appear to be a broker; her name does not turn up on the website of the Department of State, which licenses them.

But last year, at 344 East 49th Street, Soylemez and an unidentified man (whom the district attorney’s office is looking for, according to sources) told Mike Perman, the building’s superintendent, that they were brokers and interested in showing a pair of empty second-floor apartments. [more]

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio latest stop in his campaign against negligent New York City landlords? Craigslist. According to the New York Times, apartment searches on the listings site now turn up a link to “NYC’s worst landlords,” which leads wary home hunters to a Google Maps-powered visual of the building owners with the worst histories of building code violations. The list was first launched last year and currently has more than 400 buildings and 320 landlords. The Craigslist deal is one of eight new initiatives de Blasio is set to propose today, intended to coerce landlords into compliance. [more]

A new roommate matching service is taking a speed-dating approach to the often-discouraging online process of finding a person to split the rent in New York. On Craigslist and similar sites, separating the trustworthy from the scammer can be difficult, risky and time-consuming. Enter Roommates Wanted NYC, which is now hosting two-hour meet-ups on the third Sunday of each month at bars in the East Village, Astoria, Williamsburg and Prospect Heights. The suggested donation is $5, and most participants are in their 20s and 30s. “We represent a backlash against the Web,” said co-founder Dene Farell, 27, who said the start-up is focusing on New York City first before exploring an expansion to other cities. “We’re trying to shift the momentum from the chaos and anonymity of Craiglist to looking someone in the face and getting a feel for the relationship right away.” [NYT]

DOB’s Robert LiMandri

The Department of Buildings has uncovered 54 illegal Craigslist-advertised apartments, after a four-month investigation, during which time inspectors posed as prospective tenants at units seen on the personal listing site. Among the violations observed were illegal single-room-occupancy rentals, fire safety hazards and untested gas lines, often the result of illegal conversions, according to DOB officials. The inspectors have issued vacate orders to 33 of the 54 properties and have issued fines to the rest. Robert LiMandri, commissioner of the DOB, said that counteracting the widespread violations was a top priority for the agency. “Property owners who create illegal conversions must be held responsible for ignoring the law,” LiMandri said. TRD

[more]

“Just be straight with people” when posting real estate listings on
Craigslist, founder Craig Newmark told industry professionals at
Inman’s Real Estate Connect conference yesterday. “Don’t do any keyword
spamming… people online are getting smarter and smarter.” Newmark
said that the real estate section of his classified listings site is
mostly self-policed and that there are fewer indiscretions by agents
now than there were five years ago. “In New York, I have agents quite
frequently sending us e-mail about other agents’ inappropriate acts,”
including posting in the “for sale by owner” section, he said. Other
words of wisdom from Newmark: avoid posting listings more than once
every 48 hours and always disclose what agency you are affiliated with,
he said. [Inman News]

[more]

“Just be straight with people” when posting real estate listings on Craigslist, founder Craig Newmark told industry professionals at Inman’s Real Estate Connect conference yesterday. “Don’t do any keyword spamming… people online are getting smarter and smarter.” Newmark said that the real estate section of his classified listings site is mostly self-policed and that there are fewer indiscretions by agents now than there were five years ago. “In New York, I have agents quite frequently sending us e-mail about other agents‘ inappropriate acts,” including posting in the “for sale by owner” section, he said. Other words of wisdom from Newmark: avoid posting listings more than once every 48 hours and always disclose what agency you are affiliated with, he said. [Inman News]

[more]