Anthony Longo (insert) the CEO of CondoDomain, and a screengrab from the site (Click image for larger version)

New York City is getting a new VOW-based brokerage company, in what may soon become a flood of companies taking advantage of the new technology.
Boston-based CondoDomain, a Web-based discount real estate brokerage, is now a member of the Real Estate Board of New York and offers a VOW, or virtual office Web site. That means that customers who log onto CondoDomain’s New York site can browse through all of the listings in REBNY’s database.

CondoDomain founder and CEO Anthony Longo told The Real Deal that the appearance of VOWs in New York City has opened the floodgates for new companies like his to penetrate the lucrative New York City market.

“The VOW will lay the groundwork for companies like ours to come in and compete,” said Longo, who has had his eye on the New York market for years. [more]

From left: Jonathan Isaacs and Steve Ganz of Aligned Real Estate

At a time when a bevy of new business models have sprung up to capitalize on the real estate downturn, a residential brokerage launched by two former Core agents has revived the idea of discounted commissions. Steve Ganz, a former Core managing director, and Jonathan Isaacs, a former Core vice president, left the boutique brokerage in December 2009 to launch a new company, Aligned Real Estate. Based at 315 Fifth Avenue at 32nd Street, the new firm has a total of five agents, Isaacs said, though he expects the company to grow. Aligned has dispensed with the 6 percent commission model that real estate brokers historically receive for each sale, the founders said. Instead, they’ve devised a complex fee structure based on factors like the size of the apartment, how long it takes to sell, whether it sells above the asking price, and whether the customer chooses to pay the full commission at closing or in monthly installments. [more]