Andrew Barrocas

From the May issue: While the real estate community is inundated with statistics about sales activity and prices when it comes to the condo and co-op market, there’s one stat that’s rarely bandied about in public: commission fluctuations. In this month’s Q & A, The Real Deal talked to brokers and firm principals about how take-home pay and commissions have changed since the market went into freefall in September 2008. For more on the new types of commission splits that some firms are using and on new development versus resale commissions, we turn to our panel of experts. [more]

From left: Zhann Jochinke, Klara Madlin, Adina Azarian, Jeff Krantz, Leonard Steinberg, and Lisa Lippman

The Real Deal asked some agents the greatest compliment and greatest insult they have received in connection with their job. Many agents said winning a client or deal was the source of both. Beyond that, agents have received compliments ranging from sentimental messages to a bobblehead doll made in a broker’s likeness, and insults including being called less than a used carpet salesperson. Click here to see some of the compliments and insults brokers have received. [more]

Diane Ramirez, president of Halstead

Halstead Property announced today that it has completed the process of instituting a VOW, or “Virtual Office Web site,” making it the first major city brokerage to do so. According to Diane Ramirez, the president of Halstead, the company has received approval from the Real Estate Board of New York for a VOW, a new type of Web site expected to have far-reaching consequences for the industry. That means that Halstead customers may now search all of the industry’s
listings — provided directly by REBNY — without leaving an individual
Halstead agent’s Web site. In the past, site visitors could see only
Halstead exclusives.

The result of a recent settlement between the Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors, VOWs are a new phenomenon in Manhattan. Under the terms of the settlement, the Real Estate Board of New York is required by law to provide these listings directly to VOWs who are REBNY members, provided they agree to certain guidelines and pay a fee for an audit by REBNY. This summer, Manhattan got its first VOW, an online brokerage known
as CBS 2 Real Estate Market, located at CBS2REM.com. Halstead is the
first of the city’s major brick and mortar firms to go through the
process of adding VOW capabilities, according to Ramirez, who said the
brokerage was informed last week that it met REBNY’s requirements, and
is now just waiting for the official paperwork. The change comes in
conjunction with new individual agent Web sites the company recently
unveiled.  More

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