Dottie Herman

Contending with technical glitches, Prudential Douglas Elliman has onc [more]

Stephen Kotler of Prudential Douglas Elliman

Prudential Douglas Elliman gave The Real Deal an update on its new Web site, which will include VOW capabilities and track listings’ price changes. Elliman has spent a year and more than $1 million developing the new Web platform, which is slated to launch the first week of April, according to Stephen Kotler, an executive vice president at the company. The redesigned site will include a virtual office Web site, or VOW, that allows customers to see not only Elliman’s listings, but all of the properties for sale in the markets where Elliman has offices: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Hamptons, and Long Island. Kotler, who is overseeing the launch of the new site, said the fact that Elliman’s VOW capabilities extend to markets outside New York City will set it apart from other brokerage Web sites. “What will make ours stand out is the fact that it’s not just Manhattan,” he said. “There’s nobody in the marketplace that is going to deliver all the [region’s] listings in one place.” “What will make ours stand out is the fact that it’s not just Manhattan,” he said. “There’s nobody in the marketplace that is going to deliver all the [region’s] listings in one place.” TRD gets dirt on Elliman’s new $1M Web site” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Prudential Douglas Elliman has acquired the Acocella Group, a 23-year-old real estate company specializing in corporate relocations. Stephen Kotler, an executive vice president and director of new business development at Elliman, told The Real Deal that all of the Acocella Group’s 19 agents will now be working out of Elliman’s 485 Madison Avenue offices. Kotler, who handled the logistics of the deal, wouldn’t comment on the details of the acquisition or who initiated it, but said the move would help Elliman gain market share. “We felt that Peter and his group were a good addition to the company,” Kotler said. “We’re always looking for partnerships and acquisitions.” The Acocella Group is a brokerage specializing in corporate relocation, property management and short-term furnished housing. Kotler said he’s known the company’s president, veteran agent Peter Acocella, for years. Acocella was not immediately available for comment by press time, but a spokesperson said the firm was slated to move from its headquarters at 27 West 24th Street to Elliman’s offices today. Elliman has opened additional offices in the West Village and in Fort Greene, Brooklyn since the real estate downturn began.

Century 21 NY Metro is the latest New York City brokerage firm to ramp
up its social media efforts. The firm launched Live Agent Chat last
week, a feature on its Web site which allows potential buyers to chat
online with agents while perusing listings. The system connects potential clients with agents who are logged in at
that time and cycles the next client to the next agent, moving through
those logged in. “With more buyers and renters finding that even e-mail is too slow in
this era of texting and tweeting, an immediate chat response is often
preferred,” said Marc Lewis, president of Century 21 NY Metro. The agents are reporting success with the new feature. “I’ve come close to closing a deal and many of my colleagues have been
successful the first day the chat feature was up and running,” Century
21 NY Metro agent Deborah Abraham told The Real Deal during an online
chat. [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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