From the November issue: Real estate brokers are often stereotyped as shysters and
double-dealers. But in today’s rocky market, buyers are sometimes the
ones being deceptive.
Edward Longley, an associate broker at City Connections Realty, was
shocked to discover recently that his clients were planning to buy the
88 Greenwich Street condo he had shown them — but without paying
Longley a commission. And real estate agent Carleen McManus arranged
for her client to see a unit at Jersey City’s 77 Hudson before she went
on vacation, only to return and find the client negotiating to buy a
unit there. More and more agents say buyers they have worked with — often for
months at a time — are cutting them out of the deal when it’s time to
pay the commission.

From the November issue: As John Liu measures the drapes for his new offices at 1 Centre Street in Lower Manhattan, there is quiet consternation within the real estate community that a key source of financing could be in jeopardy when Liu takes over as city comptroller in January. The two-term City Council member is all but assured of victory in the general election against his Republican opponent early this month. Following his win in the Democratic primary runoff last month, Liu suggested that he would impose a new investment philosophy for the $86 billion in city pension-fund assets he will oversee. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Liu said his philosophy would differ from that of the current comptroller, William Thompson, who increased investments in commercial and residential real estate during his tenure. As of June 30, the total amount invested in real estate and securities was about $7.1 billion, or 8 percent of the total sum invested. Liu outlined a conservative investment strategy that would rely more on “traditional instruments” rather than “the more aggressive esoteric financial instruments” — Bloomberg News put stocks and bonds in the “traditional” category and investments such as private equity, real estate and hedge funds in the “esoteric” category — “that in some ways,” Liu noted, “got us into a deep financial crisis.”