From left: Dottie Herman of Elliman, Frederick Peters of Warburg, and Matt Daimler of Buyfolio.com

While it’s true that most brokers can’t read minds, with a VOW they can come pretty close.

Real estate pros say that VOWs, also known as “Virtual Office Web sites,” can give agents a backstage pass to their clients’ predilections. VOWs allow buyers to view an agent’s listings — and those belonging to other brokerages — all on the same Web page.

But VOWs present serious invasion of privacy issues and as a result can be a real turn-off to homebuyers, critics say.

VOWs can track your buying behaviors. For example, if a buyer tells a broker that she has a budget of $1.2 million, but the broker sees the buyer checking out $1.5 million listings on the company’s VOW, the broker could potentially push the buyer to make a larger purchase than she had talked about. [more]

Matt Daimler, a technology wiz with little background in real estate, thinks he can solve some of the most vexing problems in New York City residential sales today.

His new site, Buyfolio.com, which launched Tuesday, allows buyers and brokers to communicate through a single Web page. After seeing listings on sites like Streeteasy.com and the NYTimes.com — or even brokerage sites like Corcoran.com and PrudentialElliman.com — users can save the listing to their personalized Buyfolio.com page and evaluate, compare, and organize them.

Both brokers and clients are welcome to launch pages — for free, for now — and no registration is required. When a listing changes in price or status, or it will be having an open house, the user is notified via e-mail, something Daimler said could eliminate the need to incessantly check listings on their home sites. Also, a broker can use the site to monitor his or her clients. Although the site is exclusively for residential sales in the five boroughs right now, Daimler said he’d be open to other listings, like commercial properties, in the future. [more]