Publisher's note
April 06, 2009 06:00PM By Amir Korangy
From the April issue: It has come to my attention that the principals of two firms have advised their brokers not to cooperate with The Real Deal's reporters and have pulled the magazine from some of their offices. We always knew we had a tremendous impact on the city's real estate industry, but this came as a surprise even to us. When we talked to the principals, they essentially said they didn't like that we weren't sugarcoating what's going on in the market. So let me set the record straight: The Real Deal covers the New York City real estate market more thoroughly and accurately than any other media outlet in the five boroughs. Maybe these principals would prefer if we wrote about how many Girl Scout cookies brokers are buying and how great the market has been this month. But that wouldn't be fair to our readers, because we have a responsibility to report what's actually happening in the market — even when it gets ugly.
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Comments
Anonymous
I'm sure they just loved the article indicating luxury sales are down 45%! The brokerage/real estate firms are so used to writing their own puff that they don't think anyone else can read statistics without their "help"! Thanks for bringing them back down from the clouds TRD, and keep up the independent reporting!
Comment #1 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
don't be so mean, your advertising is getting slimmer. As ignorant as they sound, I'm sure you'd allow them to advertise if they wanted...
Comment #2 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
From my experience The Real Deal has always been more truthful to the real estate industry, brokers and companies than they have been with themselves. Keep up the reporting and don't be swayed by these threats. Eventually they'll realize its no help hiding the truth.
Comment #3 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
It's too bad that you can't publish the names of companies that would be so unethical. Wouldn't want them NEAR a property of mine. If they'd be stupid enough to believe that their position in NYC real estate permits them to seek to "ban" market reality, for the purpose of "fooling" a much smarter consumer, they should be outta here. Oh, and if they colluded in any way with this ban, they may be violating a whole lot more than ethics.
Comment #4 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
The Real Deal is a great publication and extremely informative. Most of us in the real estate profession rely on your research. You have the access and resources to state the accurate market picture.
Comment #5 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
Putting an unnecessarily harsh or negative angle on every item is not independent reporting? It's sidling up to the segment of the population that thinks they will be able to afford an apartment if everyone else loses theirs. All three major reports had no big price reductions to report outside of high end co-ops. High end co-ops flooded the market as a result of the financial meltdown, i.e. people lost jobs and portfolios and had to change their lifestyles. The only thing really wrong with the rest of the market is that people can't finance their purchases. That's a credit problem, the market has held up remarkably well considering it this way. If TRD really wanted to report the truth, Why don't I ever read anything like this on your site?
Comment #6 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
Wow, I was about to encourage customers to read your newspaper rather than the New York Times in order to receive solid real estate news, but I guess you're also acting desperate. I'll keep looking at your website, but I'll look maybe half the time.
Comment #7 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
The Real Deal is headquartered in Kickassistan. Good job.
Comment #8 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
I was introduced to The Real Deal 4 years ago at NYU's Stern business school, by my professor. He recommended to all of his students. I have been a subscriber ever since. Its one of the finest business sources I know. No other publication, including the WSJ or NYT, covers real estate investment and finances the way this publication does. I pity the companies and executives who would want to block this sort of data and news from their employees.
Comment #9 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
There are a lot of lawsuits going on in the market and I am sure some of the people complaining are those who are caught up in the courts and they wouldn't want a new piece to put their case in jeopardy.
Comment #10 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
I find the real deal very informative. I just wish they would cover Long Island Real Estate.
Comment #11 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
Most business publications out there are loaded with crap, that's a fact. This is the only business magazine I know that really gets out there and reports and finds interesting and new angles to report on. I read the Real Deal all the time and I don't ever have to read another real estate story out there, because I know they got it covered.
Comment #12 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
Yes, please, more Long Island stories. I do notice the borough stories you guys do, much obliged for that; but more LI stories would be great.
Comment #13 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
To ask your agents not to cooperate with The Real Deal is asinine. Who else are they going to talk to? Who else cares what brokers think?
Comment #14 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
What I'd like to know is which two firms they were, because they will never get any project I have anything to do with.
Comment #15 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
#4, If you want market reality read the PDE report by Jonathon Miller. I doubt these brokers were looking for sugarcoating. #6 is dead on. TRD and curbed.com and the Observer all twist it up to sound as bad as possible. With the constant coverage of retail closings without ever mentioning how many of them struggled for years because they sucked, to the "biggest price cut of the day", it's all spun badly. Anyone can read the reports and see that the real estate crash never happened. #15, You're full of shit.
Comment #16 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
Cooperate on the record, of course. The bottom line is that some of these people are responsible for outrageous speculative development, which eventually turned Manhattan into a place where only the extraordinarily affluent can afford to do business or reside in. This comeuppance is a direct result of their greed and lack of foresight. The day the middle class can afford to come back to Manhattan is the day business as usual will have resumed.
Comment #17 Posted By: Anonymous 04/06/09
Anonymous
there is no such thing as outrageous speculative development. Only Speculative Development. What is outrageous is the expectation that the government will bail out spec projects, trades, and stupid decisions.
Comment #18 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
You go Amir I would not describe your approach as hard hitting, but this is not a crime beat (yet.) Keep up the good work. You are virtually the only source of non industry directed real estate reporting. Curbed, while fun, is hyperbole not news. The Real Estate Weekly has several good writers, but the overall arc is a paper devoted to broker press releases. I would take it as a badge of courage that they tossed you on your ear. Jonas
Comment #19 Posted By: 04/07/09
Paul.B
Disgusting to see what brokerages ATTEMPT to do to get involved in the mass media. Urbandigs.com & The Real Deal are the only two sources of real estate news that I read with any level of trust. The rest are advertisements for the brokerage industry.
Comment #20 Posted By: Paul.B 04/07/09
Anonymous
These larger NYC real estate companies want to be media whores, then get insulted when their "take" on the market turns out to be nothing but uninformed garbage.
Comment #21 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Anonymous
Its one thing to try to control your company message to your clients and be a market cheerleader, because that's what you are suppose to be, but to try to control the media is futile.
Comment #22 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Anonymous
Amir: You are doing all of your readers a diservice by not reporting the names of the two firms. It is absolutly news worthy and totally relevant. If you were a client of one of these firms, wouldn't you like to know about this? It is opportunistic to write this self-serving note and not report the names of the companies.
Comment #23 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Noam Newman
Love the "girl scout cookies" line. Well Done TRD
Comment #24 Posted By: Noam Newman 04/07/09
Anonymous
While I give credit to the Real Deal for reporting on the real estate industry in a way the Real Estate Weekly never bothered to do, they are not the WSJ of real estate reporting. Don't get me wrong, I rely on this web site to keep myself informed on the latest RE news. But just like any publication, online or otherwise, TRD relies on ad revenue and as such they are "selling" you news that's interesting and at times bordering on sensationalism. Yes, they've got facts backing most of their stories but this in not hard-nosed reporting here and the sound bites ("Levy hits Swig with Ice Bucket") seem to get dredged up to keep the reporting juicy. Bottom line...the access to real estate information is important and useful but take what you read on TRD with a grain of salt.
Comment #25 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Anonymous
This is like the contretemps over reporting bad news from Vietnam. The journalism isn't the problem, even if real estate barons would like to think it is.
Comment #26 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Anonymous
I think what they hate (and the developers too) is the comment section you are reading right now... if there is an article about you in TRD, the anonymous crowd can basically slander the Sh-t out of you with no repercutions to them. Not saying who is right, but this is a new can of worms ..
Comment #27 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Anonymous
I agree with #27. But you can be anonymous anywhere on the web and comment. Look at the other sites out there, its the same thing.
Comment #28 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Anonymous
Overall, The Real Deal is the best single source of Real Estate News in New York. That said, I do agree that The Real Deal has fanned the hysteria in the market by focussing on overly negative reporting. 2 cases in point: The closings. Until I complained to the editors, Real Deal posted only restaurant and retail closings. Retail and (especially) restaurants close all of the time; even in the best of times, yet they didn't have this feature before. Within days (again with my suggestion) they started to include openings as well. Sometimes the segment now features many more openings than closings. Had I not spoken up, all the public would be seeing is the negative. Second, what real purpose does the biggest price cut of the day serve? Is that helpful? If you're going to do it then provide us with the biggest price increase of the day as well. It means just as much: NOTHING!
Comment #29 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Anonymous
yes 28, but everyone in real estate reads this...so you know Moinian, Yaer Levy and Swig among others are dying of embarrassment.
Comment #30 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Anonymous
Reality, of course should be reported, but perception is extremely important as well. More effort should be made to point out good things in the market and less on hysteria fanning. A good start is to get rid of the Biggest Price Cut of the Day feature.
Comment #31 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Anonymous
Lets get serious here. Who is raising prices?
Comment #32 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Anonymous
Amir Stay strong! This reader and real estate person appreciates all the honest reporting.
Comment #33 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Anonymous
Well we don't know who is raising prices because it's not being reported! But some prices are raised. Is it important? Of course not! But neither is the biggest price cut of the day.
Comment #34 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Anonymous
Aggressive reportage, and the comments section help level the playing field between tenant and landlord a little bit, but who's kidding whom? Developers, realtors and landlords have always held most of the cards. It's just that the complete stranglehold on information they once enjoyed is obsolete.
Comment #35 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Anonymous
#31, skewed "perception" is what created this mess. Put the news up as it is- it's not good. Deal with it.
Comment #36 Posted By: Anonymous 04/07/09
Anonymous
#34, please provide an example of a recent price increase.
Comment #37 Posted By: Anonymous 04/08/09
Anonymous
Oh, come on, Pam - Your going to ban the Real Deal from Corcoran offices just because they ran that hysterical caricature of you? Stop making excuses!
Comment #38 Posted By: Anonymous 04/08/09
Anonymous
That caricature looked a whole lot better that the photos offered...
Comment #39 Posted By: Anonymous 04/10/09
Anonymous
Pam Liebman of the Corcoran Group has a napoleon complex, multiplied, especially since she is shorter and a woman.
Comment #40 Posted By: Anonymous 04/12/09
The brokers still dont get that they will get deals closed when they manage to convince their sellers to drop their prices to pre-bubble prices.
Comment #41 Posted By: 04/12/09