Rental firm Blackstone wins market share, and critics, in Lower Manhattan
Brokerage steamrolls market, but competitors question tactics February 01, 2010 07:00AM By Gabby Warshawer
Kevin Ellerton, the CEO of Blackstone Properties, which has snagged a significant market share but also drawn ire from competitors.
At the ripe old age of 24, Kevin Ellerton is managing to become one of the most powerful players in the Lower Manhattan rental game. To hear his competitors talk, he's also one of the most loathed.
Ellerton is the CEO of Blackstone Properties, a company he started less than two years ago with a high school friend, David Yomtobian. (Ellerton's company has no relation to the powerful private equity firm the Blackstone Group.)
By Ellerton's calculations, about half of all brokered rental deals in the Financial District and Battery Park City are inked by Blackstone agents. While executives at other Lower Manhattan firms say that number might be closer to 40 percent, they grudgingly concede that Blackstone has grabbed a formidable share of the rental market in a very short period of time.
"We've grown really fast, and we've destroyed the market for a lot of other firms," said Ellerton, adding that the company now has about 70 agents.
The idea for creating Blackstone came in the spring of 2008, when the two former classmates from West Hempstead, Long Island, partnered to rent units at Rockrose's EastCoast developments in Long Island City. At that point, they were still operating as agents under the license of independent broker Iosif Kushnir.
A couple of months later, Ellerton saw an ad for Dwell95, the luxury Wall Street rental building developed by Joseph Moinian.
"I fell in love with that building, and we ended up becoming one of the top-performing agents there, filling up more apartments than firms with 30, 40 and 50 people," he said.
That summer he and Yomtobian struck out on their own under the name Blackstone, sublet space at 2 Wall Street, and set about hiring agents. They now have five offices -- three on Wall Street, one in Chelsea and one in Midtown, Ellerton said.
Ellerton said he and Yomtobian rolled over the money they made working in Long Island City and at Dwell95 -- a few hundred thousand dollars -- and also received an investment from Kushnir to launch the firm.
Blackstone's chief strategy has been to blanket Craigslist with listings; the tactic is one of the things that's drawn ire from competing firms like Urban Sanctuary, Platinum Properties, New York Living Solutions, Anchor Associates and Bond New York. Ellerton claims that in the firm's first year, it spent about $1 million on Craigslist ads. Based on $6 an ad, that's more than 160,000 ads a year, a number that some say seems impossible.
"They over-post on Craigslist," said Karin Barsegyan, the Downtown managing director for Urban Sanctuary. "People who know the market down there know there simply aren't as many available apartments as they're advertising."
Barsegyan claimed that in addition to posting multiple ads for the same apartment, Blackstone has engaged in duplicitous marketing tactics on Craigslist, such as advertising an apartment for $1,200 that actually rents for $2,400, and not clearly stating that the rental amount is per person, with the assumption the aparment is shared.
For his part, Ellerton said placing multiple ads for the same apartment is a common marketing tactic and that Urban Sanctuary's agents also place ads with rental amounts predicated on a share. Both firms say they have stopped the practice. While REBNY would not comment on the situation (Blackstone is not a member), its code of ethics states that "no member shall publish or advertise in an inaccurate or misleading fashion."
Barsegyan said he gives Blackstone credit for expanding so quickly and characterizes them as "young, hungry kids." He said, however, that right now landlords are "using any broker just to get their units filled."
"When the market turns around, they're going to realize who acted in a professional way," he said, noting that he's heard stories from his agents about Blackstone brokers walking into occupied apartments and showing them to other prospective renters. Ellerton denies that Blackstone agents have tried to show units with tenants in them.
An executive vice president at one of Blackstone's main competing firms alleges that the firm puts up bait-and-switch ads on Craigslist for apartments that either don't exist or have already been rented in order to hook customers into seeing other apartments. According to the state's Department of State, no complaints have been filed against Blackstone for such practices.
The executive, who asked not to be identified, forwarded a Blackstone Craigs-list ad to The Real Dealin which the firm claims it will give a $10,000 check to the 100th person who rented from them as part of a contest. The ad includes photos of people who appear to be winning oversize $10,000 checks from the firm, but in at least one case Ellerton acknowledges that the person photographed was just posing and did not actually win.
Ellerton claimed he was unaware of the gimmick, and that when it was brought to his attention he fired the person responsible for it.
"Sometimes we give too much license to our agents, too much creative freedom," he said. "A lot of that comes from the fact that we're inexperienced and we're 24 years old."
Meanwhile, Barsegyan and executives at other Lower Manhattan firms noted that Blackstone had temporarily been banned from landlord TF Cornerstone's new developments Downtown -- which include 2 Gold Street and 45 Wall Street -- for a couple of days because of complaints about the company.
Ellerton confirmed that Blackstone was briefly banned from showing units in the buildings, but said the incident was prompted by unwarranted complaints from competitors and that Blackstone did nothing wrong.
"We're hated by our competitors, but we're loved by our clients," said Ellerton, who alleges that competing agents are actually the ones engaging in "unscrupulous behavior."
"We flood the market, and we have a monopoly mind-set, and we're hated for that," he said. "A lot of our competitors post fake by-owner ads and then turn around and flag our ads on Craigslist."
Leasing managers at new development rentals in the Financial District who have worked with Blackstone say the firm's aggressive tactics have resulted in leasing success.
"They operate by trying to out-advertise their competitors," said Will Strozier, the leasing manager at 95 Wall Street, who credits Blackstone with renting "a very large proportion" of the building. "If you look on Craigslist it is dominated by Blackstone ads. Because of this, they can continuously keep their agents in the field showing, which ultimately leads to more deals closed."
Strozier added: "They have become a major player in the Downtown real estate market and are giving some of the more established companies a run for their money. In an already tight real estate market, the competition can become fierce, and this understandably can lead to tension between brokers."
Greg Brancato, the leasing manager for 200 Water Street, said Blackstone has done more than 50 deals in the building and that "their strong sense of competition" accounts for their quick success.
"They don't let their clients go with some other agent," said Brancato. "They've been more aggressive than other companies, but you have to be aggressive in this market."
Ellerton claims that Blackstone has been so focused on expanding that he and Yomtobian are making less money than they did before they founded the company, since all their profits are being rolled back into the firm.
Nevertheless, they're planning to grow the firm going forward.
"We want to get into sales when the market comes back and expand into other areas, like Chelsea and Midtown," Ellerton said. "In the end, I think we're going to make this one of the greatest real estate companies that anyone has ever seen."
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Comments
Leasing Agent
I've been wondering when you were going to do a story on these guys. Intriguing company... the aggressive tactics turned me off at first but when I got to know them, they're really good people :-)
Comment #1 Posted By: Leasing Agent 02/01/10
Josh S.
The smear campaign against this firm is ridiculous, I rented an apartment from them back in December of 2008, by a gentlemen name Anthony Lunn and he was nothing but outright professional and helpful. He helped me secure a perfect apartment for my family. Success breeds hatred from competition it's very simple.
Comment #2 Posted By: Josh S. 02/01/10
Anonymous
They claim 70 agents in 5 offices but the site shows 22 agent and only one office. Seems like their press is similar to their bait and switch advertising.
Comment #3 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Anonymous
typical bait & switch agents who will be out of business once the market shifts...enjoy it while it lasts.
Comment #4 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Anonymous
typical bait & switch agents who will be out of business once the market shifts...enjoy it while it lasts.
Comment #5 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Anonymous
No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar. - Abraham Lincoln
Comment #6 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Kevin Ellerton
Gabby, nice article, very balanced. We're extremely grateful for all the agents, landlords, leasing agents, and clients who have made our company what it is today! Anonymous Cowards, we're living in an interdependent society. Stop wasting your time on internet boards, go outside, and contribute like the rest of us do. Help people find apartments! You'll feel better about yourself as a human being, and you might even make some money in the process. Josh, thanks for the kind words, remember to call Anthony when your friends are looking for apartments!
Comment #7 Posted By: Kevin Ellerton 02/01/10
Anonymous
i recall a firm that used to operate their business in a similar way- Homestead. Same BS brokers who are in it for the short profit. they're a flash in the pan and nothing more.
Comment #8 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Anonymous
hahahahahahahahaha! This is actually EXTREMELY funny and quite entertaining! I'm an agent who has worked for these bums and believe me, it took me a total of 48 hours before I realized that blackstone was a total chop shop. Not to mention they're using the name of the financial company to imply that there's a connection between to the two firms. 3 office's on Wall Street... Why? Oh, that's because they're all in cheap executive office suites. Their spaces consist of 1 room in three locations on the same SMALL street. Not to mention both their Chelsea and Midtown offices are virtual. Gabby... you've been bamboozled :-)
Comment #9 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Anonymous
These guys are clowns- some guy named ortiz showed me some apartments and didn't know his head from his arse. I showed up to see a 2 bedroom and they showed me a box that I can "t-wall" to make into 2 shoebox bedrooms. I'm not sure who this reporter spoke to but maybe she should ask some people who actually dealt with them. Or just visit their "office" - feel like your walking into a chop-shop. That 10K prize? I think there's a word for that- fraud?
Comment #10 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Anonymous
These guys are clowns- some guy named ortiz showed me some apartments and didn't know his head from his arse. I showed up to see a 2 bedroom and they showed me a box that I can "t-wall" to make into 2 shoebox bedrooms. I'm not sure who this reporter spoke to but maybe she should ask some people who actually dealt with them. Or just visit their "office" - feel like your walking into a chop-shop. That 10K prize? I think there's a word for that- fraud?
Comment #11 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Anonymous
I tried popping into their "midtown office" and to my surprise there was nothing but a mailbox- this company is smoke and mirrors.
Comment #12 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Anonymous
Ha- even in the picture his jacket is sticking out in the back because of his tail- he's a rat!!!!
Comment #13 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Anonymous
Wow, it's surprising to see that Blackstone has so many haters! I guess they must be doing something right :-) For the record, I have been with Corcoran for several years now. Having worked closely with Blackstone agents like Luis Ortiz and Ariel Cymantov, and having worked briefly with Kevin on a condo deal last year, I have to say that Blackstone has managed to collect some of the most talented, professional, passionate and down-to-earth young agents I have met thus far in my career. I hope to have the privilege of doing more business with Blackstone, now and into the future. Kudos, guys, congratulations on your success!
Comment #14 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Anonymous
Comment #14 - Thanks Ariel.
Comment #15 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Anonymous
They are dirtbags!
Comment #16 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Anonymous
If it looks like a bananna, smells like a bananna and tastes like a bananna. Yes, they buy alot of Craigslist ads but they also put out listings of apartments that not only don't exist at the time they are posted but also of apartments that were never available. They are also known for taking pics of exclusives from other firms and using them themselves. They are gross, know exactly what they are doing and don't care. Thats the sad part PS-some of the competitors who are complaining about them also have the same principles/ethics but cant afford the $100K per month for Craiglist!
Comment #17 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Competition in a micro scale can become very vulgar. You just have to read some of these comments. Notice how they are all obviously driven by hatred. It's great to see that the only people that really matter are the only ones that seem to have good things about them.
Comment #18 Posted By: 02/01/10
Anonymous
This guys might not have come from private schools and rich families. They might seem amateur in some aspects. The fact of the matter is this: they are making something happen. In times of economic turbulence is because of people like these that we are able to keep moving forward. Yes they are not a perfect company. They aren't also backed by a billion dollar company. One of its agents might be his first weeks and he's a young guy. It's a small startup in a very difficult market; that people know little about. Blackstone is providing service; and they seem to be making a good job out of it. I had the opportunity to meet the guys running the operation very closely. They are good-will, well intended down-to-earth guys. People will love them in California.
Comment #19 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Ex-Agent at Blackstone
2000+ Leases signed in 18 months, two of their top agents started First Properties and Goldstar Properties!! ( they might even be connected or funded by these guys!), very similar styles! The owners might be 24 but their source of funding seems older and deeper. One of them is no where to be found, the other one is a workaholic. If that isn't success you must own a Corcoran or Elliman!! it takes start up rental firms 6 years to get to their level! There goal is 1,000 rentals a month and its repeated in all their meetings and written in the training manuals + they have the money and support to get to the top. If i was in the rental business I would be worried!! I witnessed many of their agents gross $50,000 in one month, but you'll never know how because the brains behind the operation is very secretive
Comment #20 Posted By: Ex-Agent at Blackstone 02/01/10
Anon
Craigs list is half the story. Many other firms that where started 5 yrs before Blackstone had the same access to CL but didn't get anywhere close to the market share they have owned and maintained.
Comment #21 Posted By: Anon 02/01/10
Anonymous
#20 - 50K a month? - yea right.
Comment #22 Posted By: Anonymous 02/01/10
Anonymous
Wow you people are so jealous !!!
Comment #23 Posted By: Anonymous 02/02/10
Anonymous
Here's the bottom line. Its not about jealousy, competition, gross numbers or Craigslist posting. Its about basic business ethics or in this case the lack there of. It's because of companies like this that broker's in New York have a reputation as being swindling and conniving. Competition is healthy and good for business, however, a tree grows from its roots-- in this case, those roots are unethical and immoral in every way, shape, and form. If this was the 1700's these guys would be tarred and feathered for their antics.
Comment #24 Posted By: Anonymous 02/02/10
Anonymous
Negativity from other agents, banned from TF Cornerstone, fake prizes, bait-and-switch - come on Ellerton. You're the epitome of why folks disdain realtors! Competition from Urban, Elliman, Bond, Corcoran, etc is healthy - but this firm is BS (pun intended)
Comment #25 Posted By: Anonymous 02/02/10
Anonymous
I have to say, this article doesn’t even begin to show how creepy and unprofessional these guys are. I was recently looking for an apartment unfortunately met with these bums. They are hands down the most unprofessional, despicable, untalented agents in the business. I cut the appointment short because I simply wouldn’t want any of these creeps knowing where I live. It’s pretty sad that the Department of State lets these fools operate. Hopefully this article will attract the right person to shut down this disease of a company!
Comment #26 Posted By: Anonymous 02/02/10
Downtown Leasing Agent
Coming from a leasing agent’s point of view it is a complete pain to deal with this company. I personally pushed to get them banned from our buildings several times! There false advertisements and poor business ethics is a bad reflection on the real estate market in the financial district. They seem to hire anyone who will fall for their scam as a legit brokerage. They offer people false incentives, false prices, and worst of all “kick backs” in order to do business. We have had numerous complaints from tenants, doormen, and building staff regarding these clowns! Kevin Ellerton is the biggest sleaze bag in the business; I personally can stomach to look at his ugly face when he walks into my office! Being banned from the 3 major downtown landlords in under a year speaks for itself! Anything positive in this article is a complete joke knowing the sleaze that this company employs! Hopefully people can read between the lines. Sincerely. Leasing Agent
Comment #27 Posted By: Downtown Leasing Agent 02/02/10
Anonymous
If these postings where from real people, as opposed to competing brokers, they wouldn't post from anonymous!
Comment #28 Posted By: Anonymous 02/02/10
Anonymous
1 out of 15 firms working downtown financial district rentals and 40%-50% of all the deals. They must be doing something right! Keep up the good work.
Comment #29 Posted By: Anonymous 02/02/10
From a female leasing agent
This group 100% got off on the wrong foot but have redeemed themselves. They have come around and left the FiDi competitors in their dust. Who is relevant in FiDi anymore other than Blackstone? The beginning was rough. They had this really horrible, creepy agent who would hit on me and the other girls but he was fired. Kevin made a real effort to repair the relationships ensuring that any issues would be dealt with by him personally. In the last year, I have little to complain about with Blackstone. They are no different than the other companies down here except they are doing many more deals than their closest "competitors". It's hard to say they even have competitors right now. There are real greaseballs in this area who are more like the character from Homestead but they are irrelevant at this point-just like Homestead. I doubt there is a broker down here who never falsified an ad in some way. Go on Craigs List right now and find one firm that is posting 100% legit ads. They don't exist. For all the people hating on these guys, get over it. You should probably join Blackstone.
Comment #30 Posted By: From a female leasing agent 02/02/10
Anonymous
Where is this whole 40%-50% figure coming from? ha! This is a made up number that Blackstone has pulled out of thin air. This was a horrible article in which is bashing Blackstone and at the same time praising them... This discussion forum is pretty lame as well with obvious competing brokers and brokers from blackstone defending themselves posing as leasing agents or just random people. ha! Good luck to all in 2010! Remember one thing, only the strong survive!!
Comment #31 Posted By: Anonymous 02/02/10
Anonymous
All brokers are liers and cheats, thats why they are in the business...Craigslist ads, come on people they are all FAKE ALL OF THEM................ EVERY SINGLE ONE, Hi I'm calling about apt xyz, it's taken but i have somehting just like it...
Comment #32 Posted By: Anonymous 02/02/10
Anonymous
Hey there for all you haters out there: know that Blackstone is legit! I work with them and they rock! and whoever it was that hated on Luiz Ortiz--- huh???!!! Luiz is the face of Blackstone. Ariel Kevin and David keep up the good work! -N.R.
Comment #33 Posted By: Anonymous 02/02/10
Anonymous
Who even cares who may or may not be doing business in the Financial District? The real players in the rental game don't even bother keeping offices down there. the neighborhood only attracts clown companies who go around bragging about who eats the most crumbs that fall from the better firms' dinner table.
Comment #34 Posted By: Anonymous 02/02/10
Anonymous
hi everyone i just wanted to say that i work at platinum properties and most of the coments are from my managers pretending to be clients & agents & leasing agents' they were laughing about it all day & i think that was wrong. lol your welcome ratclowns
Comment #35 Posted By: Anonymous 02/02/10
Nick
Maybe I'm cynical but I was under the impression that these tactics were the norm for the rental business. In my instance, I was lured to a broker by a too-good-to-be-true craiglist ad. I wasn't naive but I'd look with a guy if there wasn't a brokers fee--even though I later realized it was a month of free rent that I would miss out on. At the end of the day, what the broker showed me was better than anything I had come across on my own, regardless of his tactics. All things considered, the slimeball added value and I was happy for him to be compensated by the LL. Good for Blackstone to utilize all the tools at their disposal to corner this market, albeit in a ethically-challenged arena.
Comment #36 Posted By: Nick 02/03/10
Anonymous
Spending 1 Million dollars on craigslist and closing only 50 deals at 200 Water is a terrible ratio. In fact it stinks and is certainly nothing to brag about. I know of companies that spend 1/10 of that on craigslist and have accomplished just as many deals.
Comment #37 Posted By: Anonymous 02/03/10
Anonymous
-$1million dollars a year = $80k a month. -50 deals in just 1 building = at least $60 a month. -# of buildings downtown = around 30. -30 x 60 = 1.8Million. -that's kind of nice..
Comment #38 Posted By: Anonymous 02/03/10
Anonymous
Very good Math. No wonder agents complain about chasing the pay cks.
Comment #39 Posted By: Anonymous 02/03/10
Anonymous
why is there even an article about these guys if they are not in jail? they post ads that are straight forward lies. brokers even posing as roommate, pisses me off so much!!! then when you meet the guy, he becomes a friend of the rommate. a few minutes later, he reveals he's a broker.
Comment #40 Posted By: Anonymous 02/03/10
Anonymous
Clearly many ppl are jealous by our success.....otherwise why all the hate, brothers? N.R.
Comment #41 Posted By: Anonymous 02/04/10
Anonymous
Sounds to me like there are a lot of haters here. The bottom line is they are getting the job done better than everyone downtown. wtr they are doing it works and I'm sure its not just what you see above. They are not going to give their marketing tactics away on a press release. They are very smart, motivated, and are out-hustling everyone. Not to mention they started the firm in the worst market while everyone is suffering. This is not luck.... They will also learn from their mistakes and will only get stronger. I dont understand why they are not getting exclusive representation on the buildings downtown. If I was them i would go to my top buildings and inform the landlords that will only continue renting there on an exclusive basis. I also suspect that many the haters above are the competitive firms losing business from Blackstone as they are all anonymous.
Comment #42 Posted By: Anonymous 02/04/10
Anonymous
(Ellerton's company has no relation to the powerful private equity firm the Blackstone Group.) ** Any comment from the powerful private equity group The Blackstone Group ** Lawsuit??
Comment #43 Posted By: Anonymous 02/05/10
Anonymous
yea lawsait! because blackstone has gotten into blackstone group's 120 billion dollar market share right?! yes! i'm being extremely sarcastic! who thinks such an inmense company will bother with a small startup in downtown manhattan because they're named blackstone? do you know how many businesses are named blackstone?!
Comment #44 Posted By: Anonymous 02/06/10
Anonymous
I interviewed with these guys and the vibe was very unprofessional ,so I did'nt pursue it further.Their "stick" may play to the 20-32 yr. old demographic but I cant' see them getting much business from a more mature clientele.But they are agressive and they hustle so with more experience and a willingness to LEARN they can grow a great company..Good Luck BS...Keep going!!
Comment #45 Posted By: Anonymous 02/06/10
Downtown Broker
BLACKSTONE IS A CANCER TO THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY! Besides consistantly misleading clients with fake ads and inventory that does not exist, they operate like boiler room brokers. They don't care about their clients or their brand. Downtown was always a competitive place to do business but it was healthy, their was respect for the management companies and the product but this company has come in and ruined all of that, running wild like a bunch of cowboys willing to do anything for a deal. I have had many of their clients that have bounced back to me that have complained about them. Unfortunately their lack of ethics and professionalism reflects poorly on the entire community. I am hoping that this article inspires accountability.
Comment #46 Posted By: Downtown Broker 02/06/10
Licensed Real Estate Broker
I think what is really missing is a real regulatory agency for Real Estate. Rebny is a joke, and dos never does a thing. if i were selling stock the way blackstone sells apartments, the S.E.C would have me in jail for the next 10 years. What we need is a S.E.C for real estate and not rebny which is optional to join. Btw Blackstone is not a member of rebny so they can get away with what they want. We need real regulation in this industry or when sales come back blackstone will join corcoran in selling us more overpriced , speculative properties and tell us we will make a 40% profit flipping it in 1 year. We need this agency, and maybe we will avoid another real estate bubble. Believe it or not, we brokers are partially to blame for this economic recession.
Comment #47 Posted By: Licensed Real Estate Broker 02/06/10
Anonymous
The truth is Urban Sanctuay, Platinum properties and NYLS are all bum brokers. Its just that Blackstone is beating the other bums up and they are mad. They have become the biggest bums out there. If urban sanctuary were to spend 100k a month a craigslist they would have the same exposure and the same reputation. Karin is just mad because he doesnt have that ad budget, but their ads are just as bad if not worse than blackstones.
Comment #48 Posted By: Anonymous 02/06/10
Anonymous
How do bum brokers rent over 2000+ apartment?? maybe 50% of those where from craigs list, Blackstone has also been featured in 12 newspapers, 50 websites, Yodle.com, and 1000's of other websites. CL is to throw people off, Craigs list is a Black hole with very little or no ROI.
Comment #49 Posted By: Anonymous 02/06/10
Leasing Agent
Blackstone like all other agencies has the good and the rotten apples, they have their superstars and their flops, Overall they have the done the best job at filling up our building than any other agency out there in the past 2 years. keep up the success.
Comment #50 Posted By: Leasing Agent 02/06/10
Anonymous
Paying for publicity is the answer for being featured in magazines and websites. Anyone with a publicist can do that. Give me some real apartments that they have. How many agents do they have and now ask how many exclusives do they have? None...you can measure a company by how many listings they have, and they have none. All their listings are open and the listings advertised are bogus with fake prizes. So that equals bum broker in my book.
Comment #51 Posted By: Anonymous 02/06/10
Thug Broker
If these were the old days we would just go into blackstones office and smack the ceo upside his head and tell him to stop his ish or get swiss cheesed up or better yet bang his nuts on the *^%$ing dresser. These kids are soft, someone just needs to kick their ass for real and then you will see all the bait and switch ads down, holla back I'll do it for a fee...
Comment #52 Posted By: Thug Broker 02/06/10
Anonymous
I heard blackstone hires gays and black, what are they thinking? the jews use to run the block
Comment #53 Posted By: Anonymous 02/06/10
Anonymous
Blakstones ratio of good to rotten apples: 1 to 100.
Comment #54 Posted By: Anonymous 02/06/10
Anonymous
I know this company very well... everything there is bait and switch and lies!!! them and Platinum gives us brokers a bad reputation! They're not REBNY because of their shaddy tactics! it's time for the NY state department to close all these shaddy companies! BS ads that don't exist, advertising other companies exclusives as theirs, stealing clients and much worse!!! Take their licenses and never let them do business again in this town!!!
Comment #55 Posted By: Anonymous 02/08/10
Anonymous
yeah, Urban Sanctuary, Platinum, NYLS are also shaddy companies with Baits and BS!!! Close them all!! They give all the other brokers a bad name!!! Why isn't the DOS investigating these companies??? are they blind???
Comment #56 Posted By: Anonymous 02/08/10
Rick P
Why do residential brokers have so much hatred? Why not get out of the business rather than fall this far? Who behaves in such a manner?
Comment #57 Posted By: Rick P 02/08/10
Anonymous
I know nothing about this company, but the fact that he couldnt even cover up all the crap that he was 'allegedly' doing and blaming it on the fact that he is 24 yrs ole (cop out), leads me to believe that they are very shady characters, and I will probably never do business with these people
Comment #58 Posted By: Anonymous 02/08/10
Anonymous
SIDENOTE: Blackstone's positive/supporting comments are also posted ANONYMOUSLY!!!
Comment #59 Posted By: Anonymous 02/09/10
Anonymous
the fact that he simply admits to committing fraud and pawns it off on one of his agents who "he fired" seems to be very irresponsible. So they offered a $10,000 reward, hired someone to take a picture with a check (without actually giving it to them), then go caught, then simply said sorry and that they fired the person? hmmm.... this isn't high school. seems like there should be repercussions.
Comment #60 Posted By: Anonymous 02/09/10
Actual Manhattan Landlord who rents his own apts
Dont forget that in their CL ads, they have a link to "report to CL", but it really just sends an email to Blackstone. Thanks for making it harder for actual owners and tenants to find each other! How did they ever think of such an original name?
Comment #61 Posted By: Actual Manhattan Landlord who rents his own apts 02/09/10
There is a story of a young man being sexually harassed by an employee. The employee was homosexual, made very advanced advances to the broker, and when the broker denied any such actions, he was reportedly sabotaged out of the company. Both guys were pretty young, with the broker being only 20 it is said. The broker is said to have every bit in line for a lawsuit yet cant find legal counsel because Blackstone also took his money. I wish I could find the kid to shed some light on the situation.
Comment #62 Posted By: 02/09/10
Anonymous
^^^ To the above, I meant to say graphic advances made to the broker. Not "advanced advances
Comment #63 Posted By: Anonymous 02/09/10
Anonymous
To #4 and all the other critics, you should be doing as well and working half as hard. No, I do not work for Blackstone.
Comment #64 Posted By: Anonymous 02/09/10
Anonymous
to #61 Actual Manhattan Landlord who rents his own apts what is your name and number?
Comment #65 Posted By: Anonymous 02/10/10
Anonymous
I love this company!! I used blackstone to find my apartment and i got 3 months free rent!!!! Great company great agents!!
Comment #66 Posted By: Anonymous 02/10/10
Anonymous
I never heard of this company. I do find it "cheeky" that they named themselves after a financial powerhouse (and it's a turnoff). Most residential brokers are idiots or dirtbags, especially the ones that do rentals. Residential rental brokerage is the lowest end of the real estate business. I'm sure a lot of the negative comments are jealousy, but if I was back in the market (which would be to sell and buy though), from what I read in the article, I would not use an agent from this firm. The craiglist thing really turned me off and I've seen these type of bait and switch adds, whether it's this firm or another. I'm trying to be objective, so from all the comments (realizing some are haters) and the article it appears these guys take an almost "guerrilla" approach to the market, with some agents engaging in perhaps some "questionable" marketing tactics. I actually own several investment units in the Financial District. When we have our next vacancy, I'll be curious to see if a Blackstone agent gets in the mix.
Comment #67 Posted By: Anonymous 02/12/10
Anonymous
Blackstone has rented many units in my building. I'm very thank full for their efforts. I don't give a sh*t how they do it. Bottom line they produced results when others firms didn't. Blackstone you know who I am. Keep up the good work and don't pay attention to all the haters here...
Comment #68 Posted By: Anonymous 02/12/10
Anonymous
#68, you make a good point, if they bring you a tenant, what do you care, I don't either. If I like the tenant (regardless of who the broker is) I'll take them, that's resi rental brokerage; any moron can do it, you simply need to be persistent. Actually, this also may be one of the few professions where stupidity plays into your favor.
Comment #69 Posted By: Anonymous 02/12/10
Former Downtown Broker - Now w/ Elliman
Blackstone is the newest crowned king of the s4ithole we call fidi. Platinum Properties, Urban, NYLS and all the other little companies that were formed from runaways of these companies have created a mess in Fidi. You have 2342342342 firms working 10 rental buildings and all trying to undercut each other in prices advertised on "great" medias such as craigslist. Gabby, you are one stupid hoe to write such a fluff piece on this company. Go back to school and learn to do some real journalism. How about some undercover work to see just how sleazy this and other companies downtown are? It just goes to show you, first urban and platinum get pr to get press and now blackstone has followed suit. ALL OF YOU ARE JOKES AND A HALF.
Comment #70 Posted By: Former Downtown Broker - Now w/ Elliman 02/12/10
Anonymous
As long as craig gets $6/ad from these guys and all you other clowns that advertise there, this will not stop.
Comment #71 Posted By: Anonymous 02/16/10
Anonymous
I own several units in Manhattan an agent from Blackstone called me saying if my unit is not rented in 60 days, they pay $1000. I find that very impressive.
Comment #72 Posted By: Anonymous 02/18/10
Anonymous
Posing with a fake check is completely along the lines of what the rest of all advertising stands on in this country. Whats the difference.All the rest of it is exactly the same too. Its called CAPITALISM. Do what you can. Rob who you can,Exploit who you can. This is teeny compare to what else goes on. Its amazing how pissed of people get over the little things when the big picture is what matters. By the way what they do is I D E N T I C A L to what all the other rental firms do, They all do the same exact thing - fake and misleading ads. As an agent you must have a stomach for it. You must be able to help people and do the right thing for them within the context of unscrupulous system. Doesn't that sound all too familiar to all of us.
Comment #73 Posted By: Anonymous 02/19/10
DMESS
"The strong stay quiet, the weak start riots."
Comment #74 Posted By: DMESS 02/25/10
Anonymous
Do Blackstone rental agents pay $4 for every Craigslist ad they post out of pocket?
Comment #75 Posted By: Anonymous 02/25/10
Real Estate Broker
We NEED regulation in this business. I love helping people and I love doing rentals. Why cant D.O.S or R.e.B.N.y do something to punish these fool brokers who post fake ads and misleading promotions. What we brokers need is a REAL REGULATORY COMMISSION. we need a real alliance. Rebny was formed for commercial brokers and they found a way to pimp residential brokers but they do NOTHING...so please reply to this if you want to see real change happen in the real estate community. This is not against blackstone or any particular agency. Like many of you noted its a problem among many real estate companies. Once one does it, they all follow suit and do it worse just to compete.
Comment #76 Posted By: Real Estate Broker 02/26/10
Honiton
An earlier comment mentioned Blackstone's Anthony Lunn.If you Google his name you'll find he was responable for deceiving and stealing from many whilst in London a couple of years back.Even from the Landlord of his London apartment! How ironic is that bearing in mind BS pride themselves on integrity and fidelity!! Does William Anthony Lunn typify the kind of thieving bum that Blackstone employ?
Comment #77 Posted By: Honiton 04/14/10
Anonymous
Lunn was fired from Blackstone a few months back, reportedly for the same kind of dishonesty that you mentioned above. I think it's ironic that he was quickly scooped up by Prodigy International, which is still trying to pose as a "reputable firm." As far as I can see, they're the shadiest of the bunch.
Comment #78 Posted By: Anonymous 04/26/10