Resi brokers share their secrets to turning listings into sales

Neutral spaces, pricing tricks ... & more

1060 Fifth Avenue #2B
1060 Fifth Avenue #2B

Why do some apartments linger while others breed bidding wars? Is the address of a building important, and what about the paint?

In today’s market — with plenty of options out there, and more inventory on its way — closing a deal sometimes depends on brokers playing psychologist.

One notable strategy is pricing properties “just below” a round number. “There is a psychological effect of being just a hair under,” Warburg Realty’s [TRDataCustom] Claire Groome told DNAinfo.

Buyers also prefer neutral spaces — which brokers can achieve by de-cluttering, painting and staging. Groome said she recently took over a $15.5 million listing that had lingered on the market. After painting over garish pink and green paint, and furnishing the Upper East Side co-op with modern pieces, she quickly received offers for the apartment, she said. Still, StreetEasy records indicate that an apartment fitting that description at 1060 Fifth Avenue remains on the market at $15.5 million, unsold since July 2016.

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Listings that sit on the market for 60 to 90 days are a big turn off, Mdrn. Residential CEO Zach Ehrlich told DNAinfo. Properties on the market for more than 90 days, he said, “have a 95 percent change they won’t sell unless the seller drops the price.” To avoid the stench of an old listing, the property description is extremely important, brokers said.

These days, brokers have phased out overused terms like “extraordinary” and “majestic,” according to an analysis of broker babble by The Real Deal last year. These days, brokers are also staying away from the word “huge,” a popular refrain of President Donald Trump, Stephen Kliegerman of Halstead Property Development Marketing told DNAinfo.

Kliegerman said building names are also important — particularly if the street address causes confusion or is perceived to be unlucky, such as 1313 13th Street. “When we’re naming a building,” Kliegerman said, “we work hard to make sure the name has some relevance to the history of the building or neighborhood, something that’s more contextual to the property.” [DNAinfo]E.B. Solomont