E-mails replacing phones in negotiations

More and more real estate deals are being done via e-mail, and brokers have mixed feelings about it. Steve Goldschmidt, a senior vice president at Warburg Realty, said he recently handled a deal where he sometimes exchanged 20 to 30 e-mail messages a day with his client. Goldschmidt said he likes to hear the other broker’s voice to gauge where a deal is at, and that he has seen more brokers make lowball offers by e-mail, perhaps because they won’t have to hear the sellers’ laughter or scorn. Melanie Swanson, an agent at Century 21 NY Metro, vowed to never make a major move in a negotiation before talking to the client after an e-mail miscommunication cost her a deal. Swanson misread a client’s e-mail and submitted a bid on an apartment that was $5,000 more than the client’s bid, but the client actually wanted to reduce the bid by $5,000.