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When to use a real estate broker
Not everyone can spare the hours to the pursuit of living space. If you're of the race-against-time persuasion, then you're destined to accept the first offer which comes to the table, no matter how mediocre. This is where the broker comes in. One great thing about these characters is that very few charge you for their services. Unless you can easily afford to pay the equivalent of a month's rent, and the money-grubbing broker has an impeccable reputation, the obvious suggestion is that you eschew those realtors who ask you for compensation in favor of those who get their bread buttered by the landlords.
Always be prepared with a "must have" list on hand, (or concretely in mind), when you call a real estate broker's office. This should include as specific a location as possible, the rent you want to pay, the spatial requirements, parking concerns, pet issues, and anything else you absolutely will not go without — be it a bidet or a peep hole. Then let them do the fact checking, while you complete your marketing analysis, or whatever it is that's keeping you so very busy. Once they get back to you, ask for all available photo listings to be faxed to your home or place of business. Being short on time, narrow the options along with your personal apartment shopper before you head into the field. This will save both of you a lot of time and effort.
Buyer Beware: Apartment locators are salesmen. Everything you've ever heard about salesmen may potentially apply to your smiling, small-talking realtor. They could try to swindle you into a lemon, talk you into a blowing off your rent constraints, and pressure you to sign a lease on a so-so apartment. Keep in mind their final motivation is your money. They're not in this for their health or your convenience. A good way to avoid being jilted by a broker is to use more than one, so as to get a better feel for who you're dealing with through comparison. Also, get wise to some of their sales tactics:
1. Telling you of other parties interested in an apartment you're considering. Were this true, you'd never have been shown the place to begin with.
2. Becoming irate if you pass something down or making you feel guilty for wasting their time. Remember, they engineered this trip: Had they designed a better round of showings, your time would have been better spent.
3. The old "it costs more, but it's worth it." Sure it's worth it, but you still can't afford it.
4. Showing you a very expensive residence that you would never consider. Then taking you to a much cheaper one. Why? So that your sigh of relief propels you into an instant "I'll take it." Once they get a promise out of you, the money is just a technicality.
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Leah and Elina Furman are freelance writers living in Chicago, and are currently writing The Everything After College Book, to be released by Adams Media in the fall of '97.
© 1997 Tripod, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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