Many people who have lived in New York City or have been through the hassle of the real estate market in NYC know the adventure that it is.
It is often the case that people may not want to work with a broker because of the popular stigma surrounding this job, as well as the many horror stories of finding apartments in NYC.
This can be an understandable reason and as such, I think it’s important to give you some tips on how to recognize a genuine good broker so that in your future endeavors you can ensure yourself you’re working with someone legit!
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Always check what company your real estate sales agent is working for and for how long they’ve been working in real estate.
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Never exchange or pay cash for any transactions related to your real estate rental or purchase.
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Always make sure there are written documents and never solely rely on the oral word. Once you have your lease contract, we recommend you seek a legal professional for reviewing; never take legal advice or real estate advice from non-professionals.
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Never put down an offer or lease on an apartment or building you have not seen yet. (There are few exceptions – in the case that you are not in the country, you can ask your real estate professional to do a virtual walk through of the unit etc. but you must make sure you are signing the contract for the actual unit you saw virtually (ask the agent to prove to you it is the actual unit, with documentation and photos or videos, etc.)
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Never work with an agent or landlord that you do not eventually meet. There have been a history of scams relating to real estate with "overseas" landlords and sales agents and as such, we recommend always having face to face interactions with the professionals who will be dealing with your rentals.
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Although not absolutely required, we always think it is useful to do some quick google research regarding the unit or building you want to move into. If the information you have been provided grossly mismatches the information you are seeing throughout the internet, you may have to chase up on some additional details.
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A general rule of thumb with New York City rentals is that if it feels way too good to be true, there is often a catch. In our experience, you can get some truly great deals with no fee luxury rentals but the median rent and price range tend to be predictable per neighborhood or area and as such, you’ll almost immediately feel something might not be right if the price seems way out of proportion to market rates.
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If you have doubts about your real estate salesperson’s legitimacy, you can always ask them to provide the adequate identification as all NYC brokers and agents must possess a license card issued by the NYS Department of State.
Although these 8 tips are not an exhaustive list that will guarantee you that you will always have a legit real estate interaction, they are a pretty good base for you to navigate whether or not you’re working with someone legitimate. If you ever have any questions regarding the legitimacy of your agent, you can contact NYS Department of State or look up the name of your real estate salesperson on the Department of State agent database.
