A look at what Obama's new insurance mandate
means for the industry.

“It’s been very difficult and expensive for real estate agents to get health insurance,” said Klara Madlin, owner of Manhattan brokerage Klara Madlin Real Estate, which has 15 sales brokers.
Madlin said she personally paid $550 a month for individual coverage last year, and her premiums were slated to rise by 17 percent. (Luckily, Madlin is now old enough to qualify for Medicare, which brings her costs down to about $200 a month. “The only good thing, other than half-price transit, about getting old,” she joked.) She said her agents have similar individual coverage plans.

Click here for article...

1/1/2010
Cutting out the broker as middleman
By Candace Taylor

For some buyers' brokers, it's their greatest fear come to pass. More and more apartment hunters, armed with listing information gleaned from the Web, are representing themselves rather than using a real estate agent.

"I have buyers coming at me [at open houses], unrepresented, clutching fistfuls of paper," said Halstead Property senior vice president Charles Homet, who primarily works with sellers. "They pride themselves on their Internet acumen and they feel they have enough information."

This is the long-feared bogeyman of the Internet era for buyers' brokers: the idea that buyers will no longer need them because they can find listings online and deal directly with the seller's agent.

And while buyers' brokers clearly have an advantage right now in the soft market, the long term is a different story. In some ways, the changes are already afoot.

Prudential Douglas Elliman vice chairman Dolly Lenz said she is doing "a lot more direct deals," estimating that she may be working with twice as many unrepresented buyers now as in past years.

"If you're the exclusive agent, the buyers are calling you directly," she said. "It's becoming the wave of the future."

Upon closer inspection, however, the shift isn't the disaster for buyers' brokers that it may first appear. Many buyers start out unrepresented, but quickly discover they need help navigating the complexities of the market. And experts agree that the difficulty of assembling co-op board packages, in particular, assures co-broking a permanent place in New York City real estate.

Still, the shift has significant ramifications for the next generation of buyers' brokers, who will have to be faster and savvier than in the past. "We have to work harder," said Klara Madlin, founder of Klara Madlin Real Estate, which often represents buyers. "If [agents] are going to be successful, they really need to be on top of this information, and it's not easy."

That's largely because over the last several years, real estate listing data in New York has become more plentiful and accurate on the Web, making for more-educated consumers. Brokerages like the Corcoran Group, Halstead and Elliman have poured money into user-friendly Web sites, with high-resolution photos and even videos of properties for sale. Meanwhile, sites like StreetEasy, Trulia, and PropertyShark allow consumers to search nearly all of the market's listings at once.

Consumers' access to this information didn't seem to make much difference to brokers during the boom, when apartments moved so quickly that they were often sold by the time consumers found them online.

"People were afraid that if they didn't buy right then and there, someone else would outbid them," Madlin said. "They weren't doing as much research."

In the last year, however, the once-frenetic pace of sales in New York has slowed considerably, prices have fallen and a buyer's market has emerged. That has often given buyers' brokers an advantage over agents working with sellers, but it's also giving buyers the time to look for properties on their own.

Homet said many of the unrepresented buyers he sees are younger, first-time buyers. "It's mostly first-time buyers who are in their 20s and who are very Internet savvy," he said. "They have a lot of knowledge at their fingertips. … They have confidence that they can handle the negotiations themselves."

These buyers often start out by searching for listings on StreetEasy, which shows them the contact information for the listing agents. When they find a listing they like, they call or e-mail that agent directly to ask about showings.

In the past, the number of "direct deals" -- where a seller's broker gets the whole commission rather than splitting it with a buyer's broker -- has been small, in part because the Real Estate Board of New York requires exclusive listings to be shared with all members within 24 hours.

In a recent survey of REBNY members asking how many of their recent deals had been co-broked, 61 percent of respondents said all, 31 percent said some and 8 percent said none, according to Steven Spinola, president of REBNY.

The increase in direct deals may not yet be showing up in the numbers, but brokers and analysts say they are seeing a noticeable difference on the ground. "I've definitely heard that we're making it easier for buyers to go without the buyer's broker," said Derrick Gross, a business analyst at StreetEasy.

Not only do do-it-yourselfers believe they don't need help, experts say, but they often believe that they'll save money by avoiding a broker. First-time buyers in particular often don't realize that they don't have to pay for the services of a buyer's broker: The seller pays for both.

Others think they can cut a better deal on the commission by bringing the listing broker a direct deal. In reality, the seller usually signs an exclusive listing agreement specifying the amount of the commission, which stays the same regardless of how many brokers split it.

Direct deals are often welcomed by the listing broker, but their increasing prevalence has buyers' brokers worried. In the past, simply having access to listings was enough to win over clients, but that's no longer the case now that buyers have plenty of time to troll listings themselves.

Agents must scramble to earn customers' loyalty in other ways, by accumulating in-depth building information or honing their negotiation skills. Madlin said she helps her agents gain information that consumers can't find online, scheduling meetings with mortgage brokers to find out which banks are lending in which buildings, and what financial requirements they're looking for.

All is not lost for buyers' brokers, however. New virtual office Web sites, or VOWs, may help by letting clients search all of the industry's listings without leaving the firm's site. The change could assist brokers in retaining buyers -- at least those who agree to VOWs' mandatory sign-in requirements.

Moreover, New York City's high number of co-ops could help because preparing a board package or acing a board interview is easier with the help of an experienced broker.

"Brokers are necessary here because of co-ops," Gross said.

Even in non-co-op transactions, many shoppers find that buying a home without representation is harder than they think. Especially in New York, "there are lots of moving parts when buying a property," said Gea Elika, the founder of Elika Real Estate, which primarily represents buyers. "[Buyers] start to get confused."

Elika recently started representing a woman who had been searching on her own for a year. "I think she really wanted somebody who was going to work for her in simplifying the process," he said.

Some buyers realize that since sellers nearly always have agents, it makes sense to have someone representing them as well.

At a recent open house, Madlin met a potential buyer who had come without an agent. When Madlin offered to represent him, he said he didn't like brokers, adding: "What do I need you for? I have StreetEasy."

He called her later that night, having changed his mind, and Madlin's firm helped him buy a home. "He went on StreetEasy and realized, ‘I'm going to be dealing with a broker either way," Madlin said.

While VOWs are a step in the right direction, they still don’t offer as much information as a traditional MLS, said Klara Madlin, the founder of Klara Madlin Real Estate.

“There are some problems with establishing a VOW,” said Madlin, who is president of MLS Manhattan, a group that is working to establish a comprehensive MLS for the city. “Many customers resist the requirement to register with the VOW. Also, the buyer is still not privy to all the information that the brokers see.”

BROKERS WEEKLY, Nov. 2009
by: John Majeski

Life's Better in Morningside Heights.

The "Academic Acropolis." New York City's "college town." Whatever you call it, Morningside heights refers to the area bordered by Morningside and Riverside Parks from 106th to 123rd streets.
Klara Madlin broker David J. Thompson lives and handles deals here. "Good transportation, good parks, and the restaurants are much better than they were, " he said.

Check out the Nov. 4th 2009 copt of Brokers Weekly for full story.

Reluctant Renovators

“Nowadays, people are watching all those shows before they put their apartment on the market,” said Klara Madlin, president of Klara Madlin Real Estate in Manhattan. “You can’t really find those good fixer-uppers anymore.”

Read the complete article...

What you need to know to get a mortgage

GETTING a mortgage used to be as easy as choosing the right color paint for a new home. Don’t have stellar credit? No problem. No verified income? Step right over here. High debt-to-income ratio? Sign on the dotted line anyway.
“Two years ago, we had a meeting where a mortgage broker said, ‘If you have pulse, I can get you a mortgage.’ ” said Klara Madlin, the president of the Manhattan Association of Realtors and owner of Klara Madlin Real Estate. “And I thought, ‘We’re in trouble.’ ”

Read the complete article...

click on Klara for webcast

Klara Madlin president, Klara Madlin Real Estate

Where is the market now, and where is it headed?

Currently if a property is pricedécorrectly it sells quickly – sometimes for more then asking. Yes, Virginia we are still seeing bidding wars. If it is not [pricedécorrectly] it will sit on the market until it is.

What are you most excited about?

In the coming year, sellers will no longer be expecting unrealistic prices. If a seller wants to sell then they will be realistic.

What parts of real estate do you expect to fare worst?

The most underrated real estate right now is the Upper East Side. East of Third is definitely not trendy. It’s more space for the money. And, if the Second Avenue subway actually gets built, it’s a really great investment.

click here for complete article...

"There was a time when both sides of town were very different from one another, and people said they wouldn't live in one place or they wouldn't live in the other,"
said Klara Madlin, president of Klara Madlin Real Estate, which is located on the Upper West Side but handles
sales in both neighborhoods. "But I don't think they're
that different from one another anymore."

click here for full story...

Listing Service Dream in Disarray
AT the dawn of the Internet age, the real estate brokers in Manhattan got together and said: Let us work together to provide a single place on the Web where buyers can see all the apartments we have to sell. We will help our sellers sell faster, and earn our commissions faster, they said.

Read the complete article...

NEW YORK LIVING MAGAZINE ~ Feb. 2005

From the article "Where To Live in Harlem"
"There are not enough condominiums in Harlem," says Klara Madlin,
cofounder of Harlem Homes , one of the first brokerage houses to specialize
in Harlem Exclusively.

But developers are stepping in en masse to fill the void.

Rosetree Development is renovating six brownstones, the first of which is
at 2119 Fifth Ave. and 130th St., to create at least 24 condo apartments.
Marketed by Klara Madlin, the loft-style units boast marble and stone tile bathrooms, open Silestone kitchens, Jacuzzis, washer/dryers, and central a/c. Priced from $525,000 to $660,000 for a 1400 sq. ft. garden apartment with backyard, the floor through units offer original exposed brick walls, oversize windows, Brazilian cherry satin hardwood floors, and wood burning fireplaces.


click here for more info on New York Living Magazine