Manhattan House
845 West End Ave
The Aldyn
15 Union Square West
The Rushmore Riverside
515 East 72
One of the stories we have been sitting on for a few months has been the launch of a new brokerage company here in New York City. Just this morning, The Real Deal and Crain’s New York have reported that CondoDomain.com has recently gone live offering buyers access to all REBNY listings through their Virtual Office Website (VOW) application. For those of you unaware, following a settlement in 2009 with the Department of Justice, the Real Estate Board of New York was required by law to provide these listings directly to VOWs who are REBNY members, provided they agree to certain guidelines and pay a fee for an audit by REBNY. It is not quite like the Multiple Listing Services (MLS) in other cities but it’s a better alternative than browsing each individual broker’s website (NY Condos).
While the VOW is enough to catch our attention, what really has us interested is the business model that provides cash refunds to buyers. CondoDomain offers both a full service option and a do it yourself (DIY) option. The full-service model has the brokers guiding the buyer through the apartment search in the traditional way but refunding 20% of the commission earned post-closing. (On a $1,000,000 transaction with a customary 3% commission, the buyer would receive $6,000 back) With the DIY option, the buyer finds the apartment on their own and hires a CondoDomain broker to handle the negotiations and closing, all for a flat fee of $10,000. (On the same $1MM transaction, the buyer would receive $20,000 back)
We were skeptical at first that this was even legal because we were under the impression that a broker is not allowed to share any portion of their commission with an unlicensed person. However, CEO Tony Longo sent us to the Department of Justice website that has a map showing all of the states that allow commission rebates.
We truly believe that not only will this type of business model work but that this company is destined for great things here in Manhattan. We met with both Tony and his City Vice President, Brett Malvin, and were impressed with their knowledge of the industry as well as the ins and outs of buying real estate in New York. At the end of the day, if you, as the buyer, receive the customer service, knowledge and access to information that the big firms offer AND receive cash back, we felt it is our duty to bring this information to you!
We are interested in hearing your thoughts on this.
Feel free to read their full press release on their blog here.
Also you can visit their website at www.NY.CondoDomain.com
Cheers,
James
Hi,
This is a nice idea, basically you do the work and they get paid… Wow, why didn’t I think of that?? First, how long is Tony and the other guy Brett been Brokers in Manhattan??? They claim to have the knowledge and experience so let’s hear how long… Second, don’t forget you will have to report it as profits for tax which reduce the incentive… Better just go to a broker friend you know and have him cut you a deal on his fee or go with one of those agencies that the brokers only pay small flat transaction fee and they could be just as negotiable if not more and have lots of experience behind them and a big comapny name and won’t disappear after they collected a few nice checks….
[...] from: NY Condo Blog: CondoDomain: Discount Brokerage Firm Enters NYC Market Posted in Brokerage | Tags: been-the-launch, Brokerage, condo, few-months, gone-live, [...]
No this is a cool company. I have heard of them before as I was living in DC this past summer. They are just front-runners taking a lot of heat for what ultimately will be the business model of the future. And by stating “business model” all I am saying is “not fixed 6% commissions” but more of an a la carte style of services where you pick what you want and need. Every buyer needs a different level of service. I know exactly where I want to live in DC when I ultimately move back, therefore using these guys would be ideal as I would not be running them around for 6 months looking for a place. Glad to see they are here in NYC, so after I save up $1,000,000 I can finally buy my first place.
Damn this town is expensive.
[...] getting our teeth kicked-in by the obvious competing real estate agents, here, here and here and here …. and here, ugh, Brett, Jessica and I have got a chance to sit down and group some of [...]