Casually bejeweled

I just had to share that phrase, because it is funny. I was sitting at the computer talking with Amy, and I quickly and effortlessly put on a necklace that was sitting here. Then I referred to myself as casually bejeweled. Amy reminded me last night she's getting her ears pierced double for a ghettoed-out summer look. All this is making me later and later for work. I'll tell you how today goes, waiting on the kid and the exclusive.

Exclusive

I may have my first exclusive. A guy called into the office this afternoon and it was my turn to get a call. He wants to sublet his apartment furnished for up to six months and he wants it done yesterday. It's kind of a tough situation. On the plus side, I think he is busy enough to like the idea that I do all the work and he doesn't have to (or get to) do anything. On the minus side, it's a furnished short term rental that has to get rented yesterday. Smack dab in Little Italy. Not really a trophy apartment in a businessy part of town. But I'll take it. My pocket listing got rented by the owners, so I got nothing. My open listing I brought in didn't get rented by anyone in our company, so I got nothing. On this deal I will get something no matter what, but it seems like a hard sell. Well the guy was very nice and seems like he could be talked into doing things a certain way, which could work to my benefit. I'll just have to see what happens on Monday.

Speaking of Monday, or really Tuesday, my recent graduate is sweating over the cond-op. The cond-op's agent is sweating over him. The big hold up is that the kid's parents are in Jamaica until Tuesday. They have the say so since they are going to be paying the majority of the bills. And it is gonna be up to me to sell the dad (if the kid can't do a good enough job on his own) the virtues of a cond-op over a straight rental building. Yikes if he loses the apartment, which doesn't seem likely at this point. Yikes because I may go back to showing him rental buildings if dad vetoes this deal. Either way I think I have him. Again, I'll just have to see what unfolds.

If I had an assistant

I think we've all made this list at some point or another. Here's mine:

1. Clean up my itunes and ipod, add stuff like ratings and make me new playlists. Doesn't everyone want an assistant, just for that?
2. All the usual household chores, at least once in a while. Sweep, buy cereal.
*(maybe I just need a boyfriend...)
3. Enter all the scraps of paper I have into an address book--something I haven't had, really, in years. But you know, this is something I might want to do myself...
4. All my real estate internet bullshit, like updating and reposting my ads, organizing my pictures, keeping my ad copy organized in a usable way. I swear, if I had someone doing just doing all the real estate paper and computer ephemera, the job would be so much more fun. I like the searching for the perfect place for a client, I like previewing and coming up with the ad descriptions, I like taking clients out and showing them property, especially when I know it well, which is just starting to happen after three months of looking at apartments everyday. Nothing is worse than taking a client to someplace that sucks or something you can't get into because the super is so wise to all the fucking asshole agents that ruin it for everyone that they only show the apartment for one hour a week and of course your client can't go during that one precious hour but then you find out after two weeks of showing them around to every cheap shithole studio in gramercy park that they don't really have to move; they're "flexible." worst word ever to a real estate agent.
5. Be my fake client to get into apartments you can't see without one. a real client, I mean. Sometimes it is hard to scrounge up friends for the task and I don't always like to ask other agents unless it is a really special apartment that I am sure they'll want to see too. Let's call him "Neil." not the real Neil but the errant client Neil who got my hopes up with his response to a Chelsea highrise ad (they're all the same, so getting a client who wants that is a blessing), his $6000 budget and his "standard poodle" that provided a few chuckles before he stopped calling me back. I made an appointment for us to see a union square penthouse that was new to the market that sounded awesome. I though I had done a good job of getting Neil sufficiently whipped up into a frenzy enough to stop it with the cryptic emails and give me his phone number already. I gave him a couple of confirmation calls to let him know when the appointment was, but started getting a familiar feeling when it was Thursday morning at 10:15 and I still hadn't heard from Neil or his standard poodle. I asked another agent in the office to be my client at the appointment; he agreed, not because he cared to see it but because it was close to the office and he had nothing else going on. Two fifteen rolled around and as predicted, nary an email or call from Neil. Oh well, Dan and Dave met me in front of the building, giggling like schoolgirls. They told me they had been drinking at lunch. Upstairs in the penthouse we run into Stan, another agent in our office. For some reason, we all pretend we don't know each other and suddenly I felt like the one who had had a three martini lunch. We all made it out of there without falling apart and decided to go preview, which turned out to be only one apartment that looked like shit to me and then more drinks for the guys. I had cranberry and soda. It is not much fun not drinking sometimes, especially when getting blotto in the middle of a Thursday afternoon looks so damn fun. But that's for another day...

My feet hurt

But in a good way tonight. I am close. I showed four apartments tonight to a kid who was carrying his stuff around in a duffel bag. If that's not a clear sign he needs to move than I obviously don't know what I am doing. Anyway, he said I showed him the best stuff he's seen and even called me at 9:30pm to review what we had seen together. I think I am going to close him tomorrow by lunch. I have two other pretty decent prospects. One girl who wants to see a studio tomorrow at 8:30 am, but she hasn't called me back to confirm. So maybe on her lunch hour... Another is coming to town on February 6-8 and has to find an apartment. All I have to do is monopolize her time and show her good stuff. She has a decent budget so it shouldn't be too terribly hard. Somehow, there is a big difference between $1800 and $2000 a month. Because $2000 opens up to $2050, $2100, even $2150 as reasonable. But those numbers couldn't seem further away from $1800, which seems to rub up against $1600 a lot easier. I am sure non of you knows what the hell I am talking about, but if I keep writing this and you keep reading this and some of us keep talking on the phone you will know sooner or later...

Clinging to the ESB

I keep trying to come up with a cute name for the emotional rollercoaster that is my job and this business. Not there yet. Anyway, yesterday morning I had a little knot in my stomach that came from barely anyone returning my hundreds of phone calls, trying to get appointments to see apartments. Also, my $7000 client didn't answer her p[hone at 9am. Or at 10. Or at 10:15, pr 10:40 when I was at the appointment with egg on my face. At least the other agent was nice about how pissed he was, or understanding about the catch 22 with making hard-to-get appointments before you confirm with the client.

I saw the apartment. He hadn't been telling the truth about the light and I knew it wouldn't be bright enough for her. So all the reputation ruining had been for nothing. And I still don't have her an apartment. On the upshot, she called at 11am, falling all over herself with apologies, telling me her Monday was more relaxed. im not mad. I just want to find her an apartment. Not only for the money, but also for the satisfaction of knowing I know how to listen and match needs and inventory. That hasn't happened for me yet. Yes, I have made deals, but none with a client with whom I have been working for a while, someone with specific need and a budget to match.

Also, being in the office was fruitful. The first call I got was a mom calling for her daughter. SHE HAS TO MOVE BY FEBRUARY 1, SHE CANNOT COME HOME. Now this is what you want to hear as a broker. Also, the mother is a broker in Westchester and understands things are different in the city. She understands there is a fee, we talked about what it is and so far all this sounds good. However, this is not a perfect client. I have exactly what she wants. The problem is that it is $200 more than she wants to spend. The ad she called on was real, but when I called the building to find out the availability, they told me the price my company quopted in the paper was old, $200 out of date. Great. If these people could spend $100-200 more a month, they could have exactly what they expect and this would be an easy deal. but, since the ad was wrong, now I have to scramble and find the one or two places in the city that are not shitholes and are sharable for two and under $2600.
**if you're not from new York, that number is gonna sound disgusting. If you're reading this and you're a broker, you understand what I'm saying.

After work I went to see King Kong. It seemed like it was a good a movie as it could have been, being so big and lumbering and silly to begin with. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and was completely entertained for three hours and seven minutes.

Through my colleague who is out of town but so graciously working on our computer work, I got an ad call for something that sound completely reasonable. Nice studio on the LES (or hopefully just somewhere downtown that's cool, like nolita) for $2500. Now that sounds easy.

So, for right now, I have some clients, some good possibilities for making a deal.

Mood up

I instantly felt better as soon as I found a new way to search for this $7000 client. I actually found her two things that sound reasonably close to what she wants. And they are both actually available and they can both be shown in the next couple days. Actually. This is a very moody job. Very emotional. Sometimes I wonder why I am so tired at the end of each day and why I can't always get up at the time I want to in the morning. It is funny, the sharp contrast between how much many customers seem to hate and mistrust real estate brokers and how hard I feel like I work for those same people. I really do want to find people what they ask for. And when I do, it is always a heartbreak when they don't take it.

craig this!

I wish craigslist would start charging brokers already to post apartments. It is such a pain in the ass and SO MUCH WORK to even get close to competing. Plus a lot of people from craigslist don't want to pay a fee...

How to?

How to approach people who intimidate you? I am faced with this challenge almost daily in my real estate life. I have a second hand client right now who is a renowned designer with some pretty recognizable work. She wants what she wants and can pay for it. She'll even answer her cell phone when I call and drop what she's doing to come look at it. All of these are rare qualities in a client, except for wanting what they want. That is something the $1500 studio people share with the $9000 Tribeca lofters. Anyway back to the second hand client. In Manhattan, no matter what you can or are willing to spend, you always have to compromise. I could find this woman's apartment, it just isn't in the neighborhood she specified. Here's another problem. I am afraid to speak to her. She is so short and dry and British I just expect her to be mad at me if I email or call her. She is the kind of confident that makes me doubt myself and search the same listings over and over, wasting my own time, for which I am not paid unless I close a deal. The truth is I've seen more apartments than any other customer and even with my meager knowledge of Manhattan real estate, I have more experience than any of them. But that's not what they think.

Oh, and my sale clients just tried to fire me.

Time for some of that spiritual work I talked about the other day...

post office

The lady at the post office was a bitch to me this morning, for no reason. Just another reinforcement for cyber communication. She was nice to the person before me, super nice to the person after me. I just wanted to know how much postcards cost now and she told me 27 cents, which isn't even right. Maybe it is the "energy" I am putting out there into the universe. We'll see what the healer has to say about that. I am phone meeting with her today, which is why I am not at work right now. Plus, who wants to go look at property on a blustery rainy day? At least it isn't cold.

I promise

Ok, ok. I am going to work, unshowered and unwillingly. Sometimes I wish I had a real job.

Running out of options

I guess I can't stay here if the heat really is going to be off for the next several hours. It's like a walk-in in my apartment. I wish we had big meat carcasses hanging from the ceiling. I just hate to go to work without having showered (and warmed up) but I am running out of options. Besides, maybe I'll make a super deal today.

Monday Morning

Well, now it is 8:41 am and who can guess what I am doing? Not only do I have the recent remains of mild illness keeping me in bed, but also guilt of not having gotten up and showered before my landlord turned off the water for the next 8 hours. No heat, no shower, no breakfast. I'd like to believe I am trapped here in bed, watching DVDs on the computer and writing this thing, but it isn't really true.

Yesterday, I went to some Brooklyn open houses I had told my clients about. I went in a slight panic, hoping to run into them, since I botched the protocol when letting them know about these properties. I wanted them to go around town WITH me, so as I could "register" them as my clients, thus cutting myself into the deal should they decide to put in an offer. That isnt how it went. They told me they didn't want to make plans with me since they had a baby and couldn't be counted on to be at a certain place at a certain time. I reluctantly said ok and gave them the addresses and open house times anyway, not feeling great about it. So yesterday I dragged myself out of bed around 11:30 to get to the first open house by 1. I went, saw that they had been there, and left for the next one. By the fourth, I ran into them, which turned out to be a good thing, secretly what I wanted. We talked. They liked the apartments I had been sending them to (YES!) but truth be told, they weren't ready to put in an offer anywhere. We are looking at March. It is just like rentals, I guess. If they aren't ready, they aren't ready, and no perfect place is going to make anyone pull the trigger.

Speaking of which, I have to call my Australian with the giant furniture. I like her but I don't want her energy assholing up my world anymore. The 1800 SF floor-thru in the financial district listing broker has now offered to deal and I just want to get her into an apartment and be done at this point. I am tired of her complaining.

Oh, so back to Monday. I am an independent contractor. I can lay in bed on Monday morning, sick, dirty and cold, pounding out comments and complaints into my computer and no one cares. Except me, and I have to get over that. But that's why I am working with the healer.

what's up with manhattan?

I work in Manhattan. I am a real estate agent, as of October 18, 2005. I try to rent overpriced, underwhelming apartments all over the city to people who just have to live in Manhattan. The idea of living in Brooklyn is disgusting to them. I can't relate. I don't think you could pay me to live in the city. Well, I guess you could pay me, but you know what I mean. People make so many sacrifices so that they can live in Manhattan, like living in weird neighborhoods, like BPC or Yorkville or Clinton (which is a neighborhood I only recently learned about, only slightly different from Hell's Kitchen). Why would you cling to living in Manhattan, only to be told you can only afford it's margins? I just don't get it. But who cares? It's my job to find apartments for these people, or rather, it is my job to find people for these apartments. Sorry if this is boring right out of the gate, I am only just finding my feet here. Plus I am trying to watch tv right now. Law and Order with Richard York guest starring. I love him. I always think of him as Humbert Humbert. Quintessential creep. I'll post more on the Manhattan subject later and I promise it'll be more interesting.