Real Estate Marketing and Public Relations

Welcoming back grads -- at least some
Post-college renters are back in the city, but activity not as strong as some expected
June 02, 2010 07:00AM

By Candace Taylor

In New York, springtime usually means a flood of fresh-faced college graduates ready to start their first job and live together in their first rental apartment.

Last year, much to the dismay of many brokers, that flood was more like a trickle, thanks to the recession. Now, with the economy improving, agents and landlords are expecting the much-hyped return of renters to the market.

"In 2009, there was an eerie lack of the annual stream of recent grads moving to the city for their first job," said Jeff Schleider, founder of Manhattan-based brokerage Miron Properties. "It's reassuring to see that these grads are back."

Buoyed by good news about the real estate market and the economy, landlords and agents gleefully primed themselves for the return of these newly minted renters. Over the last several months, as The Real Deal has reported, many landlords raised their rents and scaled back concessions, such as a month's free rent. For example, Glenwood -- one of the city's major landlords -- spread the word that beginning June 1, it would no longer offer a month of free rent at any of its buildings. (The company will continue to pay brokers' fees, for the time being at least.)

Jared Wiener, the director of sales and leasing at Platinum Properties, estimated that rents are around 5 percent higher than last year at this time. "This season, the landlords are coming out with guns blazing," he said.

But they may be getting ahead of themselves. Some rental agents reported last month that despite the buzz, activity has actually been slower than expected so far this season.

"Rental transactions have been steady since April," said Takeshi "Takk" Yamaguchi, an agent at DJK Residential. "That being said, it's nowhere near as hectic as I thought it would be."

While "landlords are taking away incentives in certain neighborhoods and buildings," he said, "they should not get too carried away in areas like the Upper East Side and Midtown."

Wiener agreed. "May is slower than anticipated, which is surprising," he said. "Clearly the job market is not helping."

That, or renters are reluctant to sign on the dotted line because they're displeased with the deals they're finding. "It's tough when their friends were able to get a similar apartment six months ago for a lower price and a free month's rent," Miron's Schleider said.

Buyers are having a similar experience. Expecting to find a slow market where they'll have their pick of deeply discounted apartments, they're surprised to find intense competition instead.

"Buyers can't believe that there are multiple offers and bidding wars happening so regularly, until they experience it firsthand," said Ari LeFauve, a vice president and associate broker at the Real Estate Group New York.

The competition is being fueled by a continued shortage of well-priced inventory, brokers said, as well as a large number of bargain-hunting buyers all reentering the market at the same time.

"Buyers are coming out of the woodwork," said Ali Jafri, an agent at Prudential Douglas Elliman. "There is a release of pent-up demand."

As a result, "everyone is going after the same listings," said Rob Jackson, a salesperson at the Corcoran Group.

The competition also intensified this spring thanks to the end of the federal homebuyer tax credit program on April 30, and those buyers are now racing to make sure their deals close before the deadline of June 30.

"The government stimulus tax break definitely gave even more urgency for buyers," said Fumiyo Hayashi, a vice president at Barak Realty. "What's difficult right now is the pressure of making sure that things are moving so that the buyers can close by the end of June to capture the tax break."

In general, buyers who don't make offers quickly enough are finding that, often to their great displeasure, they are getting outbid on the properties they want -- sometimes multiple times.

Others can't find homes at all, which can be frustrating.

"In the large-apartment segment, meaning eight to 12 rooms, there is simply no inventory," said Deborah Komarow, an agent at Warburg Realty Partnership, noting that few of these large homes have come on the market recently because sellers want to avoid discounting them. "Now that the market has stabilized, the large-apartment buyer has come back into the market, and there is nothing to show them."

Some buyers simply aren't able to accept that the crisis may be over, said Judi Desiderio, the CEO of Hamptons-based Town & Country Real Estate.

"You have the half-empty/half-full mentalities," she said. "Some are playing it like Chicken Little, 'The sky is falling,' and expect a double-dip recession with housing taking another tumble. Others -- and this is the majority -- believe we have bottomed out and are ready to buy."

One lingering concern for many is the economic turmoil in Europe.

"The Euro zone crisis may still yet spill over into the global markets, which in turn will hit New York real estate values, and this is of serious concern," said Schleider.

Still, conditions are markedly improved for brokers.

As John Reinhardt, president and CEO of Fillmore Real Estate, said, "It's great to be busy again."

Press: Candid On Camera
Author: Jason Turcotttte, Brokers Weekly
Date: Friday, June 25
Jill Sloane came to New York with ambitions to star in a daytime television soap opera. As executive vice president at Halstead Property, she foregoes the drama but still relies on the camera for some of her successes.

Featured on Halstead’s “Home Sweet Home” television show and NBC’s “Open House,” in addition to news program appearances on CNN, NBC, PBS, NY1 and CH11, Sloane has leveraged her comfort with the camera to help bolster her reputation as a top New York broker.

And it’s something more brokers are looking to do, as they build their brand and build relationships long before clients come to the city.

One of Sloane’s latest on-camera endeavors is her video biography, available online through Halstead ProperTV (a professionally produced video forum that showcases both properties and brokers). Halstead parent company Terra Holdings, which estimates more than 4.5 million viewers have tuned in since ProperTV’s inception less than one year ago, launched the forum to encourage more brokers to go on camera since it is estimated that 85% of home searches start online.

“It’s been great for me,” Sloane said. “For example: I did get an exclusive directly from it. Someone who was interviewing multiple brokers was able to show her husband my video.”

A foreign buyer whose husband was back in Korea met with Sloane — and other brokers under consideration for their business — and Sloane followed up by sending a package of information that included her video bio, which the client later showed to her husband to seal the deal.

With Central Park as her backdrop, the video was filmed as a way of separating herself from competing brokers. In this business, she believes that clients not only need to trust their broker, but they also want assurance that their personalities mesh.

“You need to be comfortable in your own skin — and comfortable in front of the camera,” said Sloane, who also has on-camera experience in commercial advertising.

Sloane’s keys to a successful video include a non-scripted and non-aggressive communicating style. She insists being yourself and revealing your personality can make the difference in the eyes of a prospective client. Without sounding contrived or rehearsed, the walk-and-talk in Central Park is scoring Sloane clients.
Miron Properties founder Jeffrey Schleider is another broker who’s roping in clients through video. But he’s taking a more animated approach to communicating with potential business — quite literally, in fact.
Schleider tapped friend and filmmaker Matt Landin to develop an animated video to explain some of the basics of New York real estate, since more than half of his business stems from relocations. After writing the text and spending a day filming with Landin, Schleider has the first of what he hopes will be many news-you-can-use videos (available on his firm’s website and YouTube) for prospective clients.

“After answering the same questions over and over again, I figured there were many people that could use a good how-to series that explained the different processes of New York City real estate in simple English,” Schleider said. “My thinking was that if people found value in the videos and they liked our straightforward approach, then a few of them would probably choose to work with us as their broker.”

Schleider has developed video tours before, but recognized the need for videos that were more market specific and included a more personal element. Launching Miron Properties less than two years ago, Schleider believes one of his company’s assets is the fact its brokers are young and fun. And he felt animation would best capture that.

“New York City real estate can be intimidating. We wanted [the video] to be informative but also interesting and fun to watch,” he said. “And I can safely say that people who were considering different brokerages chose us because of the video.”

The animation not only suits the tone of the firm, but Schleider believes the video embraces the multiple hats a broker must wear, including the role of tour guide. Giving outsiders a glimpse into the city that’s informative and amusing — rather than pushy or self-promoting — is the best way to attract new clients.
He also added that, with all the white noise on the Web, most online videos have a short shelf life. He believes a quirkier, animated video holds more longevity in today’s digital world.

“It engages people with sounds and sights that traditional information doesn’t,” Schleider said. “The Internet rewards those who give away useful information, and we’re in that school of thought.”

So is Gus Waite, a broker at The Real Estate Group of NY. He’s one of a few brokers who have launched their own YouTube channel (NYCapartmentTV) in order to reach out to those relocating to New York. In addition to featuring a plethora of rental buildings throughout the city, he also stars in several of the short films offering information that can set him apart from other brokers.

“If you’re moving from Indiana to New York, it’s almost like a welcome video,” said Waite. “I was hoping to avoid having the exact same conversation a million times a year.”

The crux of Waite’s YouTube channel is something he calls “complete disclosure” about all things real estate. In one video, he interviews Insurent COO Jeffrey Geller on the topic of how to qualify with a landlord if you’re retired, a foreigner or don’t have a guarantor. In another, he’s offering a short film contest with a $1,000 prize.

“For me, it was very comfortable, but I think the danger is, it can’t become a commercial,” said the former actor and stand-up comedian. “What I’m trying to do is be a portal of information.”

Waite believes a successful portal means no pitches; he keeps his videos short, educational and eccentric. He said authenticity and transparency are the keys to establishing trust and reaching out to those relocating to the city or those who are already New Yorkers but are high net-worth renters without the time for their apartment search.

Now that market information is more readily available to clients, brokers need to establish themselves as experts. Waite believes there’s no better way to do that than on-camera marketing, especially considering there’s no shortage of professional film talent in New York.

He plans to produce videos daily and link them to a WordPress blog. The more visibility, in his eyes, the better his business. “People think, ‘that guy is everywhere, so he must be credible,’” Waite said.
And some of real estate’s most recognizable names can attest to the importance of an on-camera presence.

In an interview with Brokers Weekly earlier this year, Barbara Corcoran credited her on-camera spots with news outlets as a means of bolstering her brand and establishing herself as an authority on New York real estate. The Trumps, too, are no strangers to the television spotlight and the popularity of real estate-based reality programs — like A&E’s “Flip This House” and Bravo’s “Flipping Out” — continues to grow.
Indeed, the new HGTV series featuring agents from CORE and Gumley Haft Kleier is now that network’s second highest rated program.

CORE founder and CEO Shaun Osher and his agents helped usher “Selling New York,” which debuted on HGTV in March and now pulls in an estimated 200 million viewers.

“Initially, it was a very difficult decision, because I wasn’t sure about the quality of the show and the premise,” said Osher, who was approached by network execs about doing the series. “This certainly could’ve backfired if we came back looking like idiots, but instead it’s been an incredible success.”
According to Osher, CORE relinquished some control over who and what to feature and not retaining complete control of the company’s image was also an admitted risk.

However, he said he’s satisfied with the show’s depiction of how he and his agents sell New York property and he credits part of that to the unscripted nature of the show and the comfort level of his agents on camera, applauding the way they’ve handled the limelight with professionalism and integrity. What makes the relationship between CORE and HGTV so effective, believes Osher, is that the network’s high-end demographics are in tune to the type of clients his company attracts. And their phones have been buzzing with potential business since airing.