Why Use A Small Firm

We are often asked by prospective clients why they would want to choose a small real estate firm over a large established one. Similarly, I've seen postings on boards about ignoring listings from smaller firms.

First of all, the easy answer is it's often not about the brokerage; it's about the broker or salesperson representing the property. It doesn't matter if you have a huge name behind you if your broker is inexperienced, or unethical, unfamiliar with the marketplace or unavailable. You want the person working for you to be there 100% and to have a deep understanding of the current marketplace. If you are selling your home, you don't want a rental broker. If you are selling a townhouse, you want someone who has sold other townhouses.

My partner, Marty, and myself work as a team for every listing. That means that either he or I will be showing every single time. Many brokers hire assistants with little or no knowledge of the listings, the buildings, the property, the neighborhood, and these assistants do a lion's share of the showings. To me that's like buying a ticket for Broadway and getting community theater. It's not what you signed up for.

As for a small firm versus a large firm: I can only speak for my own company. In terms of marketing dollars, we spend more per listing than most large firms. We still advertise in the NY TIMES on line. We make every listing a featured listing on Streeteasy. We spend a lot on our color brochures, which are significantly bigger and better in quality than a large firms. We are a member of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) which mandates that we send out our exclusives with a 24 hour period of having the exclusive. That means that we post the listing on the unofficial MLS which gets distributed to about 10,000 brokers in Manhattan. It is virtually the same exact system that every large firm uses.

As a small firm, we have no bureaucracy, which means we have flexibility in commissions. There is no back office--when you want to speak to a manager, we are right in front of you. As for visibility, I would say that because of the rise of Streeteasy, we have the same visibility as every other firm listed there. Streeteasy was a game changer for NY real estate sales.We have a website that gets a significant amount of hits every day, and those are hits that come from Streeteasy or the Times, so we know those are interested parties. Our website is much easier to navigate and understand than at least 2 of the big firm's sites.I'd be pretty frustrated if my listing was on some of those places- they practically discourage you from browsing.

At Rand Realty, our motto is small firm, big difference. We believe in the importance of the relationship with our clients, and we have had great success in the past several years proving what a difference we can make.