The Real Estate Board of New York’s (REBNY) Annual Downtown Breakfast Round Robin on Friday, hosted by the Downtown Committee, featured lively discussions led by seven industry experts who offered residential brokers new insight on how to effectively navigate New York City’s hot residential market, and bolster and build their businesses.
“This year’s round robin featured another great line-up of speakers, who specialize in all major areas of residential real estate,” said Karen Gastiaburo, Co-Chair of REBNY’s Downtown Committee and Sales Director at TOWN Residential, who moderated the event. “Their engaging discussions, on topics ranging from mortgages and credit scores to new developments and social media, included best practices for advising clients during the buying process and key tactics for building their own personal brands.”
The topics and speakers were: “Agency Disclosure” by Neil Garfinkel, REBNY Broker Counsel and Partner-in-charge of real estate and banking practices at Abrams Garfinkel Margolis Bergson, LLP; “How to Effectively Put Money in your Client’s Pocket & Make a Deal through the use of an Assignment of Mortgage” by Craig Price, Partner at Belkin Burden Wenig & Goldman, LLP; “Credit Scores” by Solomon Algazi, Credit Servicez; “How to Create More Inventory in Today’s Market” by Richard Grossman, Executive Vice President & Senior Managing Director at Halstead Property, LLC, and REBNY Downtown Committee Co-Chair; “Coaching for Success!” by Vivace Maxvictor, Coach and President & CEO of Beyond Pure Wealth, Inc.; “Social Media” by Matthew J. Leone, Senior Vice President of Digital Marketing at Halstead Property, LLC; and “New Development” by Stephen G. Kliegerman, President at Terra Development Marketing.
Neil Garfinkel, REBNY Broker Counsel and Partner-in-charge of real estate and banking practices at Abrams Garfinkel Margolis Bergson, LLP advised on the benefits of employing dual agency and agency disclosure to improve User Experience (UX) and give brokers the ability to reach as many options as possible for their clients.
Craig Price, Partner at Belkin Burden Wenig & Goldman, LLP, explained how buyers can avoid paying mortgage tax, and only pay mortgage tax on new indebtedness, through an assignment of mortgage, in which the buyer assumes the existing mortgage and interest rate of the seller. He advised that brokers should use ACRIS to do their due diligence and be sure to employ proper attorneys.
Solomon Algazi of Credit Servicez discussed the best practices for buyers to control the fluctuation of their credit scores. He explained that your FICO Score is based on default risk exposure, not the dollar amount you owe, and is used by 90 percent of lending institutions. Algazi advised that buyers should stick with one credit card to lower the probability of late payments and pay bills in full two days before the closing date when statements are generated so their credit scores will climb.
Richard Grossman, Executive Vice President & Senior Managing Director at Halstead Property, LLC offered insight on ways to create more inventory in today’s tight residential market. He reasoned that right now is the time for Europeans to sell in New York City as the value of the euro is currently low against the dollar and European sellers will make a larger profit than they would have five years ago.
Vivace Maxvictor, Coach, President & CEO of Beyond Pure Wealth, Inc., focused on the psychological aspects of achieving success. She advised brokers to know their fears and recognize the importance of both their personal and professional lives to fortify and improve their quality of life.
