One of the misconceptions about brokers is that all we do is open doors and then take thousands of dollars from you. Not so. Yesterday I have a pretty typical Saturday for a broker, which consisted of the following:
7:30 a.m.: Got up early, showered and had breakfast with The Boyfriend. Also whipped up a flyer for an open house I was hosting later that afternoon.
11:00 Printed out flyer at Kinko's in Gramercy. I had to walk most of the way to the open house on Ludlow since the M103 bus only goes to Eighth Street and there was some strange bike race on Park Avenue.
11:50: As I was hanging up flyers for open house, had to talk to a woman who stopped me on the street and asked if I was a broker. She needs to move in a few months. I gave her my card.
12:00 p.m.: At the open house, I cranked up the AC. Almost immediately a pack of girls came in, although the place would have only been for one of them.
Only one other couple came during the next two hours, which was odd, considering the apartment is only $1850 and gut renovated. It was advertised as well. During my downtime I went through a list of no-fee apartments, and made a plan to see a few later that evening. Also made list of current clients and determined who needed what.
2:00: Closed up shop at the open house and headed back to the office to search the listings. A lot of people were there, and so I ate while I clicked around.
3:00: I have several clients who are looking for convertible two bedrooms right now, and they all want doorman. There are an abundance of them in Midtown East and for under $3000, which appeals to the young college grads since everyone's getting priced out of Murray Hill. (Never thought I'd see the day.)
4:30 p.m. Got a call from a young woman who saw my signs on Ludlow and wanted like to see the $1850 apartment. She really needed to move, and I was at the office in Chelsea, but she seemed legit so I hopped the F train and showed it to her. Turns out the living room was too dark for her, and she works from home. Fair enough. We part amicably.
5:00: I hopped the uptown bus to 55th Street for an early evening tour of some no fee, high end one and two bedrooms. Over the course of two hours I saw some amazingly large places on East 55th, 79th, and 92nd Street, all full service and doorman buildings. I also saw a great one bedroom on 80th and First, that, although it was a fifth floor was up, was worth the $1950 a month. High floor = sunny!
7:00 p.m. Back in Murray Hill. I got a much needed pedicure on 38th Street.
8:00 p.m. The Boyfriend had been wondering when I would be home. I sat down at my computer to upload the photos of the apartments I saw earlier, as well as e-mail a few clients.
10:00 p.m. Surfed around Facebook an Twitter for a while. It's nice to see what the outside world is up to.
1:00 a.m. At some point I fell asleep.
