Yesterday, everyone in the office who gets NY Times alerts on their computer (read: a lot of us), was notified that due to a tip from Meuller’s investigation, the FBI raided Trump’s attorney’s office to seize thousands of documents related to a number of different issues. The word referral was used repeatedly in the coverage to emphasize that this is not actually part of Mueller’s Russia inquiry, but instead something he passed along to a different agency. It got me thinking about how big a part of this industry is referral-based, and how a lot of people don’t really know the way that works.

As a kind of half-assed NY Value, it was cool to see people at work talking about breaking news in a non combative and simply “wow did you see this?” kind of way. We don’t all agree politically here at Compass, but we all treat one another with respect. I’ve noticed that when I’m outside of the city I have to go more out of my way to stay informed. Here, strangers at bars will tell you that Trump is going to meet with Kim Jung Un minutes after the news breaks (literally how I found out). There have been events I only learned of because a protest was already organized the same day.

I don’t think it has to do with intelligence as much as a focus on being on top of everything all the time here. Information of all sorts is thrust in your face constantly, a barrage of data ranging from the totally interesting to the violently irrelevant. Have you ever been on the subway? Every car is plastered with ads and PSAs, and free daily newspapers are given out in many stations. So even during your commute you’re pummeled with information. Thanks, New York, for basically being a giant billboard factory populated by town criers.

And now, real estate referrals! I actually got two referrals in the past two days, one from a friend who is an agent in a different state, and one from a current client. These are handled slightly differently, and I’ve broken it down to hopefully make it clearer.

The least stressful, most pleasant way to do real estate (in my opinion), is to work by referral. If you are working with the people you know and then the people they know, you are more likely to get along and do well together than if a complete stranger reaches out blindly. A lot of the work I am doing now is to build a system where I don’t have to advertise myself; I can simply rely on working hard for the people I know and the clients I have, and letting my performance lead them to pass my name along.

Questioning why she hasn't sent him any referrals

What a lot of people don’t necessarily understand is the monetizing of referrals. It is illegal to give a financial reward, a kickback or cut of any deal, to someone who isn’t a licensed agent. My client who referred his friends, were he to ask me to give him something in exchange for this referral, would be asking me to break the law. However, these sort of financial incentives are completely standard between agents. If I end up closing a deal with the guy sent by my friend who is an agent in another state, I will give her a percentage of my commission as a “referral fee.”

I have someone in Martha’s Vineyard with whom I’m setting up a referral exchange, meaning we will have a written agreement denoting the exact financial terms of our system. I will send her any business I hear about in MV, and she will send me anything she hears of in NYC. And in each instance, the person sending the referral will receive X percent of the other’s commission once a deal is done. I don’t have an official exchange set up with my agent friend mentioned above, but we have a friendship and a verbal understanding. So it doesn’t always have to be an official thing, but it is technically best to have in writing to avoid any misunderstandings about expectations.

I hadn’t explained this early on, and ended up missing out on the opportunity to help someone find a broker I can vouch for in a different state. Yes, I missed out on part of the commission, but I also missed out on a chance to build a stronger relationship with an agent in a different region. I’m actually attending Compass’s east coast Retreat in DC in May, and while I’m there I will ideally connect with more brokers in more markets who vibe with me, and whom I would feel comfortable referring to people I know.

Feel free to shoot me an email at anna.klenkar@compass.com if you currently need someone in a different state, or if you have any questions.

Anna

Because I thrive on content creation, especially about the city I’ve grown to love so intensely, I’m beginning a weekly column of sorts called New York Values, a play on the insult lobbed at us metropolitan folks by those who want to paint urban dwellers as Godless and out-for-themselves. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth, and I’ve seen at least as much behavior that would make Jesus (or whomever) proud here as in my time spent living in rural Virginia or traveling through devout lands.

Because I do real estate now, it’s going to also include another “value”: a listing, tip, or fact about renting/buying/selling that I’ve learned on the other side of the looking glass. Who doesn’t like learning or looking at pictures of gorgeous apartments? Weirdos, that’s who.

And, because it’s me, this first post is about a strong woman standing up to some bigotry.

Portrait of Elizabeth Jennings in 1895, courtesy of Listverse

Inspired by NY Times New York Today, Feb 22, 2018:

One summer morning in 1854, Elizabeth Jennings, a young black schoolteacher, was headed to play the organ at her church. She hailed a horse-drawn streetcar; the conductor didn’t want to let her in because of her race, but she prevailed by jumping in and hanging onto the window frame when he tried to forcibly remove her.

He got the police involved and an officer pushed her out of the streetcar. But she was able to find a lawyer, future president Chester A. Arthur, to help her sue the streetcar’s operator, winning her $225 in damages and creating a precedent that allowed African-Americans to take any public transportation provided they were “sober, well behaved, and free from disease.”

This led to the city’s public transportation becoming largely desegregated within five years. And now, over a century later, the subway boasts an impressive diversity, with its passengers uniformly opposing the intoxicated, poorly behaved, and/or diseased (looking at you, person who gave me the flu on the A train).

Corner of Pearl & Chatham St. where Jennings hailed the streetcar, courtesy of NYHS

Obviously this was a long time ago and doesn’t speak to the current character of the city, but a few things do.

1. This was spotlighted by the New York Times in 2018; they do a daily NY news blast and it’s often focused around a personal interest story about a community activist. It’s probably where a fair amount of these little articles will originate, and it’s a nice way to start your day before you cram onto a crowded train to smell someone’s breath for 30 minutes #doweneedtobetouching.

2. In 2007 the city put up a sign reading Elizabeth Jennings Place on a street corner blocks from where she made her stand. There are spots like this all over NY, with roughly 1,600 honorific street names immortalizing people like musicians, activists, and religious leaders. Who’s Godless now?

3. The reason this street was honorifically named? A group of third and fourth graders at nearby P.S. 361 were so moved by her story that they asked the city. It took them a year, but through petitions, meetings, and a campaign of pressuring local officials, they made it happen. If I had learned this valuable civics lesson at 9 years old I would be way more excited about government.

Elizabeth Jennings Place, courtesy of Narrative Network

And now for the real estate part: fun mortgage info!

Did you know that nationwide people are speculating about how the impending mortgage rate hike will affect the RE market? Did you know that some agents are very stressed about how this will affect their business? Did you know that I am zero percent concerned because people will always buy homes and I do not yet have a consistent income I’m afraid to lose?

However, as my senior broker Joe Quiros likes to say, “You don’t live in in the PRICE; you live in the PAYMENT.” So, for every percent the rates increase, your monthly mortgage payments on a 30 year loan increase 12%. Essentially what this means is that while people will not stop buying, their dollar will not go as far, because the same priced apartment will now cost them 12% more per month than if they had locked in earlier.

For example, for every $100,000 borrowed at 5% interest, you owe $59.40 per month MORE than you would at a 4% rate. That's not a huge difference on a small loan, but NY loans are often sizable, meaning this scales to more like $500/month additional.

If you have any questions about this, send me a message and we can talk numbers. And if this inspires you to GO BUY IMMEDIATELY, then I am clearly an incredible salesperson and we can work together.

There you go, it’s your first NEW YORK VALUE!!! I’ll see you back here next week with another little essay about how awesome NY is and how we are not all giant assholes; we just walk quickly and don’t like things in our way.

Anna

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