If the legendary Gil Scott-Heron taught us one thing (other than how tasty drugs are), it's that the revolution will not be televised. And the Harlem resident was right! The revolution will not be televised, but instead, will be e-mailed. We know this because real estate broker Keith Burkhardt just dropped us a line to tell us that he's fed up with the system, and he's striking out on his own. Calling himself "NYC's first discount broker," he writes: "I am going up against the establishment and have opened the first full service discount brokerage in Manhattan. I have over 15 years experience having started at Sopher in 1992 and ended at Citi-Habitats about 2 weeks ago. I was an award winning top producer at my previous firm and just got tired of having a good relationship sour when my clients got the bill." The Burkhardt Group website has more: "I just don’t know any other way to say it. The large firms have Manhattan locked up. The gospel is to charge 15% of one year’s rent. I Have another Idea?"
Hold the phone on all those A DISCOUNT BROKER OMG ANOTHER SIGN THAT MANHATTAN REAL ESTATE IS CRASHING!!! trend stories, becaue we're not talking about a crazy bargain here. Burkardt charges a one-month fee instead of the now customary 15% of the first year's rent. A nice gesture, certainly, but Robin Hood can probably still hold on to his title as champion of the poor. This is fun, though:
In today's market there are also a number of properties where the owner is paying the brokerage fee. So if you're willing to live just a little outside some of the more "prime" neighborhoods you can see a nice collection of No Fee rentals. Please contact us to schedule one of our famous No fee tours. We will arrange a car to take us on a tour of all the best No Fee rentals available through out the city or your desired location.Fee or no fee, as long as he keeps including legs like those in listings photos, we think he'll be at the top of the industry in no time.
· The Burkhardt Group [theburkhardtgroup.com]
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