Welcome back to The Brokerbabble Glossary, where we take a word or a turn of phrase that seems to show up in an unreasonable number of listings and decipher its true meaning. If you have any ideas for us, send them to the tipline. Today's word (thanks to a commenter suggestion): Rarely.
The word 'rarely' appears in 452 active listings on Streeteasy, almost exclusively within the phrase 'rarely available.' This strikes us as odd, because apartments are not rarely available. They are, in fact, endlessly, almost relentlessly available, thousands at a time, all over the place. This seems like something that people who sell apartments for a living would know. Sure, certain places are not available very often and that's notable depending on how notorious they are. The Statue of Liberty, for example, is rarely available. A 1BR co-op on the Upper West Side is less so.
Not to keep harping on the whole 'rarely available' thing, but saying that a 428 square-foot studio condo is 'rarely available' is like saying that windows 'rarely let light in.' You know, it can happen...
This broker has actually stumbled upon a pretty good strategy. Instead of making your listing out to be really great and desirable, which is what gets us into these messes in the first place, just talk about how crappy everywhere else is.
...and maul you to death.
?Jeremiah Budin
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