Page 7 - New York Cooperator January 2020

COOPERATOR.COM THE COOPERATOR — JANUARY 2020 7 This could be your basement and it won’t cost you a dime. We will turn your unused building space into a secure, state-of-the-art storage facility FOR FREE . We will handle everything from start to finish, and we’ll PAY YOU monthly. Our Investment. Your return. WWW.BARGOLD.COM Storage4U@bargold.com 41-41 38th Street Long Island City, NY 11101 (718) 247-7000 CALL BARGOLD! Handling a Hanger-on Homeowner Somekh agrees that “It’s distracting for the buyer to have the seller at home. Th ey follow the buyer around, oft en ‘explaining’ the space. Th e buyer feels they can’t com- ment in front of the seller about the apart- ment for fear that they will off end the seller. Th ey’re not free to feel out the space and to speak with the broker honestly. You have to make the seller aware that it’s not benefi cial for them to be there.” According to Ariela Heilman, a Halstead broker specializing in co-ops and condos in upper Manhattan and the Bronx, “It’s a ques- tion of trust on the seller’s side. Th ey want to know how you’re presenting their space. Th e truth is that for a successful sale, the seller has to separate from their space. It’s now a commodity, and the broker is the one best suited to market it. Th at’s what we do. If I sense that a seller is very uncomfortable or diffi cult, I won’t take the listing.” All three brokers also add that it is criti- cal to ‘depersonalize’ a space in order to suc- cessfully market and sell it. “Th e unit must be ‘motel-ready,’” says Mayfi eld Marks. Th at means the seller needs to pack things up, re- move personal photos and mementos, and de-clutter to give the buyer the feeling that they could move their life in without dis- turbing anyone else’s. Th e appearance of the apartment has to be neat and clean—not dis- tracting and complicated. In the end, having the seller present is both—even if the apart- ment is well staged otherwise. A Professional View Dana Greco is a mental health profes- sional with offi ces in both New York City and Long Island. She says that to a great ex- tent, this kind of seller behavior is about con- trol more than anything else. And that checks out. Aft er all, as Mayfi eld Marks relates, one has to be a bit of a con- trol freak to live in New York to begin with. “Sellers may feel a loss of power,” says Greco. “Th ey may be concerned that strangers are invading their space and may touch things or pry into their lives if they’re not there to control the situation. Th e best thing for the seller to do is to develop a relationship of trust with the broker. Understand that the broker is there to represent them.” Th at’s why they hired them to begin with. n HOVERING... continued from page 6 a diaper delivery was not an option.” Considerations for Smaller Buildings So the question is, how do you ameni- tize and add value to a smaller co-op or condo building without imposing an un- realistic fi nancial burden on the residents? In the age of Amazon Prime, everyone is concerned with missed deliveries, package SOLUTIONS... continued from page 6 storage, and – perhaps more pressingly – non-doorman Hudson Heights co-op she ited to package delivery. Larger properties package theft . Communication and respon- siveness are another major consideration. ly, Spitz lived in a large, full-service build- In many smaller buildings, companies and ing on the Upper East Side, where she also ages and provide communications tools self-managing boards still use a hotline, pa- per notices, and email to communicate with she explains, she doesn’t have the luxury of assist staff in systems operations. If each residents – but that's not fast enough in to- day’s world. A third area of concern – par- ticularly in the era of Airbnb and other ho- mesharing apps – is security. While there’s and messengers. While all of these services cumbersome. no replacement for a real, live doorman, can contact her by phone, email, or text, she residents of smaller buildings still want to says she would rather just have one central maximize their security and control who package service to simplify things. At a properties to ease the fl ow of informa- enters their building and when. Attorney Allison Spitz works from an with a pass code for delivery services would in their buildings. Services such as Vir- offi ce in her home – and her experience il- luminates some of the issues she faces in the moved to about a 18 months ago. Previous- had a home offi ce. In her new apartment, and security backups, as well as tools to a staff to accept packages as she did in her component is handled by a separate vendor former residence. Th at is the biggest prob- lem; she has to be around for UPS, FedEx, say nothing of the passwords – can become minimum, a package cage in the building tion, packages, and security arrangements be helpful. But the consideration shouldn’t be lim- have access to multi-module services such as BuildingLink, which can monitor pack- or supplier, the sheer number of apps – to Integration is Key Th ere are many options for smaller tual Doorman, Cyber Doorman and Inter- continued on page 14