Tuesday, May 15, 2007
You get paid all that money for just 60 Minutes of work?
I wish that I could take credit for the above headline, but it was from a commenter on the CBS News Web site about a fluff piece for Redfin, the Seattle based, limited services "broker" on 60 Minutes titled "High-tech Real Estate Moves In". It comments on a part of the story where Lesley Stahl interviews Kelly Engel, a former full service agent now working for Redfin, who thought that she had no right earning her salary, "I had done quite a few deals where I spent maybe five hours total working on the deal. I never saw the house. My client found it online and, you know, I would make $12,000 for four hours of work. And I thought this cannot keep going on like this. I felt like I was going to get caught!"; well this slacker agent has certainly found the right company to work for. Would you want someone representing your interests who feels guilty about collecting her own salary? Might she feel you were making too much profit selling your home too, because you've owned for just a few years? This kind of quick deal scenario is truly the exception. The Redfin pitch is full of self serving misrepresentations about easy money.
The selection of newly developed, luxury condo homes on the market in New York City may never be better than it is right now. There is stunning new architecture being added to the skyline with buildings rising at 100 Eleventh Avenue in Chelsea by 
The Tribeca Trib is running a cover story this month, that looks inside the architect's studios at Seven World Trade Center; 
Here's a point of view that not many get to see of the changes underway in south Tribeca and northern Battery Park City. These four massive developments are forever changing the character and density of the area. Even with West Street as a major dividing line between the communities, the visual and psychological connection of these areas is emerging both from this perspective, and from the street level. Thousands of Tribeca residents cross over to enjoy the 
