How Not To Do Business 101

My friend Laura and I are apartment hunting. Yes, it's that time again. We've mostly made a lot of progress and have several appointments lined up, but every now and then I guess something like this happens to people. This is a wonderful look at a core truth: everything communicates. In this case, that would include the Craigslist listings, the neighborhood, the person you deal with on the phone (or through e-mail), etc. Here is an e-mail correspondence between my future roommate and someone from Heim Realty.

On 11/14/06, laura podolnick wrote:
This is regarding the listing posted here: http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/fee/234879706.html

My roommate to-be and I are looking around Williamsburg and Greenpoint and I came across your listing. We may be interested in your property. Which train station is nearby? Is the apartment a walkup? How large are the bedrooms? What is "good" ceiling height? Do the bedrooms have closets? Is there anything else we should know before we'd schedule an appointment?

Thanks,
Laura Podolnick

Hi Laura -
This is the Graham Avenue stop.  This is a walk up. The bedrooms are 11 x 12 at least. Over 9' ceiling height. The bedrooms don't have closets, but are large and get great light.  I am scheduling appointments for this evening and tomorrow morning.
Please advise - Jason 

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On 11/15/06, laura podolnick wrote:
are there closets in other places in the apartment? the ad said there was plenty of storage space. what floor walkup? can you tell me the cross streets? whether we are interested or not depends on this information.

On 11/15/06, j larusso wrote:
This is a large storage closet in front of the apartment, but outside of the front door.    There is ample room for armories, a dresser, cabinet and queen sized bed in each bedroom, thus large rooms.  I can not release anymore information without a signed show agreement, as my company does not give out information without knowing anything about a client.  That is why brokers are in business.  It is less than a few minutes from the Graham Avenue stop.  If that is not enough information I suggest I send you a show agreement and we proceed from there.
-Jason

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On 11/15/06, laura podolnick wrote:
what does a show agreement entail? we cannot see the apartment tonight, as we are seeing three others tonight, and the morning is out of the question as we both work regular 9-6 jobs. we don't want to waste your time or our own time by agreeing to see an apartment before we even know the exact location. at this point, the apartment could be located on the BQE as far as we know--that's a "few minutes" from the graham avenue stop, but since we certainly wouldn't want to live in the middle of an expressway, meeting us would be a waste of time for all parties involved. if you would like to know things about us before you tell us the cross streets, that can be arranged, but if a "show agreement" is binding, i feel like this entire arrangement is backwards and a bit shady.

On 11/15/06, j larusso wrote:
I don't work for a shady company like apartments and lofts - SORRY!!!  When I say close to the stop it is close.  NOT at the BQE.  I live on Graham myself, and WHY would I give you the exact location - are you kidding?  That doesn't happen.  You wouldn't need a broker if that was the case.  Am I wrong here? 

You can let me know if the 3 apartments you saw work or not.  I am happy to show you the place - and I am sorry you have been so soured by horrible brokers. 

I have been in the business a long time and am not one of them.

Jason

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On 11/15/06, laura podolnick wrote:

I don't know what I did to give you the impression that I've been soured by horrible brokers. In fact, everyone I've worked with has been extremely cooperative and has had no reason to not give me the cross street of an apartment. I also live on Graham avenue right now, and I'm familiar with the area enough to know that some parts are nicer than others. You cannot convince me that no brokers give the exact location of an apartment prior to showing it, because everyone else has. "Not telling me where an apartment is" is not a reason to have a broker. I wouldn't need a broker if a broker were to give me information I request? "Am I wrong here?" well, actually, yes, sir, you are.
 
If you had really been in the business for a long time, I wager you'd be familiar with general protocols enough to know that some brokers are honest enough to give a cross street of an apartment before showing it. I also wager you'd be secure enough to not try to blame other brokers for my dissatisfaction with your particular mode of doing business. Furthermore, if your company is not shady, why haven't you even mentioned it by name?
 
I've done the apartment-finding thing enough to know what is right and what isn't, and this isn't. Exclamation points aren't going to convince me. I don't think we're interested. We can do better.
Thanks,
Laura

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Then it started to get weird. One last email from this guy said "Drop the STARBUCKS!! - This is a wast of time!" um, what?