LOCALS ONLY

By Robin Shapiro

Periodically, some out-of-town brokers try to get a foothold in our Rockaway community. Some of them are small outfits and some of them are larger outfits with recognizable names. This is not a new phenomenon in our area and has always been UNSUCESSFUL!

Why? The experienced local brokers have tremendous advantages over the interlopers. The good, intelligent local brokers know the history of almost every house – not just the sale records which are available on the internet. They know houses which have been on the market before and have been unsuccessfully marketed – and they know WHY the old listings were unsuccessful (perhaps inspection problems, for example). They know who made offers on houses and why offers were turned down. They know all the local “players” – the investors, the families thinking about upsizing, or downsizing, or expanding for maturing children. Further, they know the parameters and specific desires/needs of these local players.

The Rockaway real estate market is very difficult to break into. A book can be written about the failed attempts to break into it. Call me. Love, Robin.