In New York the differentiator is rarely the number. It is whether you walked in already knowing the flip tax, the assessment history, the last three closed sales in the line and how the public launch will work—because those are the facts that decide the outcome and the other two agents did not look them up.
Put it to work
- Read the last financial statement and the last two closed sales in the line before you walk in.
- Write the flip tax, assessment and sublet policy on one page and hand it to the owner.
- Present the portal and RLS decision as a decision, with your recommendation and the trade-off.
- Put the first price-review date in the agreement, not in your own calendar.
Use this language
The one page you leave behind
Unit X, Building Y. Recommended ask: $X,XXX,XXX. Probable clearing range: $X,XXX,XXX–$X,XXX,XXX. Basis: the 09 line closed at $X in March and $X in July, at 63 and 71 days.
Ownership facts a buyer will ask about: flip tax X% paid by seller; current assessment $X/month through [date]; sublet permitted after X years; minimum X% down; underlying mortgage matures [date].
Distribution: RLS on day one. Portals: [list], per the decision we make today. Broker email to X,XXX NYC agents on launch day, repeated at day 10 with any new information. Open houses [days/times]. First written report to you on [date].
First price review: [date], 14 days after launch. What I will bring: inquiries, saves, showings, second showings and the objection pattern. What would make me recommend a change: [specific].
What to watch
Pull the building’s last two years of closed sales in the same line before the meeting. “Three comparable sales in the neighborhood” is generic; “the 09 line closed at $1.61M in March and $1.58M in July, both after 60-plus days” is a pricing argument.
Know the ownership mechanics cold: flip tax and who pays it, current assessment and its end date, sublet policy, financing minimum, and whether the board has turned anyone down recently. A seller finds out you did not know during the board package, which is the worst possible moment.
For a co-op, read the last financial statement before you quote a price. Underlying mortgage maturity and reserve level move buyer financing and therefore the achievable number.
Bring the distribution plan as a named list of channels with dates: RLS entry, portal publication, broker email to how many agents, open-house schedule and the first written owner report. Current portal rules make the launch sequence a signing-day decision rather than a launch-day improvisation.
Show the first 14 days as a calendar with names on it — photographer, floor plan, copy approval, launch, first report — and commit to the date of the first price review in the listing agreement itself.
From field note to send
See what the listing email actually looks like
Compare the four single-listing designs before deciding whether a $99 send fits this property.