Brokers happy to ring out bad year in real estate
Real estate brokers from around the Island bid goodbye to 2011, a tough year for property sales, with a party Tuesday at the Four Seasons in Melville. The guest of honor was a shredder where agents put failed deals. Mike Karroll, owner and broker of Re/Max Best in West Babylon, shreds his papers with support of brokers Lisa Jaeger, and Jennifer Tripodi, of Prudential's Setauket. (Jan. 10, 2012) Credit: Danielle Finkelstein
What's the best thing to do if you had a bad year in business? Some Long Island real estate brokers believe having a party to celebrate the end of 2011 is best.
The brokers at Re/Max New York based in Garden City invited colleagues from other brokerages on the Island to a party Tuesday night at the Four Food Studio in Melville. And the guest of honor was a shredding machine.
The shredder was available to cut up any "dead binders" that the brokers brought with them, said Re/Max executive vice president Carolyn Weber. Dead binders are those that held the paperwork of deals that died.
"We talked about how tough it was last year and how the numbers went down," said Weber, referring to a growing number of deals that did not go through. In addition, she said, more people were upside down on their mortgages and others could not refinance in the tight credit environment.
Weber said he's been a broker for 43 years and has "never seen anything like" 2011. About 200 people attended the event.
Brokers usually put the best face on things, so this dead-binder party seemed out of character.
"But why hide it?" Weber said. "It was a very rough year. The whole industry is still in disarray."
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