FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com JANUARY 1, 2015 • REAL ESTATE • THE COURIER SUN 27 ▶ real estate Photo courtesy of Minas Styponias Catching ‘ACCOLD’ from your real estate agent Photo courtesy of RXR Realty BY MINAS STYPONIAS The job of a real estate professional, in my opinion, is to give a cold to his clients. This isn’t to say that a real estate agent will infect his clients with viruses and infections. This is an entirely different type of a cold. ACCOLD is the acronym for the fiduciary responsibilities that a real estate professional is obligated to provide their clients, from first substantive contact. ACCOLD can be broken down into accounting, care, confidentiality, obedience, loyalty and disclosure. These fiduciary duties are the backbone to choosing a long-term relationship with a real estate professional. Each are equally important to receive and each are equally important to produce. However, my personal opinion is that “care” is the most all-encompassing and powerful component of all these duties. All too often individuals get into the real estate business in the hopes of becoming the next Fredrik Eklund or the next Ryan Serhant from TV’s Million Dollar Listing New York, all the while focusing on the income potential rather than the passion, effort and care that it takes to get there. They want the money to roll in but often lack the caring personality to create that potential for themselves. As a property owner or renter you are entitled to receive the utmost in care from your selected real estate agent. It is my opinion that the care a real estate professional provides to their client will transcend all the other fiduciary responsibilities and provide a true barometer of what they think of you as a client and of your property as a product. A true professional, in my opinion, will relieve their client of all the mundane and tedious portions of their real estate transactions and provide them with the necessary care to keep them informed, educated and enlightened throughout the process. As a lessor, it is my belief that your real estate agent should be photographing your property, marketing your property, conducting weekly site visits of your property, providing suggestions on increasing income potential on your property and providing you with constant communication on their prospects or lack thereof. As a lessee, it is my belief that your real estate agent should be conducting all the searching of prospective properties, all the inspections of prospective properties and constantly communicating to you with their findings or lack thereof. The agent who performs these duties, in my opinion, is not only demonstrating their passion for their respective career but also demonstrating their professionalism and care for you as a client. In closing, if you’re not catching ACCOLD from your real estate agent then I suggest you give them a cold shoulder and seek alternative representation. Remember no one cares for your property as much as you do, but a good realtor will come in a close second and leave you feeling like they were more a part of your endeavor than another roadblock in the road to completing your real estate goals. Gazuntite! Minas Styponias is a licensed real estate broker for BuySell Real Estate in Astoria, where he was born and raised. He has had a career as a luxury rental property manager in New Jersey and Manhattan. Styponias speaks English, and is conversational in Greek and Spanish. View from 26-02 21st St. RATE OF QUEENS HOME SALES HITS YEAR LOW IN NOVEMBER: REPORT By Liam La Guere lguerre@queenscourier.com/@LiamLaGuerre The rate of homes sales in Queens has decreased for four consecutive months, falling to the lowest pace of the year in November because there are too few homes on the market, according to a new report. There were 618 homes sold within the year ending in November, according to the Keller Williams Realty monthly market update, which is down from 711 in October and from 792 in August. The decreasing sales stem from a dip in inventory, the report said. There are now 4,469 homes available in the borough, a decrease of 21.9 percent from November of last year. “We are still experiencing tightening in inventory conditions, which is affecting the purchasing options for Queens home buyers,” the report said. “As we move into the cooler months of the year, we will likely begin to see inventory tighten more for the first quarter, but we are hopeful that more inventory will hit the market in 2015 to help stabilize the pace of sales across the county.” Average home prices are also slightly more expensive from the same month last year with the exception of condos, the report found. Hot Listings 92-12 172nd St. The property is a 26,000-square-foot building with 33,000 square feet of land and approximately 124,500 buildable square feet. Located blocks away from subways and buses and not far away from retail. Easy access to Jamaica Avenue. Brokers are Paul Bralower and Joshua Kleinberg of Pinnacle Realty. Contact for price. 107-65 & 107-67 Merrick Blvd. The property is a corner auto lot with 8,410 square feet. It has an additional 8,410 commercial buildable square feet and is located near the downtown Jamaica retail hub, which includes stores such as Home Depot. The brokers are Jacob Tzfanya and Chris Burti of CPEX. Contact for price. 175-42 Hillside Ave. A leased KFC sits on this 10,000-square-foot lot. The property has 40,000 square feet of buildable space. The 2,054-square-foot KFC is leased until 2026, with a 10 percent increase in rent every five years. The asking price is $3.5 million. The brokers are Shimon Shkury, Michael Tortorici and Victor Sozio of Ariel Property Advisors. 167-33/37 Porter Rd. The property is a warehouse with land close to John F. Kennedy Airport. The property has 14,520 square feet of space in buildings on a lot. The property can be used for shipping, distribution, and warehouse use. The broker is Matthew McMullen of Greiner-Maltz. Contact for price.
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