RealDirect

We will definitely use them again when we need to sell. They are professionals who know the market well. Their rate is fantastic. We sold our apartment in one weekend and saved thousands of dollars. A great experience!

I utilized the full brokerage services of RealDirect (and Doug Perlson) to sell my co-​op in 2014, and, under challenging circumstances, found them to be honest, diligent, and effective, resulting in multiple bids, including above the asking price. While most sellers will likely use RealDirect as a listing agent only, to save on brokerage commissions, anyone seeking full brokerage services should not hesitate to use RealDirect, which is comprised of professional, hard-​working, good people. A rarity these days.

I stumbled onto RealDirect almost by accident — a happy accident that is. I was in the process of selling my home and, like most people, I hired a real estate agent. To make a long story short, I had such a horrible experience with this real estate agent that I wound up firing him and decided to sell the place on my own. Doug Perlson from Real Direct contacted me and came to my rescue! Mr. Perlson is the founder and CEO of RealDirect. He’s both a lawyer and licensed real estate and knows the real estate business inside out. For a monthly fee of $ 395, Real Direct listed my home on Street Easy, The New York Times, Zillow, Trulia, MLS, as well as the Real Direct website. What an exceptional deal! You could not list on all these places together for that price on your own. I decided to give RealDirect a try and I was not disappointed. I got a tremendous response and had multiple offers on my home in one short week. Plus I saved a bundle because I didn’t have to pay that hefty broker’s commission. For those folks that prefer to not sell on their own, Real Direct has professional licensed real estate agents that will represent you for a lower rate than the standard agencies. Either way you can’t lose. Selling real estate in New York City can be extremely stressful. It was refreshing to work with a company that was professional, ethical, and extremely helpful. Whether you sell through a licensed agent or on your own, Real Direct will assist you every step of the way until you get your deal done.

Real Direct saved us a ton of money and also made the process of selling our apartment as smooth as possible. They helped us with a lot of the process. Every one at the Real Direct team was professional and helpful from choosing the photos to the negotiation process.

my husband and i were selling a co-​op studio in bk heights and got a lot of interest on our own, but not quite enough traffic to seal the deal. we got contacted by doug and agreed to list our place on their site. our agent always called or emailed back right away and worked us through our deal, which happened the second month of listing with real direct.

Highly Recommend, if you are a DIY person who likes to save money. Real Direct lets you self manage your listing. We avoided tens of thousands in broker fees by working with them and were still able to sell well above ask, with multiple bids, all cash and obtain board approval without any issues.
Positives: Very user friendly. They provided listing templates, professional photographers and stagers we worked with to develop a professional and competitive listing. Their staff was responsive and let us know what to expect at each stage of the game.
Negatives: Because it’s self managed, you have to have the vision for how you sell your place and also be prepared to give showings and be responsive to buyers. Brokers don’t like Real Direct and may be less likely to bring you buyers because it competes with them.

I have worked with RealDirect to sell and buy homes in New York City. On the buy side, their deal structure provided a competitive advantage because I knew I would be getting a percentage of the sale price as a rebate at closing. On the sell side, I sold my apartment in less than 30 days by showing it myself using the «owner-​managed plan.» The cost savings were huge. Instead of paying 6% of the sales price to brokers, I paid 2.5% to the buyer’s broker and a flat fee of $ 395 to Real Direct for one month. They were tremendously helpful with the sale — vetting potential buyers with me, helping with final negotiations, etc. Beyond the numbers, RealDirect’s owner/​founder Doug, and its agents, are consummate professionals. They are knowledgeable, responsive, ethical, and will be there for you as much, or as little, as you wish. I can’t recommend them highly enough.

Real Direct helped me to sell my apartment immediately after first open house for above asking price. They advertised in many major outlets and the great response helped me to sell very quickly.

Doug and his team have been extremely knowledgeable and helpful in getting our apartment sold.

Doug and the RealDirect team provide a great service at very reasonable cost to the home owner. We sold our condo in Brooklyn with their help, and I would not hesitate to recommend them.

My wife and I used RealDirect to sell our apartment in Union Square, and we could not have been happier with the results. Doug and his team were responsive to every question we had, and they helped us navigate the sale from start to finish. They even met with our buyer to review his board package (as he did not have an agent), going above and beyond the call of duty. I highly recommend RealDirect.

Highly recommended for those who want more involvement in the selling process for their apartment/​home. Right away received some helpful suggestions for my listing. The only things I would’ve preferred are 1) to let prospective buyers have the ability to send an inquiry to the RealDirect site that is readily viewable by everyone including the seller and 2) a better initial price evaluation process. Overall, though, this site is a winner for a seller who has a good idea of the market. Would also try RealDirect as a buyer.

Doug and his team was extremely professional. Despite the fact that I only used their flat-​monthly-​fee-​for-​self-​listing service, they provided so much more service than I had expected. They helped me price the apartment for sale. It was clear to me from the beginning that he does his homework and is very knowledgeable about the Manhattan real estate market. His pricing strategy was spot on. Our apartment received several bids within two weeks and was eventually sold above asking. He helped guide me through the negotiation process, especially in handling the «best and final» bidding process. I would recommend him to anyone.

Worked with RealDirect in October of 2014 and sold my 1 bedroom unit in union square in 2 weekends! The professionalism of RealDirect was superb and I would suggest everyone use them. Don’t buy into the BS of realtors in NYC saying you need to us them for an absorbent fee! I showed the unit on my own and it was worth the 3 hours it took me to save 30k!

Doug and his assistant guided me through every step while I posted and sold an apartment in Manhattan with their help. With excellent advice on negotiating I was able to get 300K more that a listed price, not counting the 3.5% I saved for not paying a selling broker fee (we paid 2.5% to the purchaser’s broker)

We were new to NYC, but not new to home purchasing. We quickly discovered that the NYC market was unlike any other in the country. We researched thoroughly the options available to us for realtor/​brokers. After interviewing several brokers, we chose to use Real Direct for our co-​op purchase. This was the best decision we could have made. From the offer to the closing, Doug and his team were always available. After closing, we needed to do a kitchen renovation. We contacted Doug for contractor suggestions. He put us in touch with a referral company (Sweeten) that was top notch. We were able to complete our reno, on time and on budget. After such a great experience, there was no doubt that we would use Real Direct again, for our co-​op sale. We used the monthly plan along with 3% commission for agent. We were under contract within 21 days. Again, superior service (thanks for recommending the professional photos used for the MLS) and follow-​up by Doug and his team. They were always just a text or email away. We highly recommend.

By using RealDirect I saved myself around $ 30,000 in brokerage fees. Mind you — I paid to stage the apartment and I did all the showings myself. RealDirect managed the distribution of the listing to the MLS and StreetEasy. And their brokers were reachable when I had questions about process. If you prefer to put money in your pocket instead of giving it to some useless twat of a real estate broker, and you’re willing to do a little work, then this is the service for you. I would use them again and again. Because paying 3% of $ 1M ($ 30,000) is INSANE.

Wow, what a great concept for do-​it-​yourselfers. I signed up and paid $ 395 for one month of the service. My wife agreed to do all our showings. We had showings lined up the very next day after listing and we got an offer for our full asking price (from an all cash buyer) on the fourth day. We did pay a 3% buyer’s agent fee, but at our price point everyone was using a broker, so just expect to pay that unless you are both very persistent and lucky (and probably selling at a low price point). However, we did save almost $ 63,000 by not paying a seller’s agent fee. Doug and Aimee were both very responsive and helpful. This company is no joke, I can’t recommend them highly enough. I only wish they were nationwide!

I’ll keep this short because I think the other reviews have hit the nail on the head. RealDirect is a breath of fresh air. This is exactly what New York needs. In a hot real estate market, the apartment sells itself, and RealDirect lets you do just that. They provide excellent value by their service and advice (I did the monthly plan). It would have been an utter waste if I’d used an agent to sell, and I don’t know how I would have done it myself without RealDirect. I worked with Aimee, and she was also excellent. She was very responsive, and took the time to answer even my dumb questions (7 days a week). All in all, I can’t imagine using any other service when I sell again. I intend to use them when I buy as well, if I can. We should all be encouraging RealDirect to thrive, as I’m sure traditional agencies would welcome its downfall and the return to 6%.

I can not say enough about how great these folks were to work with. We sold our apartment on the UWS and saved approximately $ 80,000. If you know what a good price is for your apartment and don’t mind showing it yourself, using real direct is the only way to go.