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July 19, 2009
Broker Necessary These Days?
Hi there,
Do you landlords out there regularly use brokers? I know this question has been touched on in past posts, but given the current economic climate are landlords now less likely to inflict that on their future tenants? And if so what are the pros for you?
We are currently looking for a garden apt and it's so hard to find anything good without a broker - does any one have any suggestions for other ways to find a great place besides brokers and craigslist?
We had a broker when we moved in to our current house and honestly I'm still sore about paying that woman about 3000 to do absolutely nothing, literally all she did was post the place on CL and then take our money when we signed the lease ... oh but that was after she 'forgot' to tell our landlord that we had a dog. Then every year after she continued to call our landlord and say she could get 200+ more this year and we watched our rent soar. Apologies for the rant, but I just can't say enough about how my experiences with real estate in nyc have been just a step above organized crime - we're great responsible tenants and I am desperately trying to figure out why the broker system still exists here / discover a better way to find housing.
Thoughts/Suggestions?
Comments
Real estate brokers will always be jerks. Try to find a rental apartment on your own. It is easier to deal with the owner directly.
This respose is from an owner.
Posted by: Ysabelle at July 19, 2009 2:52 PM
The only thing I can think of is slogging through Craigslist. It is hard though to sort out the fake posts from the real posts, but it seems to be the best resource for non-broker apartments.
FYI, I don't know what you're looking for, etc, but I am renovating my home right now, which has two duplexes, one with a garden unit, and will eventually post it for rental - probably for Sept/Oct move in. If you are interested, you can email me at theklahy at aol dot com and I can send you details. You can probably find it by doing a search on craigslist too, using the terms "duplex" and "crown heights"
Posted by: theklahy at July 19, 2009 2:57 PM
Hi there,
I recently had several apartments to rent and although I did enlist a friend who was an agent, none of the apartments rented through a broker.
It seems that large developers and landlords of less-than-ideal apartments are the ones willing to take on the brokers' fee so that the apartments list as "No Fee." Otherwise I think that decent apartments are going directly between landlords/tenants via Craigslist.
Of course, as tenants specifically looking for a garden apartment and a landlord who takes dogs, you lower your options, and therefore, looking into both avenues might be necessary. Also, try other tactics such as telling everyone in your neighborhood that you're looking, leaving flyers at local brownstones and posting on the listserves in the neighborhood in which you're looking. Maybe you can connect with someone before they list it.
Good luck!
Posted by: nodnyc at July 19, 2009 3:01 PM
Both my excellent tenants saw my ad in Craigslist. What are you looking for? 1 bed? more than 1 dog?
Posted by: cmu at July 19, 2009 7:36 PM
We're looking for just 1 bedroom - ideally a floor through garden apt - and we have one older dog. Move in September 1 or later. Thanks for all of the feedback! It's so interesting to see how different people find housing/tenants; I've just got to be a CL stalker I guess :)
Posted by: ashleybrunett at July 19, 2009 9:27 PM
My last tenant's placed her own ad in Craig's list and I found her a day later. Try that angle.
Posted by: jack slade at July 19, 2009 9:52 PM
Affirmative. CL is still useful for this kind of hook up.
Posted by: argentina at July 19, 2009 10:22 PM
it is very early yet for sept. 1 move in date. unfortunately you will not see many relevant CL posts until mid-august so don't stress.
Posted by: bowl of dicks at July 19, 2009 10:34 PM
Agreed--Craigslist is your best bet. We have 3 apartments we rent out, and always use Craigslist. We like being able to meet prospective tenants from the jump, and see no reason for brokers or their fees. NB: we do require 2 months' security deposit, which, if added to a broker fee, would be insurmountable for many.
Good luck!
Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at July 20, 2009 6:32 AM
I would also suggest you put the word out with the dog-people-networks in your relevant park. In prospect park there is a huge dog/person community and these folks will definitely have a line on dog-friendly places.
Posted by: Brooklyn11218 at July 20, 2009 7:37 AM
I'm sorry but the issues of your broker's professionalism aside. You said the broker did "nothing" but you ended up in an apt you wouldn't have had a clue about if you didn't see her ad. Like I've said before, if you don't want to use a broker - DON'T, but complaining about paying a fee for a service you agreed to use that gave you what you were supposedly looking for is a bit silly.
Posted by: Crownlfc at July 20, 2009 10:10 AM
Hi guys, thanks for all the information! It's good to know that it's a little early to be looking for September, I hope I find something soon though, it's always a bit scary to not know where your next home will be.
@Brooklyn11218 - are you talking about Fido? I haven't seen any apartment discussion boards or know of any way to connect with future landlords - do you have any more info?
@Crownifc - posting a ad on CL should in no way equal over a $2000 fee. I was interested to find out why landlords use brokers and why this system is in place as it is only in New York that I've encountered this and personally found that it really is a detriment to renters. It is perfectly within my right to complain about this because as a renter, knowing that you have to pay a large chunk of hard earned money to someone who usually serves as an unnecessary intermediary hurts.
Posted by: ashleybrunett at July 20, 2009 10:34 AM
you're right that rental brokers are, on the whole, basically scam artists. it's a terrible culture that exists here. you just need to be really on top of the /nfa/ listings on craigslist. check it every hour or two. look for owner listings -- they're pretty easy to tell apart from the broker listings, because they're simple and sometimes don't even include pictures.
fyi if you are looking for september 1 or later, it is very early to be looking. you will start seeing more stuff in the beginning of august.
Posted by: duckumu at July 20, 2009 12:29 PM
Ashley - You have a right to your opinion but your own quote "and it's so hard to find anything good without a broker" says it all . FYI, it's also hard to get a good haircut w/o using a hairdresser/barber. Good Brokers do more than simply put an ad on CL, I can assure you. We all try to save a little. Sometimes when I want to save $5 bucks I'll call in my takeout order and go pick it up myself but I don't complain about tipping when I have it delivered. In a city where you can't buy a cup of coffee without passing a tip jar, a real estate agent is the one service you can use without paying unless you get an apt. Yes, there are a lot of idiots in this business. You have that choice and should try on your own but don't be shocked to discover that it's not as easy as you think.
Posted by: Crownlfc at July 21, 2009 12:23 AM
@Crownifc - I posted because I want to find out why it is that landlords use brokers; the only reason that is is hard to find a good apartment without a broker is because a good chunk of landlords with nice places choose to use them, NOT because they actually provide a service. Your metaphors didn't really make any sense and aren't applicable to the situation that I posted about. I'm willing to do the work to try and find the perfect place, which is another reason I posted, to try and find even more resources to find my perfect new home, but I do not think it's fair to pay a fee to someone to basically get the contact information of a landlord, unless of course what you're really paying for is a service to the landlord so they don't have to deal with renting their own place(and if that's the case why is the price of a fee burdened on the tenant?)
So landlords/commentors - why does this happen?
Posted by: ashleybrunett at July 21, 2009 11:01 PM
Ashley, you nailed it right at the end. The landlord doesn't have to pay the fee, so why not use a broker? If they use a broker, they don't have to deal with the headache of posting ads everyday, emailing ppl back and forth, setting up meeting times and having ppl flake out at the last minute or be completely unqualified, running credit checks, etc. If you were a landlord and could either (a) not pay anything and have a broker take care of it all for you, or (b) not pay anything and have to deal with all the headache and time-wasting yourself, which would you choose?
If enough renters refuse to pay a broker fee and critical mass switches in the other direction, then things might change, but in the meantime, landlords are perfectly fine with the status quo. They are getting a valuable service for free, who wouldn't be ok with that?
Posted by: setancre at July 22, 2009 9:54 AM
Well Ashley, there you go, you finally got it right in the end. You keep saying brokers don't "provide a service" but like setancre says "If they use a broker, they don't have to deal with the headache of posting ads everyday, emailing ppl back and forth, setting up meeting times and having ppl flake out at the last minute or be completely unqualified, running credit checks, etc." I'm sorry Ashley - like it or not, that's a service. If you want to argue the price of it - that's another story. Technology is changing everything, soon enough, you probably will virtually see every inch of an apt online, fill out a google form yourself and get approved for 10 apts in 5 minutes, and brokers will go the way of the travel agent, yes good riddance. Until then, like Hegel said "if it exists, it's because it's necessary."
Posted by: Crownlfc at July 23, 2009 12:33 AM
My point was that brokers do not provide a service to tenants who find their posts online, and there really isn't a way you can refute that. Brokers provide a service to landlords and therefore it make no sense that renters would have to pay for them.
Posted by: ashleybrunett at July 23, 2009 3:03 PM
Fair enough Ashley, at least you acknowledge that agents do provide a service, you just don't think it's fair tenants have to pay for it, and in your case, you know New York, you know Brooklyn so I understand why you may feel that way. Someone moving to NYC/Brooklyn for the first time may feel differently. The dirty secret of many "no fee" apts is that the broker's fee is tacted on to the rent, so either way - you pay.
Posted by: Crownlfc at July 24, 2009 9:52 AM
UPDATE
We just signed a lease on a gorgeous floor-through 1 bedroom w/ private garden in the north slope for $1900 (+ washer dryer) w/ no brokers fee. I'm thinking I'm cashing in on some good karma here :)
So, if you're a renter down on your luck don't give up! Have faith that it's absolutely possible to find a great space without paying an ungodly amount to a broker who does you no good. Just keep your hopes up and keep looking.
Posted by: ashleybrunett at August 10, 2009 10:43 PM
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