Rent Reality Check
Hello brownstoners. Can you all ive me a generic sense of how much rents have gone up in Fort Greene/Clinton Hill/Prospect Heights area in the past 2 years? My guess is about 10 percent. I am going to give a tenant a rent increase. I could give details about the apartment itself (think I underpriced…
Hello brownstoners. Can you all ive me a generic sense of how much rents have gone up in Fort Greene/Clinton Hill/Prospect Heights area in the past 2 years? My guess is about 10 percent. I am going to give a tenant a rent increase. I could give details about the apartment itself (think I underpriced it initially and also gave a 2 year lease) but I think just your ballpark ideas would be helpful. Thanks as always.
Oppss…I forgot. Is heat and hot water included? This makes a huge difference!
About 10-15%. However, you should provide more details. Is this a brownstone? What floor? Elevator? How many bedrooms? How many bathrooms? In what neighborhood? Garden or roof deck access? Rather than trying to figure out how much rents have gone up, simply determine the comps and let that be your guide. Your apartment building appears to be very well kept which makes another difference and probably places the unit at the top range of neighborhood comps for a similar dwelling. How do you get comps? Just go to Corcoran, Douglass Elliman, and/or Brown Harris Stevens websites and run a neighborhood rental search. Or you can visit any local realty office and tell the broker that you are looking to rent in the neighborhood and want to know how much 1 or 2 bedrooms, etc. are going for in the area. Presto! You now know the market….
original poster….my yearly tax cap is 6% and it maxes out at some point (I should know this…) Regarding raising rents, the tenant is an OK tenant but is paying well under market from what I can gather and what I have learned about renting my other apartment. I have every intention of charging tenants market rates and giving them 1st rate services. I am interested in getting ball park figures on percentage raises. My tax has gone up and my energy costs have gone up and I have put a lot of money into the building – all new new windows in building, refurbished lobby, new central staircase — actually completely cleaned up nice stairway, indoor mailboxes (they used to share an unlocked, wooden box hanging off the garden floor grated door!!!), doors on apartments, upgrade of heating, good service – extermination, clean building, garbage handling.
I am charging what the market will bear.
How much have rents risen in 2 years do you think?
You’re scaring me: I thought there was a cap on the percentage that property taxes could be raised each year?
You should get as much as you possibly can from the apartment. I wouldn’t kick the tenants out if they are paying close to market, but don’t EVER keep a tenant who is paying under-market for your place. You should always increase the tenant’s rent if you can, otherwise there will come a time when you need to make a huge increase to keep the apartment in line with the market, and it will hurt them much much more.
How much have rents gone up in the past two years?
Property taxes are soaring. Mine went up 25% this year.
NYC is practically forcing landlords to raise rent.
It’s a pain in the ass to be a landlord — of course you should be rewarded for it. Otherwise join the Peace Corps and travel the world!
you should only raise the rent if your expenses related to the apartment has gone up. Do you like the tenants? If your cost of having them there is stable, then don’t hurt them.
I can tell you my experience in Park Slope. The people before us rented for $2100, we rented for $2250 for one year (6/05-6/06), and the landlord charged the next people $2400. Up almost 15% in 2 years…