Rental Apartment in Brownstone
Hi, I have an apartment I want to rent in my home. I would prefer to list it with a broker. Any advice or suggestions? Thanks so much.
Hi,
I have an apartment I want to rent in my home. I would prefer to list it with a broker. Any advice or suggestions? Thanks so much.
Another landlord here. If you don’t have the time and energy or don’t want the bother and hassle of showing it yourself, then of course use a broker. Nothing wrong with that route and there is a lot a good broker can do for you. But as much as the broker represents you, his/her ultimate interest is in closing the deal.
I like showing the rental we have myself, especially since I live right upstairs. I like being able to offer it “no fee” and I like watching prospective tenants look at the apartment. You learn a lot from how they look at the place and the kind (and tone) of questions they ask. Everyone puts on a good face when the broker brings them to meet the owner, but watching them look, you get the real deal. Also, IMHO, disptued by brokers, you can get a small premium for being no fee (I figure about half a month’s rent divided by 12 added to the monthly rent). You also learn more about the apartmetn, what people like and do not, you get ideas as to how to market it, you get access to those who only look at the no fee ads, and you find out pretty fast whether you priced it right.
1900 for a studio in brooklyn???
i pay that for a newly renovated studio in the west village.
To the landlord who wrote back, thanks for your thoughtful post, that is the other side of the broker coin.
As for it being too pricey, I think that for what the apartment is, and the included utilities, the price is exactly market based on the research I’ve done. If I’m wrong, I guess I’ll find out pretty soon.
As a landlord, I think a broker is a great deal. Sure, renters don’t like them, but so what? Anyway, it’s my opinion that you will get a better quality tenant and have a better experience renting your place out using a broker. First, a broker will put the ad out for you, field the phone calls, make the appointments, and deal with the people who do and don’t show up. If you work, that right there is a big, big plus. Second, they will act as a sounding board regarding prospective tenants. One tenant wanted to call around and ask for references about me! (Our broker suggested we choose someone else, and we did.) Third, they will vette the tenant for you, which is a bit of an uncomfortable process since you are asking for a lot of personal info from people you don’t know. Lastly, and in my opinion most importantly, if someone is going to go to the expense of paying a broker to rent an apartment, they are probably not going to leave early or after just one year, since they’ve already paid the broker’s fee and doing that every year would be silly. We’ve used Shaye on 7th Ave. in Park Slope twice with great results both times. Never missed a month’s rent in 7 years……
Thanks. That’s a little out of the price range for the people I know. We are all mostly arts professional types.
I also live on a North Slope park block and the rents in our brownstone run around 1400-1700 for 500sf 1 bedrooms.
1900 is a bit steep.
Thanks anyway.
The apartment is a newly renovated studio–they’d be the first tenant (more like a junior one bedroom) 500 sq. ft. Private, ground floor entrance, central air, utilities incl. on a park block in north/center slope. $1900 (no fee obviously 🙂 If they’d be interested, post back and we can work out some kind of contact. Thanks! (no smoking or pets)
I know of a couple people looking for places in Park Slope.
Would there be a way to contact you and find out more details? You might be able to rent it just from this forum!!
I’ve listed with Brown Harris Stevens and been happy with the result. It is nice that they market the apt, screen candidates, can show the place all day long, run credit, handle co-signers, etc. We’re very happy with our tenants. The process was very smooth and our place was rented in a few days.
Next time I may handle it myself, though. When I was renting, I tried to not pay a fee and when I did, I’d compare the rents as if that fee was averaged across the year. So, if the renter isn’t charged a fee, I think you could get a somewhat higher monthly rent than a comparable fee apartment. And since this is ultimately an investment, this would seem to make more financial for the landlord as well.
again, excellent point, there’s a win/win here that doesn’t exist in the housing market… Thanks!