Soft Rental Market?
I’ve rented 2 floor-thrus in my Fort Greene brownstone for the past 3 years with no problem, but I always use a broker. Suddenly, I’m having trouble. Has the bottom fallen out of the rental market already? Has anyone else had to lower rents? I’m probably going to list it on craigslist – any other…
I’ve rented 2 floor-thrus in my Fort Greene brownstone for the past 3 years with no problem, but I always use a broker. Suddenly, I’m having trouble. Has the bottom fallen out of the rental market already? Has anyone else had to lower rents? I’m probably going to list it on craigslist – any other ideas?
The fake FRBO listings are fairly easy to spot, I think.
There are credit/criminal/background check services. I use TenantVerification.com for this. They do provide housing court records, if any, as well as terrorist watch list checks and other exotic checking.
Even so, I think you have to trust your gut to a degree and do the reference-checking yourself. Like the OP said, a lot can go wrong.
OP, what a story. I’m not a landlord (yet) but I gather there are services that do credit and background checks for landlords. Anyone know the name of some?
I would say only 3 percent of FRBO listings on Craigslist are legitimate. The rest are unlicensed brokers posing as owners. They use every trick in the book. They are terrible.
I have never seen a genuine FRBO listing that did not accurately state the location and other details.
Everywhere I’ve lived in NYC the landlord has phoned both my employer and my last landlord (except when I moved in with a boyfriend. I guess he figured he knew me). The internet is your friend, too. If you’re really feeling paranoid, you can make sure that the “landlord reference” you’re talking to actually owns the building (Property Shark).
As for Brokers vs FSBOs, I own a two family and have used brokers for the rental. It saves me the time and effort of dealing with prospective tenants and has always resulted in a good experience from my perspective, and good tenants who have always renewed. Brokers do know the market and what the asking price should be.
When I used to rent, I hated dealing with the rental brokers, especially those who handed you a key and told you to find the place yourself, or showed you garbage that was nothing like what you wanted. But as an owner, its my preference, and I dont see the downside.
FYI – My my most recent rental started in Nov 2008, and its possible things have changed significantly since then.
I let my attorney do the credit check.. Money well spent.
Hi All,
I’m the OP. Thanks for your comments. I’ve been using a broker to rent my apartments because when I bought my brownstone 3 years ago and rented them myself, a con-man saw me coming a mile away. He pretended to be a doctor (he wasn’t even close), gave me a fake w2 and SS#, and when I asked him to send me a credit report (very bad strategy), he told me he had trouble printing it and modified it to show “low risk”. All this while sweet talking me with his Ivy League non-credentials. I was totally naive and didn’t follow-up on any of his claims. I had never met anyone who wore a Harvard t-shirt to try and con people! He actually paid the rent for a year, and then stopped – making up every excuse in the book to carry on the charade that he was a legitimate professional rather than a pathological liar and psychopath dead-beat loser. (For those of you on this list curious about the socio-dynamics, we’re both Black, I’m female and was single at the time.) It took me 6 months to evict him (yep, 6 months of no rent plus legal fees) and it was a horrible experience. (Tip: spend the money on a good lawyer. It will save you time, i.e. rent, in the long run.) Soooo, I’ve been using a broker ever since to really dig into people’s credit checks. That being said, I’m a little wiser than I was 3 years ago and will probably attempt a craigslisting. In addition to credit checks, it’s amazing what you can learn about people on the Internet now for free. The consensus from the Forum really sounds like people aren’t using brokers anymore.
As for the apartment, it’s a 1 bedroom, 3rd floor walk-up in good condition with great light on Clermont between Fulton and Greene. The previous tenant was paying $1,850. More comments?
Thanks, Lisa
Many out of towners looking to rent in park slope. They don’t know that sunset park is not park slope. And yes, they do sign these leases. Many sign on 3ed avenue and in the 20’s thinking they are living in park slope.
“Tenants state that only 1 out of 6 apartments advertised by landlords are true in their posting.”
What’s the benefit in this? Do unsuspecting apt shoppers slip on a bananna peel, say “whoops” and accidentially sign the lease before realizing the truth? Or does the landlord make “them an offer they couldn’t refuse”, ink or brains on the lease agreement?
I mean some of these listings are way outrageous. I see some listed as Fort Greene but buried in the print it’ll say Franklin Ave or Classon Ave.
***Bid half off peak comps***
One prospective tenant told me that she responded to a rent-by-owner ad on craigslist. When she showed up to the place the landlord told her that he is also a broker and she will have to pay him 1 month fee. Now that is a low life !!!
On a different note, if I place an ad on CL for a prime park slope apartment in April I will get over 200 responses. Last month I got 10! The new tenants lucked out because this is the best time to rent and they did not have to compete with others. Rent was lowered from 1900 to 1800.
Tenants state that only 1 out of 6 apartments advertised by landlords are true in their posting. Many apartments listed as being in park slope are no-where near the area. One extreme example was actually by church avenue.