Need Renting Advice
I’m in the process of selling my beautiful apt. in prime Park Slope in order to lower my monthly expenses. As I’m closing in on my closing date I ran out of time for a place to buy and just switched my gears to looking for a rental. The problem is I’ve been an apt….
I’m in the process of selling my beautiful apt. in prime Park Slope in order to lower my monthly expenses. As I’m closing in on my closing date I ran out of time for a place to buy and just switched my gears to looking for a rental. The problem is I’ve been an apt. owner for 24 years and only rented one apt. briefly prior to then. I’m feeling overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time with what seems to be out there. I’d love to figure out how to tell good deals from scams on CL, for example. And while the general consensus is that it’s a renter’s market out there, I’m finding it difficult to convince some brokers to even show apts. I’m looking in Park Slope/Windsor Terrace/Greenwood Heights/Prospect Heights/Kensington (close to Prospect Park). Thank you for any advise, leads or even broker recommendations.
Congratulations, that is awesome. Hope you will be very happy in your new apartment.
Not sure if anyone will see this here after so much time, but I just wanted to update you all who were so kind and helpful with your advice. I signed a lease on a small, but lovely one bedroom in Windsor Terrace, which I found on CL by owner.
If you’re going with a broker, stick to the old ones with a storefront in the neighborhood you’re looking. They have connections and they are legit.
The guys who pose as owners on CL aren’t even licensed brokers. They are scam artists.
I have had good luck with the owners-only section of CL. Most of the listings are bogus, but you can weed them out in ten seconds, either by reading the ad or talking on the phone. If someone posting as an owner says they’re a “management co,” forget it. They’re unlicensed and they’ll ask for a broker’s fee later. You may not even wind up with an apt.
Most of the real owners either post (1) very terse ads, such as “one bedroom, first, last, must have good credit” or (2) information-rich ads with lots of info and photos. They’ll say things like “We live in the building, so respect is important to us.” And “No brokers.”
If there’s a lot of hot air and sales talk, it’s a broker ad.
UnRed, I highly recommend Jeff Gallo at Corcoran in Brooklyn Heights. I’ve used him twice with great success.
Speaking of realtors trying to get people to pay a fee for a no fee apartment on craigslist…
I just stumbled on this which I recognized because I the original “no fee” ad made me post about people expecting cash for security deposits.
Now I see Corcoran is listing this place under the “broker fee” section of craigslist.
Original ‘no fee’ ad (which is fishy in its own right):
http://bk.ly/ec
Newer Corcoran ‘fee’ ad:
http://bk.ly/ed
Interesting stuff…
I’m a brownstone owner/landlord in Boerum Hill and I often advertise my available apts. on CL. The last time one was empty, I saw a note on the local listserv from someone looking for an apt and ended up renting to them before I even had time to post an ad. I get a lot more inquiries from CL than I ever got from the NY Times. I don’t like giving my apts to a broker as it means the tenant has to pay a huge fee. I don’t find that the brokers do much due diligence. It’s very easy for a landlord to vet tenants themselves.
BHO — I see while you are waiting for sale prices to drop by 50% your approach to rental pricing is “just let the renter get screwed”.
The NY Times print edition, is worthless. NYTimes.com has a bunch of properties brokers are highlighting. They are listing the same properties on craigslist.
craigslist has everything nytimes.com has and more.
The listserv I am thinking of is KWT at yahoogroups. There are lots of these very nabe-specific yahoo groups that post listings periodically, and you can always post an ISO on them.
Okay, no-fee aside, what online resource beats the NYTimes.com for the most efficient rental search?
***Bid half off peak comps***