Advice on Rental Market
I have owned a brownstone in a very good location in North Park Slope right near the park for almost eight years. Until late last year all I had to do was put one ad on craigslist,I got an enormous response and had the apartment rented. Well, no more. The market has flipped. It’s incredible….
I have owned a brownstone in a very good location in North Park Slope right near the park for almost eight years. Until late last year all I had to do was put one ad on craigslist,I got an enormous response and had the apartment rented.
Well, no more. The market has flipped. It’s incredible. I rented a couple of apartments a few months ago although it took a couple of weeks. Now it seems worse. After advertising for a week I’ve gotten a total of two people to look at the apt. May get a couple more this week. The rent is already about $100 below what it would have gone for last year ($1400 vs. $1500). It will be vacated at the end of this month so I’m under pressure to get it rented now.
My question is this. I’m considering lowering it by $100 from what I thought was already a relatively low rent. But I’m wondering how much of an effect that would have. There just seem to be so few people out there. Any advice besides lowering the rent?
$1250?? I don’t think so.
I would say $1350.
I would totally live here.
1400 for a 340 sft studio in Park Slope? I am going to be the honest one here and tell you that its priced to high. Its better to price low and have your choice of who will be renting from you. Dont forget you are now competing with all the new construction studios that are going for around 1500 a month for 400 sft and offer pools and doormen. I would price it around 1250 if I were you and see what happens
is it just me or does $1400 for a 340 sq ft studio doesn’t sound like such a great deal. Not saying it’s a bad deal just not great deal – ie the rent isn’t so cheap that it stands out above the other listings
If you re-take the pictures with a flash they should come out better (your camera probably didn’t want to use a flash due to all the sunlight).
I’d drop the “340 sq. ft.” from the ad. It may be big for a studio, but it doesn’t sound big…
It may be tough to rent before the tenant moves.
I saw a bunch of apartments recently, and while I did rent one that I saw while a tenant was occupying it (because even though it was grimy and messy it was obviously a good space for me), overall the places that I saw while they were empty and clean made a much better impression on me.
The location is going to appeal to a lot of people, so I suspect you’ll find someone. I’m not sure about pricing on studios in the area, but check craigslist to see if you are in the right ballpark.
I know for a 850-1000 sq. ft. 2 bedroom in that location on that floor I would be expecting something around $2500-$2800.
Also, ads on Craigslist get buried very quickly. Edit your ad daily so it will reappear for that day. I don’t think many folks go back into the listings for more than a few days.
I agree with Gale in that you might have more success by skipping a month of income and sprucing the place up when the place is vacant–unless the current tenants are super-clean and have excellent taste and give you easy access.
I think including some more flattering photos of the place might help. It looks to get nice light but b/c of that light coming in, the interiors look very dark. If you have a friend who knows about photography, that would help.
I know you have a tenant in there so its a hard subject to bring up but it looks like a mess in there so that is not helping. A little styling would help too.
Thanks for the advice. I think the ad already includes the recommendations that some people have made.
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/abo/1406939702.html
Yea, it could use some sprucing up. Haven’t needed to rent it in 5 years. Can’t do anything about the current tenant’s stuff cluttering the place.
I have just spent a week looking at Craigs list trying to find a Brooklyn Sublet for my 90 day artist residency..did I miss you? Eventually going through an agent for bijoux apartment in brooklyn heights
I really wanted to AVOID agents and have been on craigs list loads even before I arrived 2 weeks ago
The responses to my emails was VERY POOR with only about 15% responding.
Maybe TRY different vehicles, there is now something like caravan.com and also a local brooklyn site for artists which i discovered too late
If you post a link to your ad maybe ppl here will have some constructive comments.