Renting a 1BR

We have a 2-family house and our tenants moved out and we did some renovations and put the apartment up for rent mid-March. We listed it with a broker. The apartment is nice, in a good location and priced well but it has been very slow. The broker has been great but I’m wondering if the fees are too much for people and it’s better for the landlord to rent without a broker. We tried renting it ourselves in the past and it never worked out but maybe the market has changed? Is Street Easy the best place to list rentals now? Thanks for any advice.

jtula

in Landlord 10 years and 1 month ago

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landlord | 10 years and 1 month ago

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I used to use craigslist but recently decided to use a broker as it was a pain going through all the potential tenants and showing the apartments all the time. The last time I had an apartment, I used rapid realty with great results. I dropped off the key to the apartment on a Friday afternoon and by Saturday they called me to say that there is a bidding war. Ended up renting for $600 over asking and the tenants are great. ……..but as mentioned earlier, location and price point matter.

est | 10 years and 1 month ago

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Or get a new broker. We rented our 1+ last year and used Linda Peng from Corcoran. She listed it in February 2014, when there was a ton of a snow and still rented it in 2 weeks. She took great photos and held two open houses. I had that concern about the fees etc, but I think you actually get a tenant who will stay longer because they’re invested, as it were.

boredatwork | 10 years and 1 month ago

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I think it really depends on the location and the price (like everything else). We have always used a broker and never had our 2-room studio in Carroll Gardens stay on the market for more than two weeks. We last rented last fall and have had multiple tenants over 14 years. The broker we use is old school and doesnt have much of a web presence. So she gets foot traffic and potential tenants know that she has the listings given her relationships with landlords. Its a trade off – you can do the work required to show and vet or have a broker do it for you. What does the broker say about the dearth of action on the apartment?

tjbk | 10 years and 1 month ago

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I suggest, bidding the realtor goodbye and paying the $150 to get a featured listing on streeteasy. We listed an apartment with a very good realtor in 2014 and received 0 tenants. We then listed on streeteasy, craigslist and naked apt and found a tenant within a week. Fast forward to 2015, we listed another vacant apt with a different realtor and received 0 tenants. We then featured the same unit no fee on streeteasy and found tenants within 72 hours. In this day and age a lot of folks do not want to pay a brokers fee for an apt they found online. If your monthly rent is $3,000 and you are expecting: first month ($3,000) last month ($3000) security deposit ($3,000) brokers fee ($3,000) Then $12,000 dollars later you might find tenants willing to pay that month upfront. Fine, you might not ask for last month upfront and expect $9,000 instead. It is a much easier sell for potential tenants to eliminate the brokers fee and deal directly with the landlord. Find a good background check / screening service and do a proper vetting.

no-permits | 10 years and 1 month ago

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i think nakedapartments has taken the lead from craigslist. craigslist has too much spam and scams.

Rick | 10 years and 1 month ago

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Getting a larger pool of people to see your apartment will get you results. In the old days it was the Village Voice, now it’s Craigs List.

GreenThinker | 10 years and 1 month ago

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I’ve used a bunch of sites. But each time, it was someone from craigslist that i rented the apartment out to. So, thats the only site i use now. I think it’s pretty much the go to site for people that are looking as well. You will deff get a lot more interested people, if they don’t have to pay the one months broker fee.