Brooklyn Rental Market More Stable Than Manhattan
Good news from the New York Observer about the Brooklyn residential rental market: Evidently the smaller properties and more diversified owner base is making for smoother sailing than in Manhattan where a few large companies are being forced to offer increasingly sweet incentives: For now, most of Brooklyn’s smaller landlords are living in a world…
Good news from the New York Observer about the Brooklyn residential rental market: Evidently the smaller properties and more diversified owner base is making for smoother sailing than in Manhattan where a few large companies are being forced to offer increasingly sweet incentives:
For now, most of Brooklyn’s smaller landlords are living in a world apart from the rough-and-tumble Manhattan market, where rents are already falling in several neighborhoods, and panicky property owners are slashing rents, sometimes by hundreds of dollars, and offering any incentive they can think of to help put tenants in their units. In Brooklyn: not so much.
Have any brownstone owners had to rent out their garden apartment recently? How did it go?
Brooklyn Rent Check [NY Observer]
“cornerbodega so eloquently states his case yet again.
I have seen some streets in brooklyn that are as dirty as those in the WV (and the EV) but they are usually not flooded with tourists, sex shops and fast food outlets. The main eyesore on a Brooklyn street would be, yup you got it, a corner bodega!!!”
Dibs, so obvious you have no clue. I’ll leave it at that…
There are certainly renters out there who are willing to go out of their way to rent in a brownstone.
I’m not one of them though, and I think renters in general are much less likely to be concerned about the type of building they rent in.
I’m renting on the 3rd floor of a brownstone now, but when I move, I want a 1st floor or an elevator. I’ve cheerfully lived in walkups for 12 of the last 16 years, but having a kid really changes your perspective on these things.
I expect to move later this year, and it is looking more and more like I will be looking for another rental instead of a purchase (market is scaring the heck out of me).
If Manhattan prices drop enough or there are some really good deals on 12 month leases (e.g., no fee + 1 month free), I will definitely look in Manhattan.
We moved to Brooklyn because we were able to get a space we wanted for about 20% less than similar spaces in Manhattan.
The fact that the space was in a brownstone was just coincidence (we almost took a place in a newer brick building a few blocks away from our current place).
If Brooklyn doesn’t offer us a financial benefit to renting here, I can’t see the point in staying.
If/when I’m looking to buy a place, my thinking will be a little different — Brooklyn does have some stronger appeal as a place to purchase a home in my opinion.
“I also think you have truly drunk the punch if you think the people who are moving from 3000sq ft homes in the suburbs are going to come to NYC to rent an 800sq ft apartment in a walkup Brownstone.”
Didn’t drink any punch. I can tell you 2 families I know who are in the process right this very moment. One found a 2 bedroom in South Slope yesterday (in a brownstone) and will be signing the lease in the next day or two. They are coming from the Southwest. The other family is moving here from Florida and looking ONLY at brownstone apartments in Park Slope or Carroll Gardens. I know this because I’m helping both families with their search.
Not saying everyone is doing it, but that’s 7 people I know moving to NYC in the next month. Both of which living in 3000 sf homes in suburban locations and got fed up. They were lucky to find jobs here despite the economic conditions.
We’ve had this argument here before, but having a doorman is actually a negative, not a “perk”, in my opinion. It means your rent is higher AND you have to tip more people at xmas, not to mention the creepiness of having some random dude know everything about your life.
11217 – ignoring the “expense” of new construction (vs occupying an existing building) – in EVERYWAY a multi-family apartment building is more ecologically efficient than any Victorian Brownstone – sorry but true.
Benson,
I have no doubt NYC will continue to be a thriving city. When talking to friends, family and colleagues across the country, I can feel the tide turning. People have become very aware of their impact on the earth, are fed up with paying 500 a month to heat and cool their homes, they know gas prices aren’t going to stay where they are forever and they know they need to do something about it.
I’m not saying everyone is going to move to NYC, but I am saying that a lot of people seem to be re-evaluating their life and looking at what’s really important.
I think people are coming to the conclusion that it’s not the “space” you occupy that makes you happy. It’s everything outside that space. I will happily live in a small space my whole life to feel the kind of energy and connection I feel with other human beings by living in a city like NYC.
I faced the house/big building decision last year when picking a place to rent until prices come down to the point that I want to buy.
The choice came down to either half of a victorian house or a newly refurbished apartment in a big building.
The house had bags of charm and about 25-30% more space while the big building apartment was functional, had a lift and doorman, and all-round very “efficient”.
The big building won out in the end. Although we loved the Victorian, it was a place that we would want to own and do up and since we are transitory we preferred the no-hassle approach.
oh count me in on someone who would NEVER want to use an elevator. i use one at work, tht’s enough! ive for the most part only lived in apt buildings most of life, but somehow always managed to live within walking distance of floors so it’s never been an issue. plus i dont want to be cooped up an an elevator with my dog and strangers! i dont know how many of you are familiar with an elevator fart, but no thank you. stairs for me please!
*rob*
MM – when did this blog become about Brownstones? 90+% of the posts are about condos, restaurants, housing market in general etc….
That being said – we are talking about how will the rental downturn affect renting in Brooklyn in general and and in Brownstones specifically. My opinion on Brownstones is irrelevant to that market discussion. If you just want smoke blown up your a$$ about how immune Brownstones are to sales/rental pressures then skip my posts.
I also never said people wouldnt rent Brownstone apartments – what I said is that generally on an apartment to apartment comparison – the pros and cons favor multi-family buildings over user-created apartments in small buildings (for lack of a better term of classification) – THEREFORE the flood of new rentals WILL push Brownstone rentals down.
Sure there are many pros to living in a Brownstone but you certainly must concede that these charms are inherently LESS significant to the renter (who after all lives at-will in a non-RS apartment) then the owner (or potential owner)
BTW 11217 – I never said anything about “bells and whistles” – although apparently some here consider 125yr old elevator technology to be a major (an unwanted) innovation. I am not comparing 1PP to a 3rd fl Brownstone rental.
I also think it is sad that you believe “community” can only be formed in neighborhoods consisting of 19th Century row houses. Frankly I know plenty of neighborhoods all across this city that are made up of primarily apartment buildings that have more street life and more “community” then many of the Brownstone neighborhoods represented here.
I also think you have truly drunk the punch if you think the people who are moving from 3000sq ft homes in the suburbs are going to come to NYC to rent an 800sq ft apartment in a walkup Brownstone.
Stop being so defensive and try to look at the marketplace objectively.