It's Good To Be A Renter Right Now
Psssst. Have you heard? Rents are dropping. Take the case of the Pettyjohn sisters, who, out of desperation, rented a crappy, inconvenient two-bedroom in Bushwick last year for $1,700. Just recently, they were able to upgrade to a larger, more attractive place two stops closer to Manhattan on the L train for the same price….
Psssst. Have you heard? Rents are dropping. Take the case of the Pettyjohn sisters, who, out of desperation, rented a crappy, inconvenient two-bedroom in Bushwick last year for $1,700. Just recently, they were able to upgrade to a larger, more attractive place two stops closer to Manhattan on the L train for the same price. In Sunday’s Real Estate section, The Times chronicles this story and others like it while pointing out that the number landlords now willing to pay a broker to rent their apartments has gone up almost four-fold in the last year. Where will it stop? Anybody’s guess, though the chief economist for Halstead and Brown Harris Stevens says it’s unlikely the price trend will reverse until the city stops losing jobs.
Why Are These Renters Smiling? [NY Times]
Photo by mesmart
I get $1,200 for a nice one bedroom in Bed Stuy (with yard use and W/D use in basement).
Hannible, is it time to turn the tables?
Stick an “apartment wanted” advert on craigslist with your rental limit, location, size and other requirements.
hannible, Part 2
I totally agree with you on rental agents and fees. Completely. My disputing points were about CG market values.
Hannible–I agree. The rental agent fee is one of the most disgusting parts of the “market” in my opinion. And in NYC, the fact that they charge FAR MORE than a month’s rent (8.3%) for a fee is disgusting. They tend to know nothing, most of the time your visit with them is the first time they have been to the property, some of them don’t even have cars and have you “meet them there”, and they want to be paid thousands and thousands of dollars.
The best part… they don’t even seem to provide much of a “value added service” to the landlords! All it does is add a bit of preliminary bitterness to the beginning of the rental relationship.
hannible-
“Here I am I am still a bitter renter. I am lookking for a cheaper apartment and I still can’t find one. I keep calling the “Cartel” of real estate agents in Carroll Gardens and I still hear 2400 this and 2400.00 dollars a month there. ”
Are you quoting 2400 for a 2BR in CG? Seems market to me, for better or for worse. If and when people with LOTS OF MONEY actually stop paying those rents, then and only then will rents go down. CG has been a hot spot for newcomers and for people buying 1.5 mil brownstoner “fixer uppers”. The CG realtors are not a cartel. They charge 2400 a month for a 2 BR because PEOPLE PAY IT.
What do you expect? 1200 a month for a 2 BR in CG? If and when that happens, you’ll have worse things to worry about then paying rent. You’ll be worrying about water, food and gas and the pending apocalypse.
Hannible–I agree. The rental agent fee is one of the most disgusting parts of the “market” in my opinion. And in NYC, the fact that they charge FAR MORE than a month’s rent (8.3%) for a fee is disgusting. They tend to know nothing, most of the time your visit with them is the first time they have been to the property, some of them don’t even have cars and have you “meet them there”, and they want to be paid thousands and thousands of dollars.
The best part… they don’t even seem to provide much of a “value added service” to the landlords! All it does is add a bit of preliminary bitterness to the beginning of the rental relationship.
hannible…i agree with you on your 9:33 post. I just put mine on craigslist and had my lawyer do the credit check work for me. Frankly, I didn’t want a tenant who had to pay a broker through the nose for an apartment when they couldn’t afford it and then I got a bitter tenant because of it. Everybody is much happier that way. It’s easy if you just have 1-2 units but I guess becomes exponentially more cumbersome after that.
i dont know pson, just anecdotal conjecture i guess.
*r*
As a renter I can tell that The Taaffe Lofts stay the same.
Must be the high demand of Pratt students or arrogance of the company