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I am in the real estate business in NC and have lived in NY, Long Island the majority of my life. In NC the landlord pays the fee and I as a landlord agree to that being the way it should be. I know you might be putting time into your listing etc. even though anybody with a computer can list them just the same without a real estate license. Lets face it, its not a hard thing to do. I think both of you being real estate agents are missing the point with what most of these people are upset about. It doesn't matter what split you have with your company or the time you lost listing/showing the property to rent, they are upset that the tenant pays the fee NOT the landlord. The Landlord is the one who is going to make an income off of the property being listed and on top of that most renters don't have thousands of dollars to **** away on fees. The amount of money a tenant has to pay to move into a home on LI they can use as MOST of a down payment on purchasing a house. Its STUPID!!
I agree that it does not make much sense, but that's the way it works here. I own property in other states and when I use local agents to find tenants I pay the fee. Don't blame us. We don't write the rules.
I agree that it does not make much sense, but that's the way it works here. I own property in other states and when I use local agents to find tenants I pay the fee. Don't blame us. We don't write the rules.
Recently I found place for rent on line. It's in W. Hempstead right where I need to be for work. The stated rent was one thousand plus electric. I called and the person who answered was a real estate agent who later that day showed me the unit and confirmed the information I had read on line. The land lord was present for the showing. The next day I filled out the paperwork for a credit check. After I had faxed the paperwork over disclosing my SS# and details mind you) only then did the Realtor call me to announce the "finder's fee" was THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
I said, so let me get this straight - I do the research on the internet. I make the call. I drive over to see the place. And for this, I have to pay three thousand dollars to a Realtor in addition to first and last month's rent? Why was none of this mentioned until now? The Realtor replied coyly, "You must be a first time renter." Yeah right. I said I needed time to think about it because I'd have to dip into my savings for the "finders fee."
The next day I was still in shock over the whole thing, so I went back to talk to the land lord privately to ask if this kind of thing is standard in L.I. - because no, I'm not from the area. The last time I dealt with a slight of hand this lame was when I bought my used Toyota. The land lord said he didn't know how it went on my end of the deal but he said he would like to have me as a tenant and would lower the rent by $100 dollars if would encourage me to take the deal. He said he would talk to the Realtor to make this happen. I heard nothing from either party until (drum-roll) yesterday afternoon, when I received a threatening voice mail from the Realtor saying I should not have spoken to the land lord on my own volition, and the land lord had rented the place to another tenant. Further, the Realtor said that the land lord had been instructed to call the police if I attempted to speak with him again.
This Realtor is listed in NYSAR and the rental unit is still up and available on the internet. I am angry and anxious about the threat to call the police. WTF? Any advice?
Recently I found place for rent on line. It's in W. Hempstead right where I need to be for work. The stated rent was one thousand plus electric. I called and the person who answered was a real estate agent who later that day showed me the unit and confirmed the information I had read on line. The land lord was present for the showing. The next day I filled out the paperwork for a credit check. After I had faxed the paperwork over disclosing my SS# and details mind you) only then did the Realtor call me to announce the "finder's fee" was THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
I said, so let me get this straight - I do the research on the internet. I make the call. I drive over to see the place. And for this, I have to pay three thousand dollars to a Realtor in addition to first and last month's rent? Why was none of this mentioned until now? The Realtor replied coyly, "You must be a first time renter." Yeah right. I said I needed time to think about it because I'd have to dip into my savings for the "finders fee."
The next day I was still in shock over the whole thing, so I went back to talk to the land lord privately to ask if this kind of thing is standard in L.I. - because no, I'm not from the area. The last time I dealt with a slight of hand this lame was when I bought my used Toyota. The land lord said he didn't know how it went on my end of the deal but he said he would like to have me as a tenant and would lower the rent by $100 dollars if would encourage me to take the deal. He said he would talk to the Realtor to make this happen. I heard nothing from either party until (drum-roll) yesterday afternoon, when I received a threatening voice mail from the Realtor saying I should not have spoken to the land lord on my own volition, and the land lord had rented the place to another tenant. Further, the Realtor said that the land lord had been instructed to call the police if I attempted to speak with him again.
This Realtor is listed in NYSAR and the rental unit is still up and available on the internet. I am angry and anxious about the threat to call the police. WTF? Any advice?
I think the realtor was (a) sneaky and shady by not giving you the fee information UPFRONT before violating your privacy by obtaining your personal information, (b) acting completely of hand because threatening you with police action in a civil, not criminal, matter is totally unwarranted, and (c) possibly a liar if the apartment is still being advertised (note I say possibly because maybe they do have a tenant, but are hedging their bet by continuing to advertise it).
You can file a complaint with Long Island Board of Realtors (631-661-4800) or New York State Department of State (518-474-4429).
I agree that the agent should have disclosed the fee to you up front. There is nothing to prevent you from speaking to the landlord directly, however, many brokerage agreements prohibit the landlord from renting privately.
Also, the fee of $3000 sounds ridiculous. The going rate is one month's rent. It should be noted that brokers can charge what they want (but I doubt that anyone could get three).
also by law, a real estate agent/broker has to advertise that they are an agent/broker and the FEE if there is one. This has to be disclosed up front.
Very shady indeed!! $3,000 fee for a $1,000 rental is crazy. I don't think they even charge that kind of crazy fee up on the north shore.
Next time you call on a rental that is through a broker, ask up front what is the fee before you waste your time looking. One month is the norm on the south shore as Tom stated.
Good luck.
Last edited by HappySpring; 04-06-2011 at 03:03 PM..
Reason: sp error
Also, the fee of $3000 sounds ridiculous. The going rate is one month's rent. It should be noted that brokers can charge what they want (but I doubt that anyone could get three).
In most cases, one month's rent is the fee. However, I have increasingly seen fees of 10% of the annual rent.
In the case of $1,000/mo rent, that would be 20% more or a fee of $1,200 instead of $1,000.
A fee of $3,000 is even though as Tom pointed out, it's all a matter of negotiating...
As a realtor, believe me, rentals are not a windfall of money. We pay for all the advertising on the rental - putting the unit on several hundred websites costs money. In many instances, the listing agent is not the rental agent so we have to split the commission with another agent and then split it with our brokers. Between showing the unit, interviewing the potential tenant, getting the necessary references, etc., introducing the landlord and tenant to each other, negotiating the lease, signing the lease, etc., takes many hours and ends up not being a lot of money in our pockets. From the landlord's point of view, if a tenant has enough money to pay the first month's rent, the security AND the broker commission, in most instances, they end up being better tenants.
As a realtor, believe me, rentals are not a windfall of money. We pay for all the advertising on the rental - putting the unit on several hundred websites costs money. In many instances, the listing agent is not the rental agent so we have to split the commission with another agent and then split it with our brokers. Between showing the unit, interviewing the potential tenant, getting the necessary references, etc., introducing the landlord and tenant to each other, negotiating the lease, signing the lease, etc., takes many hours and ends up not being a lot of money in our pockets. From the landlord's point of view, if a tenant has enough money to pay the first month's rent, the security AND the broker commission, in most instances, they end up being better tenants.
Several HUNDRED websites? Can you please list all of them. Don't you mean Craigslist and similar sites? . Cost for those sites = ZERO. Time it takes to copy and paste is a few minutes.
Anyone can make it seem as what they do is time consuming. For lunch I had a ham and turkey sandwich. First I had get into my car to drive to the store. Then I had to walk into the store. I had to wait on line at the deli to buy the ham and turkey. Then I had to walk all the way to the other end of the store to buy the bread. Then I had to wait on line to buy the food. Then I had to walk back to my car. Then I had to drive home. After that I had to walk to my front door. Then I had to take my key out to get into the house. After all that, when FINALLY in my kitchen, I had to get a plate out of the cabinet. I had to untie the twistie thing to open my bread and lay 2 slices out on the plate. Then I had to put the twistie back on the bread. I had to open the ham and take out 3 individual slices, only to have to close the bag to keep the ham fresh. Repeat with turkey. Then I had to put the ham AND turkey in the refrigerator to keep them fresh still. Finally I had to put the top piece of bread on to complete the sandwich. Cost of the sandwich...$3,000!!!!
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Scam!
