Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Brokers/agents generally are really bad...the equivalent of used car salesman circa 1975, just with more attitude as if they actually own the buildings they are trying to rent. I have had good success finding tenants with craigslist, however I also use nakedapartments.com and have had good success with that also.
I've never paid a realtard in all the years I've lived here.
CL has a lot of fakes but there's good and legitimate ads there as well. You just have to learn how to sort through the BS.
I would also recommend hitting the pavement and going directly into the buildings you like and call the management/super directly. I have have a few friends that got their apts this way too.
I tried doing that it never works, the management number being routed to whoever and once I went to see an apartment through the management and the super said "nothing is available," etc. And, there is an intrusive application process, where they want you employment history dating so far and they want your manager's number, really? And then all bank account numbers, etc. I am fine with credit check or even income, but to provide all these documents even in Queens is very shocking.
I think, it's easier to find an apartment in Manhattan than Queens, etc, because less competition in Manhattan and it's seems more legit, if you can afford the price. I just don't know if working professional like myself has so much hard time finding an apartment what about all those illegal immigrants, lots of them even live in buildings. How did they even manage that.
Going through Zillow can be terrible, as they don't update their listings regularly.
I had tried using them a while back, settling on Trulia as being somewhat better, but even in their case half the listings had already been sold weeks prior to my calling about them.
With Craigslist, you do have a lot of fraud, but at least the listings that are legitimate are all recent.
So why is it so hard to find an apartment in NYC and on Craigslist, most of listings are so fake and many are through brokers, etc. And, lots of building apartments even in Queens are so expensive $1,700 for 1 one bedroom, seriously? What is the best way to find apartment directly through owners?
I agree with Cida. Most listing are not fake, they just contain false advertisement. In a reality your perfect 1br is a two-room studio sold as a 1br apartment, or you may have seen "East-looking windows" advertised but your windows are actually facing a wall (not in a case of my apartment, though, I still have a lot of sun despite the wall, so they were right).
I have come across plenty of fake ones too -- bait-and-switch tactics.
If you want to find true no fee apartments (listed by owner, not those where the owner pays), here are my suggestions.
Unfortunately, Craigslist is probably the best. The best deals are usually either smaller landlords, or condo/coop owners looking for a long-term sublet. And very often listings like these are only on Craigslist.
If you want to use a listing site, the one I recommend is Urban Sherpa. They do almost no marketing, so have a very low profile. But all listings on the site are from the owners (no agent listings), so the level of misinformation is much lower. The selection is very good too.
You can also go straight to the owners / property managers themselves by calling or going to their websites (or by walking in to the rental offices in person). This map of no fee buildings is pretty comprehensive.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.