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I am looking for apartments in Jersey City area. I have certain requirements, and I have been searching mostly on craigslist for a while. It is difficult for me to find something that I like.
Would rental agent have access to more properties than I do?
How much do they usually charge?
Is it worth it?
You will see all the properties that fit your criteria in a lot less time. So, if your time is worth anything, then, a Realtor may be worth it for you. The fee is usually equal to 1 months rent, but don't be surprised if it's 10% of the yearly rental amount.
I am looking for apartments in Jersey City area. I have certain requirements, and I have been searching mostly on craigslist for a while. It is difficult for me to find something that I like.
Would rental agent have access to more properties than I do?
How much do they usually charge?
Is it worth it?
no it is not worth it. The realtor will look at the same properties(on craigslist) you are and charge you a months rent.
no it is not worth it. The realtor will look at the same properties(on craigslist) you are and charge you a months rent.
This is false. There are properties in the multiple listing service that do not appear on craigslist. Many realtors view craigslist as a big fat spamfest/scumfest and do not put their listings there.
Besides that, you only pay the agent if they find you an apartment that you like. So what harm is there in asking an agent for help?
I just finished apartment hunting and it took me a couple of months. Having said that I really don't think that it is worth to pay someone $1,000 or more for something I can do myself. If you have the time to do the research (I used craigslist too) and set up lots of appointments then just do it yourself. If you don't have the time/patience and don't mind shedding out some cash then pay a realtor.
My friend and I just went through this. We did not want to use a realtor, but found that it was inevitable, as ALL of the places we tried to contact put us in contact with a realtor anyway. Even some of the ones on Craigslist. The ones that did reply on their own from Craigslist were sketchy, at best.
However, the realtors are not all that great either. We had one who right out of the gate started to show us stuff about $200 above our price range, and then tried to talk us into it. Yea it was super close to transit, nice sized rooms, but over our asking price, and we had to pay separate for parking, which was one of our specific requests. I'm glad we waited on that one and didn't get sucked in because then as I learned the game more, I realized of course they want you to pay more rent so they get a higher commission, since it usually equals on month or 1.5 month of the rent.
It is totally worth it. They can schedule you to see 4 or 5 places in 1 day. If you tried to do that yourself, it would be impossible. So if you are willing to make a special trip somewhere just to see one place, then you can do without one, but if you want to make the most of your time, it is totally worth it.
Besides, I found that places that are "no fee" just charge you more figuring people are willing to pay more since they are not paying the fee.
Why would it be impossible for me to schedule it? I got a lot of free time.
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