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ha! LOL. I was wondering whether those were PJ's because they look like them on Google Maps! (all PJs have distinctive 'looks' in the satellite photos).
Obviously this exposes me as a non-NYer, but I'm moving there sometime July/August.
The buildings along the river by Avenue D from 13th down to Delancey are public housing but not that bad. My friend lives in there. The ones from Delancey to Grand and Cherry are private co-ops built in the 40's by the Garment Workers' Union for their members, and then there are more projects along Madison St. from Jackson St. down.
They are all, strictly speaking, projects. Even the affluent Lincoln Towers is a project. Just that some were built by private concerns for the middle- or working-classes, and some built by government agencies as better alternatives to the slums.
Yeah lots of apartments are no-fee outside of Manhattan. Look around in the neighborhood you are planning on moving to. Usually you will find some flyers in the neighborhood advertising apartments for rent. Call up some of those numbers and see if you can take a look at places. Also check out the ethnic newspapers, depending on where you will be living. In the classified sections of these papers you can often finda lot of no-fee apartments for rent.
My experience is that no-fee apartments have higher rents than apartment obtained through brokers. It may be because brokers tell landlords what a realistic price is, and those who wanna hear it, go at it on their own.
I completely understand what you are going through. When I moved here from Texas, I completely didnt understand why you had to pay a broker to find an apartment. We have apartment finding places that find you apartments and you usually get like one month off for using them...
or you could just go to the For Rent book that can be picked up at any store FOR FREE and find a freaking apartment in like a day! and it even had ALL the prices of each apartment, square footage, property pictures, amenities, etc. New York is crazy. But, its something you have to get used to. And to find an apartment by owner is plausible but will definitely take some time. I have been searching for about two months now. Good luck.
Not all brokers prey on people who are relocating. Some do. I worked in NYC as a broker. I helped students from overseas who could not afford to pay 15% broker fee. I worked hard to negotiate and find them a safe and affordable space. They were all happy and I'm still in touch with most of them who have moved on. I only charged them one month fee. The market was hot and it was difficult to find affordable apartments at that time.
The paper work required to get an apartment in NYC is almost same as buying an apartment elsewhere
Most brokers make a living by commission. It is very hard work. People who have no time to look are happy to pay and have the broker help them through this maze of NYC.
I agree that in NYC the broker fees are crazy. But unless your renting a luxury apartment >2500/mo you need to use a broker to get the really good apartments. What you see on the internet isn't always the whole picture. The location, condition of the building, whether the owner takes care of the building and any issues quickly, noisy/dirty neighbors. Brokers get the really good apartments. Most of the rest are crappy.
I think it's fine if you pay a broker fee for your first apartment here. But do your research ahead of time and really know what you're looking at because as others have said, realtors prey on newcomers. They take you to crummy and/or overpriced apartments, tell you how great they are, tell you it's the best they have, the best you're going to get. You sign the lease, and a month later realize you are 20 minutes from the subway and you just forked over a lot of cash and are stuck for a year. So, definitely know what you want and what to expect. And don't feel pressured to take an apartment if it doesn't feel right. Don't let a broker pressure you into doing that. If you like it, be ready to put in your application right away, but don't do it if it's not right. And yes, you should get approved right away (as long as you have the tax returns and paystubs to prove your salary) if you make 160k and are applying for an apartment under 3k. You could get approved for an apartment up to 4k on your salary.
On June 1, I moved into my fourth NYC apartment since January 2007. I calculated that I've paid about $9,000 in broker fees! It's crazy. But serves me right for moving around so much, paying so much in rent, and wanting a nicer place each time. The broker fees will have added about 8% extra per month to every month I've rented so far (an average of an extra $170 per month -- yes, I like crunching numbers)! But I've paid less the last two apartments. Last time was one month fee, this time was $1000 flat.
I'd do it again, but never more than a one month fee. I don't think you'll find that in Manhattan though. Usually in Brooklyn.
A broker can actually save you money in the long term. They have relationships with building owners and can negotiate a good price. My apartment was listed at 1850 and my broker was able to negotiate 1675, so even with a 1300 broker fee I saved 800 the first year and 2100 the next. If you're planning on relocating shortly it of course can be a total waste, but they have access to many apartments at once. I saw six available apartments with my broker in one day. The point is you don't always have to look at it as a rip off.
I am also in the same situation and I am very unpleased that tenent has to pay a broker's fee. that means brokers are double dipping by getting fees from lessor and lessee. I am from California, but not so naive that brokers will steer the customers to the lessor unless they have pre arranged financial kick back from the Lessor. This is unethical in my opinion. I am looking for an apartment for my daughter who will be moving to New York for her College. When I asked the pointy question to her broker he was offended by it. I understand I should act like a Roman when I am in Rome, but I warn you no business is too big to fall and this double dipping business has to go sooner or later regardless of New York City or anywhere else on earth.
Not all brokers prey on people who are relocating. Some do. I worked in NYC as a broker. I helped students from overseas who could not afford to pay 15% broker fee. I worked hard to negotiate and find them a safe and affordable space. They were all happy and I'm still in touch with most of them who have moved on. I only charged them one month fee. The market was hot and it was difficult to find affordable apartments at that time.
The paper work required to get an apartment in NYC is almost same as buying an apartment elsewhere
Most brokers make a living by commission. It is very hard work. People who have no time to look are happy to pay and have the broker help them through this maze of NYC.
you also have to understand something to ..what is asked for to rent a nyc apt is crazy compared to other place's in the state's ..
i have never been asked for tax records and bank statement in other places and you would gotten a very crude reply from me if you did in those places i could see if i was buying the place ..
what i had to show the broker was a little uncomfortable for me because of the natural of some of the things that was asked for ..
she did make a comment about something out loud and i remind her that she beening payed to keep her mouth shut on the subect of income and other things ..
she gotten a little mad over it and i remind her that the world we live in is a two way street and your world is also out there for someone to find if they know where to look ..
as i explained to her her job is find me a place to live and not talk aloud about my personal bank and tax records so other people could hear her say things to me ....
so you make this amount out loud and you pay this much in tax's and other things that was makeing a little uncomfortable about haveing said in a office full of other people ..
i did have a problem with my broker as the one person had pointed out about them getting a kickback from some of the places ..i told my broker if she showed me one more place that does not fit my need's i going to the next broker place on my list as i was getting on the phone with the next broker ..
i laid out my basic need's in a list of thing's i wanted in the place and the area where i lived and thing's i could live without if i need to ..
that got her to saight up and fly right with me and she found me a place that i like on the third day and i'm happy with me choice on the matter
i told i have so many day's here before my boss start's takeing my hotel room out of my paycheck and i need to have it done by this date because my stuff was in a pod unit and it was sitting in stowage and i was trying to get into the place before the two week's where up ..
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