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I've lived in SF most of my professional life and finding housing (back in the mid 2000's) was simply using CL and spending a couple weeks then visiting an apartment and signing a 1-year lease.
Last night I looked at NYC's CL and the ads (w/ no broker fees) seemed a bit ... off. Not sure how to describe it, but it seemed a bit "fake". I asked a few of my colleagues in NYC and they all mentioned that it's common to have a broker find a unit for you and in return, pay them a fee - sometimes equivalent to 1 month's rent.
If that's true, how do I find a trustworthy broker and what value does this broker bring to me vs. me spending time on CL?
It's tough. And the month's rent fee is the best case. Oftentimes brokers want 15% of yearly rent in fee. It's somewhat neighborhood dependent, some places it's fairly common to find no-fee apartments, most of Manhattan falls into that category. In other places, Astoria for example, real no-fee apts are about as common as unicorns. A decent starting resource is streeteasy.com
Finding decent housing in NYC can only happen through a broker. It's a rip off, really, but what can you do? Anyplace there is a high demand for something a middleman will step in to take his cut.
There is nothing that says an apartment has to be listed on Craigslist and in my experience, there are just so many scams on that site. So the difference between using a broker vs Craigslist is not just cost. The broker will have access to apartments you won't find on CL. However, there are other more legitimate sites landlords use in addition to various brokers so you can shop around for one you like. I have seen the same apartment through different brokers and one of them charged a much higher fee.
Use brokers, use craigslist, use streeteasy and other nyc sites, knock on doors and ask supers, etc.. Do everything you can to find a place. All of the above options can work.
Not everything is on craigslist but many times there are things on craigslist which you cannot find anywhere else. Thats how I found my apartment in the Bronx which was not listed anywhere or by any broker. I also was shown but did not get an amazing apartment in Inwood with views of the HH bridge. I found this one by simply putting an ad in seeking housing with my income and info and got contacted by someone. You just need to get good at detecting and weeding out the fakes and scams.
Use brokers, use craigslist, use streeteasy and other nyc sites, knock on doors and ask supers, etc.. Do everything you can to find a place. All of the above options can work.
I'm a real estate agent here in NYC and have to agree to try and do all of these.
Regarding brokers fee It can go anywhere from 1 month to 15% of the annual rent. PLEASE keep in mind Exclusive apts are 15% and usually non negotiable, so please try to find out during the process if you're interested in such an apt.
Good luck. Im a big fan of naked apts website and alot of clients agree.
Street Easy and Naked Apartments are definitely the best of the listing sites. I find that Zillow often keeps listings long after they've left the market, making it pretty useless.
@OP - try Streeteasy.com. I know what you mean about Craigslist. It feels real low budget and fake. That site needs a make over to stay relevant. I have found things on there and always regretted it. It always turned into a mess.
You can find stuff on Streeteasy with a brokers fee as well. My friend found a real nice place in Astoria, brand new, gut renovated, and 1 month free rent, no brokers fee.
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