2013 NYC Rental Market Forum

[imchuckbass58]

It seems like padmapper has so many more listings than streeteasy, or maybe I'm just looking at a few neighborhoods. Is that true? I can't find anything I want with streeteasy

Streeteasy isn't good for rentals - it's mostly for buying.

I haven't found a single great site for rentals. I mostly use nybits.com (large corporate landlords in manhattan), and the individual sites of multi-building landlords (Abington, Equity Apartments, Avalon, Rockrose, Rose Associates, TF Cornerstone, Two Trees, etc.)

For walk ups / small landlords (i.e., non-luxury apartments), your best bet to do it yourself is either craigslist, or walking around the neighborhood and calling numbers posted on signs in front of buildings.

The alternative is to get a broker. I would do this if your firm is paying for it (some do), or if you have a very compressed timeline. Otherwise, you can save a significant amount of money by hunting on your own.

[imchuckbass58]

I see a bunch of great buildings on here for under/around $1m, but what didn't occur to me is that the "luxury" buildings will also have maintenance fees in the thousands. Guess that's also a consideration, if you're paying a mortgage IN ADDITION to a $3,000 maintenance fee (which comes out to like $5000/month).

Yeah, note that apartments are often priced with an eye towards total cost of ownership. So buildings with high common charges will have low prices, and vice versa.

FYI, RE taxes are deductible on your federal taxes, as is mortgage interest (~60% of your mortgage payment starting out, declining over the life of the mortgage).

[funnyguy]

To the person who plans to renovate his/her apartment. Plan to wait a while. Renovating in NYC is a highly-regulated enterprise in and of itself. Most condos/co-ops will require board approval (months-years) just to get plans set. Then, you will have to wait to get construction clearance from the city (depending on the scale of your renovation).

To the person who asked about Hoboken. The PATH train stops at 33rd, 23rd, 14th, 9th, and Christopher Sts. in Manhattan, and then proceeds to Hoboken. From Hoboken to Christopher Street is about 9 minutes. Much nicer in Hoboken than Jersey City. Young crowd, babes, bros, lots of bars within a few blocks of each other.

[Lubberlubber]

To the person who plans to renovate his/her apartment. Plan to wait a while. Renovating in NYC is a highly-regulated enterprise in and of itself. Most condos/co-ops will require board approval (months-years) just to get plans set. Then, you will have to wait to get construction clearance from the city (depending on the scale of your renovation).

To the person who asked about Hoboken. The PATH train stops at 33rd, 23rd, 14th, 9th, and Christopher Sts. in Manhattan, and then proceeds to Hoboken. From Hoboken to Christopher Street is about 9 minutes. Much nicer in Hoboken than Jersey City. Young crowd, babes, bros, lots of bars within a few blocks of each other.

This thread makes me really really not want to live in NYC...

[Anonymous User]

And if you live in Jersey City/Hoboken, you don't pay NYC tax, so if you are working a biglaw job to start, thats a few additional thousands in savings right off the bat.

[funnyguy]

And if you live in Jersey City/Hoboken, you don't pay NYC tax, so if you are working a biglaw job to start, thats a few additional thousands in savings right off the bat.

If you can tolerate a NJ address (oof), Hoboken's choice. Visit on a nice day and you'll catch my drift.

[kaiser]

And if you live in Jersey City/Hoboken, you don't pay NYC tax, so if you are working a biglaw job to start, thats a few additional thousands in savings right off the bat.

If you can tolerate a NJ address (oof), Hoboken's choice. Visit on a nice day and you'll catch my drift.

Not sure what you mean at all. Real quick commute and easy access into the city, better rent prices, lots of bars/restaurants, waterfront of Hoboken and JC are very safe, and waterfront area is quickly becoming an extension of NY and a common place for young commuting folks to live.

[tfer2222]

Can someone explain to be how brokers fees work. If i sign a broker to help (with renting), and I somehow find an apartment on my own through a friend, whats the deal on paying that broker?

[Anonymous User]

The 3000+ prices quoted seem inflated. My wife and I live in a UWS (south of 96th) 1br and pay 2300. Admittedly it's a walk-up in a brownstone and not a luxury building with a doorman, but it's fine for our needs. Maybe new rentals are more expensive, but I have a feeling there are still reasonable rents to be found.

[imchuckbass58]

Can someone explain to be how brokers fees work. If i sign a broker to help (with renting), and I somehow find an apartment on my own through a friend, whats the deal on paying that broker?

The standard broker's fee is 15% of the first year's rent. Your firm might have deals with specific brokers, or you might be able to negotiate, but you probably won't get it below 10%-12% (even then, unlikely in summer, when there are tons of people looking for apartments).

If you work with a broker, you sign an agreement saying you will pay the fee if you rent any apartment they show you. So this means, if you see an apartment with a broker, then call the landlord and rent directly, you still pay the broker's fee. But, if your friend shows you an apartment independently, you don't pay the broker's fee, even if you are concurrently working with a broker to see other apartments.

Some brokers will ask for exclusivity (i.e., you agree not to work with another broker while you are working with them, but you can still look on your own). This is negotiable, I would not agree to it.

[tfer2222]

Can someone explain to be how brokers fees work. If i sign a broker to help (with renting), and I somehow find an apartment on my own through a friend, whats the deal on paying that broker?

The standard broker's fee is 15% of the first year's rent. Your firm might have deals with specific brokers, or you might be able to negotiate, but you probably won't get it below 10%-12% (even then, unlikely in summer, when there are tons of people looking for apartments).

If you work with a broker, you sign an agreement saying you will pay the fee if you rent any apartment they show you. So this means, if you see an apartment with a broker, then call the landlord and rent directly, you still pay the broker's fee. But, if your friend shows you an apartment independently, you don't pay the broker's fee, even if you are concurrently working with a broker to see other apartments.

Some brokers will ask for exclusivity (i.e., you agree not to work with another broker while you are working with them, but you can still look on your own). This is negotiable, I would not agree to it.

ah thank you. I really have little to no idea what I'm doing.

[Robespierre]

The 3000+ prices quoted seem inflated. My wife and I live in a UWS (south of 96th) 1br and pay 2300. Admittedly it's a walk-up in a brownstone and not a luxury building with a doorman, but it's fine for our needs. Maybe new rentals are more expensive, but I have a feeling there are still reasonable rents to be found.

You got an awesome deal. Roughly how many square feet?

[ariadne328]

The 3000+ prices quoted seem inflated. My wife and I live in a UWS (south of 96th) 1br and pay 2300. Admittedly it's a walk-up in a brownstone and not a luxury building with a doorman, but it's fine for our needs. Maybe new rentals are more expensive, but I have a feeling there are still reasonable rents to be found.

You got an awesome deal. Roughly how many square feet?

My best friend and her roommate have a 2 bedroom in the UES (84th and York) for $2600. I think each bedroom was 10 x 10 or something close. It's a third floor walk up without a doorman, so not luxury, but perfectly safe and clean. I feel like if you spend some time looking in the upper parts of the UES or UWS you can find NYC reasonable rent.

ETA: I shared this apartment with my bff before I moved out of the city, so I speak from NYC apartment hunting experience.

[imchuckbass58]

My best friend and her roommate have a 2 bedroom in the UES (84th and York) for $2600. I think each bedroom was 10 x 10 or something close. It's a third floor walk up without a doorman, so not luxury, but perfectly safe and clean. I feel like if you spend some time looking in the upper parts of the UES or UWS you can find NYC reasonable rent.

ETA: I shared this apartment with my bff before I moved out of the city, so I speak from NYC apartment hunting experience.

It's definitely possible, but you have to sacrifice something. In that case, aside from being a walkup, it's a 15 minute walk from the 4/5/6. So that's an extra 30 minutes roundtrip to go anywhere by subway, including when it's raining, snowing, etc.

Not saying that's not a viable option, but the point is you pay in convenience for reduced rent.

[ariadne328]

It's definitely possible, but you have to sacrifice something. In that case, aside from being a walkup, it's a 15 minute walk from the 4/5/6. So that's an extra 30 minutes roundtrip to go anywhere by subway, including when it's raining, snowing, etc.

Not saying that's not a viable option, but the point is you pay in convenience for reduced rent.

Fair point. Although busses can be viable options to/from the subway when the weather is nasty.

[Anonymous User]

The 3000+ prices quoted seem inflated. My wife and I live in a UWS (south of 96th) 1br and pay 2300. Admittedly it's a walk-up in a brownstone and not a luxury building with a doorman, but it's fine for our needs. Maybe new rentals are more expensive, but I have a feeling there are still reasonable rents to be found.

You got an awesome deal. Roughly how many square feet?

Around 600 I think. If you are on the upper west you will never be far from a subway since both the 1-2-3 and B-C run through here. Just be sure you aren't too far from the one you'll be taking to work.

[dixiecupdrinking]

Definitely has gotten more expensive over the last two years but I think the $3000+ prices being quoted are unnecessarily high, especially on UES. E.g.: --LinkRemoved--, --LinkRemoved--, --LinkRemoved--, --LinkRemoved--, --LinkRemoved--.

Some of those might be bait-and-switch, but there are still fine deals out there as long as you put in the legwork. If you walk into Corcoran and let them show you whatever they want to show you, then, yeah, you're going to pay a lot more.

[Anonymous User]

The 3000+ prices quoted seem inflated. My wife and I live in a UWS (south of 96th) 1br and pay 2300. Admittedly it's a walk-up in a brownstone and not a luxury building with a doorman, but it's fine for our needs. Maybe new rentals are more expensive, but I have a feeling there are still reasonable rents to be found.

Definitely. I also pay $2300 for a 1br on the UWS (low 80's)- large pre-war building with elevator, laundry, renovated kitchens, live-in super. Approx 550 sq feet - obviously am biased, but definitely feel I am getting a way better bang for my buck than friends shelling out for luxury places, new rentals, doormen, etc. You can definitely get great deals on the UWS if you are patient/REALLY diligent in looking around- and don't care about a doorman or other amenities that will each tack on a few hundred dollars to the rent.

[5ky]

The 3000+ prices quoted seem inflated. My wife and I live in a UWS (south of 96th) 1br and pay 2300. Admittedly it's a walk-up in a brownstone and not a luxury building with a doorman, but it's fine for our needs. Maybe new rentals are more expensive, but I have a feeling there are still reasonable rents to be found.

Definitely. I also pay $2300 for a 1br on the UWS (low 80's)- large pre-war building with elevator, laundry, renovated kitchens, live-in super. Approx 550 sq feet - obviously am biased, but definitely feel I am getting a way better bang for my buck than friends shelling out for luxury places, new rentals, doormen, etc. You can definitely get great deals on the UWS if you are patient/REALLY diligent in looking around- and don't care about a doorman or other amenities that will each tack on a few hundred dollars to the rent.

Would you mind PMing me?

[mindarmed]

After looking through some old NYC housing threads, it seems like things have changed a lot in the rental market since 2011. I was in the city last weekend with my SO and we looked at 1b rentals throughout different neighborhoods both on our own and with a broker. Old threads suggested that you could find a decent 1br for about $2600-2800. We found that it was more like $3100-$3500 for a no-broker or 2800-3200 with a broker. When you add in the broker fee it breaks about even. That number is certainly doable for us, but it means we will not be able to aggressively (i.e. double minimum) pay loans until after firm advance is paid back.

Anyway, has the NYC rental market really gone up that much recently? Or am I missing something?

If you're paying 3k+ for an apartment in NYC. You are doing something seriously wrong.

ETA: If anyone wants advice on NYC/Hoboken real estate shoot me a PM. I know my stuff very well.