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Surprise for New York Renters: No More Broker Fees
- dublinben 7y agoThis is much needed disruption in an inefficient market. Brokers have long gouged renters for the "service" they offer. This also provides an opportunity for new businesses to spring up that can undercut the traditional brokers and assist "small building owners" who are apparently incapable of "showing apartments and finding tenants" themselves.
- acjohnson55 7y agoWow! The time-honored tradition of fleecing newcomers to the city has been ended. Broker fees are particularly awful to new arrivals, who probably are probably going to have short tenure at their first couple apartments. A fee is more forgivable if you can amortize it over several years. There are some risks of how it may distort the market if fees are internalized into market rents, but I think it's worth the risk for eliminating the huge barrier to tenancy created by the lump sum broker payment to get a place, on top of first month rent and security.
- 8bitsrule 7y agoBreaking the endless price-gouging can only help the (largely invisible) poor ... and those who are headed that way. Something similar is well-deserved by firms charging exorbitant interest rates for pay-day loans: http://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/the-hidden-costs-of-banking-while-poor-with-mehrsa-baradaran-and-cate-blackford/ http://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/the-hidden-costs-of-ba...
- deegles 7y agoVery happy about this. I used a broker (and paid a fee) to find an apartment in NYC and I naively thought they would show me apartments only they had access to. Imagine my surprise when I found out my apartment was in a no-fee building the day I moved in...