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After both living in NYC for almost a decade and being a landlord for more than that, there have been some things I always wondered about: 1. "Broker only apar

After both living in NYC for almost a decade and being a landlord for more than that, there have been some things I always wondered about: 1. "Broker only apartments" I had read at one point that up to 60% of apartments in NYC were broker only meaning that you couldn't just walk up to the building and ask to see a unit. I think this may have been the case in the past since it was a "win/win" for both the landlord and the broker. For the landlord, they knew that the brokers could act as a filter on "lookey loos" and for the tenants, they knew that the brokers weren't going to show them bait and switch apartments. I wonder how true any of the above is today given that Street Easy etc has become the defacto centralized listing agency and all of the meta data about an apartment is now public. 2. The function of brokers now I do still see the need for brokers given the incredibly hot NYC real estate market if only as someone who can go to open houses on behalf of the tenants. It's not uncommon to have open houses with upwards of 20 - 30 people show up and at least half of them be real tenants who are actively looking. If that open house is in the middle of the day, only a broker could go otherwise the prospective tenants would have to take off work 3. Why is the rent so high this year Couple reasons (I imagine): - Lots of people locked up 2 year leases in the middle of COVID - Lots of people spent a year in mom's basement and are now thinking "NEVER AGAIN!" - Higher interest rates mean people who would be buying may now rent. I think this group is small given the VAST majority of renters skew younger. - Inflation has led to more cash being around in general

wollsmoth 4y ago
brokers are still a win for landlords because it allows them to actually do nothing. They don't need to post on streeteasy. They don't need to host an open house. They don't need to answer any questions on email or over the phone. They just have to pick a couple brokers and hire a super and they're done. They don't even need to pay them because they have the tenant for that. They just wait around until the broker calls to let them know there's an approved tenant and wait for the checks to show up. The only effort they have to engage in is when it's time to evict someone. A tenant in NYC might want a broker if they're going to be stuck paying a broker fee anyway. You might as well have half of that fee going to someone who represents you and might help you avoid getting completely fleeced. Then they have a broker on their side coordinating viewings and dealing with emails/phone calls.

wollsmoth 4y ago

brokers are still a win for landlords because it allows them to actually do nothing. They don't need to post on streeteasy. They don't need to host an open house. They don't need to answer any questions on email or over the phone. They just have to pick a couple brokers and hire a super and they're done. They don't even need to pay them because they have the tenant for that. They just wait around until the broker calls to let them know there's an approved tenant and wait for the checks to show up. The only effort they have to engage in is when it's time to evict someone. A tenant in NYC might want a broker if they're going to be stuck paying a broker fee anyway. You might as well have half of that fee going to someone who represents you and might help you avoid getting completely fleeced. Then they have a broker on their side coordinating viewings and dealing with emails/phone calls.