Need is a strong word. Consider it a sustainable niche born of misaligned incentives and a stunted marketplace. Renting is so profitable that landlords paying

Need is a strong word. Consider it a sustainable niche born of misaligned incentives and a stunted marketplace. Renting is so profitable that landlords paying a broker to mitigate risk is an obvious choice. Craigslist and other free website options have been seething cesspools of scams, stale data, and disinforming SEO. So brokers are a useful filter for renters too, as the other sources are poisoned. Also know that the oft-shared window we get on it from individual newcomers to NYC isn’t one the market particularly cares about. Brokers hustling 3br in Sunset Park to quartets of Oberlin grads are the starving underclass of New York real estate industry. They know it and, in their overworked misery, condescend to their market. Avoiding a brokers fee is a popular tip given to new renters…but it’s availability is largely a function of privilege. If you have the right background and connect with a landlord who appreciates that, you have a fighting chance. (Finding a building you like and asking existing tenants if they know of anything opening is the recommended path to this.) It’s still a low probability event without connections.