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I just rented an apartment in NYC this week and using Naked Apartments and RentHop were great -- forget about Craigslist. Naked Apartments combines duplicate li

I just rented an apartment in NYC this week and using Naked Apartments and RentHop were great -- forget about Craigslist. Naked Apartments combines duplicate listings which was definitely a helpful feature in my search. This new feature seems really great and helps prevent waiting around for email replies (some brokers are ridiculously fast, some aren't).

potatolicious 13y ago
Craigslist is completely useless in NYC, but largely as a result of brokers poisoning the well. They will indiscriminately post in roommate categories, no-fee categories, and basically any category remotely related to real-estate. I've seen coverage about some NYC apartment startups recently, and while some of these features are useful, I keep hoping for someone to come in and actually fix the core problems with NYC real estate - i.e., brokers. There was a startup that had some buzz locally a few months ago when they launched who claimed to be upsetting the broker order, except it turns out they were doing this by becoming a mega-broker themselves and charging basically the same brokerage rates as brokers. Meet the new boss, etc. If there's any aspect of NYC that desperately needs generous application of our "disruption" buzzword, it's renting.
- jonathanjaeger 13y ago
  Nestio is a relatively new startup in NYC that helps aggregate listings among other features, but it doesn't seem to be a disruptive startup from the perspective of solving the issues you mentioned. I went through a broker and a super fast, easy, and great experience, but I was also wary of dodging some of those spammier looking firms you see on Craigslist and other places. Good luck finding no-fee places on Craigslist, don't even try. No-fee seems to be viable only if you scour the city for buildings that display their management info and you swoop in at the right time to claim a place directly. Alternatively, take over someone else's lease.
- bradleyjg 13y ago
  It's one of those "you aren't the client" situations. The brokers are horrific for apartment searchers, but are more convenient for landlords than trying to show and rent units themselves. Very large apartment complexes (e.g. Stuyvesant Town) tend to have in house sales staff. Although even there some poor schlimazels end up needlessly paying a fee.
  - brigade 13y ago
    It seems rather silly that they don't charge their clients though, instead charging their victims. If they directly charged the landlords, maybe some of them would consider whether the service is worth 10-15% of a year's income.
    - bradleyjg 13y ago
      Who pays the broker is generally a sign of the market conditions. When it's a renters market the landlord eats the fees, when vacancies are down, like now, it's the other way around. Also, for all the reasons mentioned in potatolicious's other post [1], it's difficult for a landlord that is renting directly (i.e. without a fee) to convincingly communicate that fact to potential renters. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6027785 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6027785
      - brigade 13y ago
        Has it ever been a renter's market in NYC? It seems that NYC's rental market has to have been deeply in favor of landlords for a very long time in order to create a market for these brokers to even exist.
        bradleyjg 13y ago
        In 2002-3, I remember landlords not only paying broker's fees, but also offering 1-2 months free. Then in 2009-10 there was another dip after the banks laid off all those people. I wasn't renting in the Dinkins' era, but from what I hear it was an entirely different story.

potatolicious 13y ago

Craigslist is completely useless in NYC, but largely as a result of brokers poisoning the well. They will indiscriminately post in roommate categories, no-fee categories, and basically any category remotely related to real-estate. I've seen coverage about some NYC apartment startups recently, and while some of these features are useful, I keep hoping for someone to come in and actually fix the core problems with NYC real estate - i.e., brokers. There was a startup that had some buzz locally a few months ago when they launched who claimed to be upsetting the broker order, except it turns out they were doing this by becoming a mega-broker themselves and charging basically the same brokerage rates as brokers. Meet the new boss, etc. If there's any aspect of NYC that desperately needs generous application of our "disruption" buzzword, it's renting.

jonathanjaeger 13y ago
Nestio is a relatively new startup in NYC that helps aggregate listings among other features, but it doesn't seem to be a disruptive startup from the perspective of solving the issues you mentioned. I went through a broker and a super fast, easy, and great experience, but I was also wary of dodging some of those spammier looking firms you see on Craigslist and other places. Good luck finding no-fee places on Craigslist, don't even try. No-fee seems to be viable only if you scour the city for buildings that display their management info and you swoop in at the right time to claim a place directly. Alternatively, take over someone else's lease.
bradleyjg 13y ago
It's one of those "you aren't the client" situations. The brokers are horrific for apartment searchers, but are more convenient for landlords than trying to show and rent units themselves. Very large apartment complexes (e.g. Stuyvesant Town) tend to have in house sales staff. Although even there some poor schlimazels end up needlessly paying a fee.
- brigade 13y ago
  It seems rather silly that they don't charge their clients though, instead charging their victims. If they directly charged the landlords, maybe some of them would consider whether the service is worth 10-15% of a year's income.
  - bradleyjg 13y ago
    Who pays the broker is generally a sign of the market conditions. When it's a renters market the landlord eats the fees, when vacancies are down, like now, it's the other way around. Also, for all the reasons mentioned in potatolicious's other post [1], it's difficult for a landlord that is renting directly (i.e. without a fee) to convincingly communicate that fact to potential renters. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6027785 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6027785
    - brigade 13y ago
      Has it ever been a renter's market in NYC? It seems that NYC's rental market has to have been deeply in favor of landlords for a very long time in order to create a market for these brokers to even exist.
      - bradleyjg 13y ago
        In 2002-3, I remember landlords not only paying broker's fees, but also offering 1-2 months free. Then in 2009-10 there was another dip after the banks laid off all those people. I wasn't renting in the Dinkins' era, but from what I hear it was an entirely different story.