In NYC there are brokers, property managers, supers and landlords. Landlords own the building. They may do everything themselves but often they hire the other

In NYC there are brokers, property managers, supers and landlords. Landlords own the building. They may do everything themselves but often they hire the other three to help them out. Supers (short for superintendents) often live in the building and are responsible for repairs and general upkeep of the property. Property managers deal with the tenants: marketing, hiring brokers, approving/rejecting tenants, getting the paperwork signed, accepting rent. Brokers are like job recruiters: they have access to more listings than you do as an individual and sometimes have exclusive agreements with individual properties. Their involvement ends once the rental agreement is signed. In NYC most apartments are only available by going through a broker and the broker usually charges 1.5 months rent* (15% of the annual rent, though often this can be negotiated to 12%). This fee is owed even if you found the apartment listing yourself and all the broker did was spend 10 minutes showing you the place before you rented it! *Edit: to clarify, the tenant is the one who pays this fee