I’ve been googling but want a non-bias opinion. Is it worth it to use a broker? From what I gather, they sometimes have access to exclusive listings but there are sites like, nakedapartments, streeteasy, ect ect that have no fee apartments (if I understand right, the owner pays the fee or is renting directly). What value add does the 10-15% broker fee provide? Is it just convenience and time savings or something more? Also, any other advice would be welcome (PM or on here).
Personally, I refuse to pay a broker fee for a service that isn’t needed in this day and age. Do you still go to a travel agent to book a flight?
If I were looking for an apartment in the city, I’d use Streeteasy to filter only no-fee apartments. If I didn’t find anything there that matched my selection criteria and was forced to move in to something with a fee due to time pressure, I’d try to negotiate the fee with the broker - generally speaking, from what I’ve heard, there’s a lot of wiggle room there.
pretty much have to for most apartments in desirable locations (most of manhattan, brooklyn that i know of, Astoria etc.) Many buildings & mgmt companies will have agreements with brokers that you have to go through its pretty BS.
It is possible to do it without one, but you will be doing a lot of looking for mgmt companies that lease on their own. You may not get as much of what you are looking for. I used one when I moved to the UWS and it worked out well, ended up in one of the larger apts I had seen in my price range and havent had any issues.
^^ dont like 1/2 the no fees end up being fake? That was my experience a while ago
apt hunting in nyc is a never ending game of bait & switch
So really, the fee buys you access. Now know that it IS negotiable even though they will like to play it off like it isnt. It is the brokers commission so they want as much as possible. Quoted 15%, got them down to 10%, told them to lower to 7% take it or leave it or I was walking. They took it. Just bake the fee into the cost of the rent (in your head), as long as you dont move all the time and spread it over enough months its less painful.
^ definitely possible… I haven’t moved around much.
If you don’t use a broker, some apts are geniune no-fee apts. Even though you didn’t use a broker, some buildings have a sort of gatekeeper broker that charges a fee just to get into the place.
15%, 10%, 7% of a year’s rent, right?
Look in Fidi. There are some no fee apartments down there
yea of a yrs
Yeah FiDi is up and coming, but its real boring at night.
So wait, the tenant pays a 7% - 15% commission? What does the landlord pay?
Nothing in practice, but in theory there’s an opportunity cost of having to reduce asking rent because of the broker fee being charged.
This place I moved into a few years ago in the East Village was $8K in fees. The broker said it was all broker fees, but the landlord (company) and the broker had a 50/50 deal splitting it $4K/$4K. Was kind of shady. Only found out about that deal a year or so later somehow. We found the place without a broker, but were forced to pay to move in. The broker did nothing.
I’d say don’t be biased towards broker or no broker. Just take the full price into account. Most of the time, the no fee listings will try to charge you more anyway, and vice versa. Also, don’t fall for that BS of “lower effective rent” for 1 year due to months off. That’s a way for them to charge you a higher monthly rate when you renew your lease.
Also, always try to negotiate. Listing price is sometimes just their starting level.
Thank you all for the advice, I’ll try the no-fee route first and use a broker if I can’t get anything going. It’s just mind blowing though that at the reduced rate of 10%, you’re basically paying $300/mo to someone for an apartment that is $3000/mo.
So I’m guessing the best way to negotiate would be to go along with whatever broker fee they have at first, make them show you a bunch of apartments and invest a lot of time, then when the paperwork is drafted, hit them with “7-8% or I walk”?
if you know the area you want to live just walk around and go into the leasing offices if they are luxury buildings, if you deal directly they dont charge you fees.
also write down addresses of buildings you like that dont have leasing offices on premise and streeteasy them to find the leasing comapny
Quick question, what type of apartment is the most quiet/built the most solid, specifically noise that comes through the ceiling, like footsteps? Pre-war? High-rise? New vs older?
It’s worth it if you find an “amazing apartment”
keep in mind that the" average rate of the broker fee" becomes less significant the longer you live in the unit. I paid a 15% broker fee but over the course of living here now going on 3+ years… it becomes more reasonable. (Because you only pay it once)
Point is don’t pay if you plan on moving every year
Footsteps are probably going to be the least of your issues.
There is usually at least 1 thing off in NYC apartments and if you see a place without any issue, the only issue remaining is price. You’ll pay for it.