Renting Apartments

anonymous

How intelligent are these homeowners: ONLY LANDLORDS ARE AUTHORIZED TO SIGN OFF ON LEASES! BROKERS MERELY QUALIFY THE CLIENTS AND PRESENT THEIR APPLICATION PACKAGE TO LANDLORDS FOR THEIR SCRUTINY.
OFTEN TIMES, THE SENTIMENTAL ATTACHMENT THE OWNERS HAVE TO THEIR HOMES DOESN'T ALWAYS TRANSLATE TO FAIR MARKET VALUE FOR THEIR RENTALS.

ANYWAYS, DO WHAT YOU GUYS DO BEST, BLABBER AWAY. BUT LEAVE ISSUES OF REAL ESTATE TO REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS.

kevin_on_putnam

Anonymous wrote: How intelligent are these homeowners: ONLY LANDLORDS ARE AUTHORIZED TO SIGN OFF ON LEASES! BROKERS MERELY QUALIFY THE CLIENTS AND PRESENT THEIR APPLICATION PACKAGE TO LANDLORDS FOR THEIR SCRUTINY.
OFTEN TIMES, THE SENTIMENTAL ATTACHMENT THE OWNERS HAVE TO THEIR HOMES DOESN'T ALWAYS TRANSLATE TO FAIR MARKET VALUE FOR THEIR RENTALS.

ANYWAYS, DO WHAT YOU GUYS DO BEST, BLABBER AWAY. BUT LEAVE ISSUES OF REAL ESTATE TO REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS.

ack - stop yelling

quig

Broker / Craigslist / whatevah.

Buy this book:

http://tinyurl.com/elrvk

Lo, read it as gospel. Do not deviate one iota...

If you do, you will be smoted and sent to the hell that is housing court.

(reposted from another forum)

anonymous

For the record, the strongest arguments here/above against using a broker have come from the brokers themselves. Who would want to involve such angry, delusional, self-important people in such a major decision? We'll be renting out an apartment soon. I'd been leaning toward hiring a broker. Not now. If this is the best sales pitch they can make for their profession, I doubt they can make a very good sales pitch for my house.

Have brokers always been so crazy?

anonymous

Ha, ha, hah! Pray, somebody is not going to be able to eat by your rash decision. Consider what you are doing here.

anonymous

Brokers are largely not worth it. If you don't mind doing a little leg work you can access many of the same resources they use. Besides there was a time when brokers helped to keep our propoerty values down in Bed-Stuy (actually, they still engage in all sorts of racial steering). Avoid them if you can. Of course if you don't have the time or skill to do it yourself be selective and use somone who you respect and who has a good track record in the community.

I am curious if any of the "local" brokers are any good -- Flateau Reality; Charles Atwell?

anonymous

I don't get it. This is not a sales listing we're talking about. It's a rental. What harm would there be in getting a broker involved? They wouldn't have exclusive rights to the listing and you can post it on craigs to your heart's content. The goal is to rent the apartment, so don't cut your nose off to spite your face (as my mother would say).

anonymous

i rented our garden apartment through a broker, precisely because i didn't really know how to do it. How do you get a credit check anyway?
Anyway, with a broker, it was easy. Just left keys at several brokers. The brokers let themselves in and out, and I never had to do a thing. Some brokers are really vulturish, only want to rent quickly, so they tried to persuade me to lower the price. But a couple of brokers really helped me price the apartment correctly, and one got us a great tenant. The broker provided credit chks, etc.
Our tenant has been with us for more than two years. and she's great. pays rent on time, quiet. etc. Also, if a tenant pays a broker fee, i think it must mean that they are pretty serious about staying for a while.
I'd use a broker again anyday.

carnivore

Take note: Every single pro-broker comment here has been made from one person, except for three posts by a total of two other individuals.

Everyone else recognizes brokers for what they are: parasites on our society.

anonymous

As an owner of a 3 family in Cobble Hill I only use a broker, one that I trust. He does a credit and background check on prospective tenants and he extensively interviews them. If my tenants don't pay their rent on time it directly affects my cash flow. So far he has rented 3 times for me and each time to perfect tenants (even in a slow rental market) I wouldn't do it any other way.

jimmylegs

hee hee, i just like the way broker #1 said that brokers are the way to go because they have a "running list of clients who have a certain criteria." so are these people waiting around at Port Authority until the perfect apartment comes through?

sometimes people do have to use brokers but if you do your homework you shouldn't need to. and frankly, i'd worry about an owner-occupier who uses a broker to find tenants when having more direct involvement would be a beneficial step. one of the main reasons i bought is to reduce the number of such people swallowing my money all the time.

anonymous

Carnivore wrote: Take note: Every single pro-broker comment here has been made from one person, except for three posts by a total of two other individuals.

Everyone else recognizes brokers for what they are: parasites on our society.

Did the same "guest" who made the pro-broker statments make the anti-broker comments too? Do we have a personality disorder here?

kevin_on_putnam

Anonymous wrote: [quote=Carnivore]Take note: Every single pro-broker comment here has been made from one person, except for three posts by a total of two other individuals.

Everyone else recognizes brokers for what they are: parasites on our society.

Did the same "guest" who made the pro-broker statments make the anti-broker comments too? Do we have a personality disorder here?

Ooops, the above was me, I forgot to log in

carnivore

Kevin_on_Putnam wrote: [quote=Anonymous][quote=Carnivore]Take note: Every single pro-broker comment here has been made from one person, except for three posts by a total of two other individuals.

Everyone else recognizes brokers for what they are: parasites on our society.

Did the same "guest" who made the pro-broker statments make the anti-broker comments too? Do we have a personality disorder here?

Ooops, the above was me, I forgot to log in
As a mod, I can track IP's, so I can tell the guests apart. The first two belligerent posts that I flagged are the same guest as many of the subsequent posts, including the one calling all the posters here effeminate and the one where s/he made the veiled threat about violence at an open house.

anonymous

i don't think it's fair to say that brokers do nothing (i'm sure they normally do a lot of legwork to rent an apartment); they're just totally unnecessary. renters and landlords in just about every other city in the country manage to do business just fine without paying thousands of dollars to a third party. i hope that more owners will choose to rent their own apartments if for no other reason than to try and phase out another crazy NYC money suck.

kevin_on_putnam

Carnivore wrote: [quote=Kevin_on_Putnam][quote=Anonymous][quote=Carnivore]Take note: Every single pro-broker comment here has been made from one person, except for three posts by a total of two other individuals.

Everyone else recognizes brokers for what they are: parasites on our society.

Did the same "guest" who made the pro-broker statments make the anti-broker comments too? Do we have a personality disorder here?

Ooops, the above was me, I forgot to log in
As a mod, I can track IP's, so I can tell the guests apart. The first two belligerent posts that I flagged are the same guest as many of the subsequent posts, including the one calling all the posters here effeminate and the one where s/he made the veiled threat about violence at an open house.

well okay...the anti-and pro- posters are not the same person, but they do sound like they're at least married...

isla

I rented my apartment as a no fee-owner rented place. The owner lives in the building, and it was nice for us to meet and get to know each other plus he was very knowledgeable about the building. I have been jerked around by a few brokers so I skip them.

Most everyone else I know found their place through Craigslist too. I can recommend as a renter I was looking for good photos, a thorough and honest description, to see the actual apartment for rent, and a timely reply. Many brokers call you and insist on showing you all these places when really you want to see the place they advertised (if it even exists). My landlord was and is easy to get ahold of, he answers emails, he is all around great. I am glad I got to meet him first.

Good luck on renting them! I am sure you will rent them in no time--it is a slow time though as mentioned. Perhaps soon.

etccdb

the only problem tenants that i have ever had have been ones where I rented myself...people are screened better.. and because they paid the fee they have an interest in staying longer..