Hey everyone,

Thank you for your responses ! I'm seeing a few no fee places tomorrow . Brokers showing no fee apartments aren't so bad, and a definite time saver but I'd prefer to meet the owner and see what I'm getting into.

I'll try for a few weeks to see if anything good pops up!

I sent you a PM.

Quote:

What exactly is a (downtown) townhouse? I'm picturing the brick & brownstone railroads. In the case of railroads, they are generally on the small (and narrow) side, and because they may not have windows on all four sides... and can be somewhat dark, depending on the room setup. And many of them do not have laundry machines.

I guess I'm not surprised that it's tough to find a downtown, brick & brownstone apartment that is roomy and has lot's of light and the bonus washer & dryer.

Therefore, I would do both.... work with a broker and search on your own. If you like something a broker shows you then you pay a fee, but if you find something on Craiglist or by driving around searching "for rent by owner" signs then you don't pay any fee. I would do both.

Everyone, I'm a broker and the way it works is if you want us to find you an apartment with NO FEE we will look for an apartment for you with no fee! Its really that simple. We will do all of the leg work and send you the No Fee listings that best fit your criteria. There is absolutely no reason to waste your valuable time looking for an apartment when a broker can do it for you and for no fee! This is what we do for a living, many brokers offices have exclusive listings from landlords that you will never find on Craig's List. I have many Old School landlord clients that will pay a fee or at least half a fee but do not want us to put up signs because they do not want their neighbors knowing their business. So find an agency and broker that you are comfortable with and have fun searching for your new home! Good luck...

You will get better service from the independents, here a few:

Armagno
Boutique Realty
Boyne Realty
Donovan, Billington Barbosa
Realty Executives

Hi,
I sent you a PM with the details of our two-bedroom for rent in Paulus Hook. I'm the owner, not a broker. Take a look!

Thanks!

Friends of mine just rented out a duplex in their town house for the amount you've mentioned, without using a broker. However, they rented out the top two floors so there's no outdoor space. Of course the place is very nicely renovated.

In speaking with a few neighbors and friends, it seems the rental market is heating up a bit, as all have mentioned they have filled their apartments in less than a week after listing. Two of them rented out ground (garden) level one bedroom apartments for about $1,700. with partial yard access.

So while I understand that you want to save the money, I would suggest you give it a try on your own for a week, and if you don't find what you're looking for than use a broker. If the anecdotal observations are correct, the days of no fee broker rentals are coming to a close. So you may want to take advantage of what's left of this window of opportunity to get the best deal you want.

Also, I suspect rents may start going up in light of increases to real estate taxes and evidence of a modestly improving economy. So you may want to think about making sure you're getting a good over all good deal, (ie the right price point, in a good building with a decent landlord) and secure a two year lease with a set year 2 price increase. If you focus on price alone you may find the other costs to consume any perceived savings.

for this price, you should be able to find a decent place by hamilton park ... but still, i would use a **good** broker to guide you ... if you are considering staying 2-3 years in one place, the fee becomes less significant ...

If you walk around Paulus Hook you can probably find a 1 bedroom for that price. Just check any of the rental buildings.

Check your PM

id say it depends on how active you want to be in your search. if you don't feel like combing through craigslist every day or walking around to find apts, then brokers are ideal since they'll do all the work for you. but if you're very active in your search, doing a lot of it yourself, and you want a sweet deal, then obviously getting stuck with a broker fee is lame.

if you're trying to cast the widest net possible, you can easily meet with a broker, see what they've got (which you should be able to get out of the way in an afternoon), then say no thanks if nothing stands out.

as someone already mentioned, broker fee's can be negotiable (i.e. you may be able to get the landlord to pay some of it). brokers are also good for negotiating with landlords, maybe even working out a lower rent. they do work for YOU after all.

some brokers try to sell you their services saying their apartments are a better value. The broker will say something like landlords typically have inflated views of the value of their apartments since they always think they're so great, so apartments without brokers tend to have higher rents. Then they say that brokers are able to appraise an apartment's rent based on the comparable rents around town (i.e. they know how much an apartment of a certain size in a certain neighborhood should cost), and if a landlord is asking too much rent for an apartment, the broker will make them lower it to the market rate. My guess is that this is half true; i'm sure some landlords have inflated views of their apartments, but on the same token, there are probably some out there that have deflated views of their apartments and are charging too little (probably not as much, but some). brokers would probably tell them to raise their rent to the going rate bc brokers get a cut of it (and obviously the higher the rent, the more the cut).

As a result of all this rent-adjusting, the story seems to go that broker listed apartments tend to have average rents; no great steals and no great ripoffs. but owner-listed apartments could go in any direction. and with owner-listed apartments, you're the one who has to sort through all that rough to find a diamond.

Many brokers have no fee apartments too. The landlords are more willing to pay the fee these days with all the competition and incentives being offered around downtown. I got my place through a broker and paid the fee but he negotiated one month free so it was a wash. Keep looking on CL too timing is everything if your ready to pull the trigger you can get something nice right when it comes on the market.

I have been looking for a year. and "YES" it is worth it right now. Because rent has dropped so much downtown, all the people with signs posted"for rent" and craigslist do not know that rent has dropped. I got a great affordable place with my broker from Weichart. In Paules Hook. I suggest it. It sucks but I love my place.

I looked at a place in Bergan Lafayette for the same price as what I am paying in Palus Hook so its way worth it.

Good to hear. I know a lot of the townhouses use brokers (Del Forno, Armango etc) and have been looking for a few weeks with very little luck.

Since I already live in the area (used a broker to get my current place, but my lease was quickly expiring) and am looking for a bigger place I thought it would be much easier than it is.

Definitely can be done on your own. I haven't used a broker yet and have been able to find an apartment with the same criteria several times. I've found that, unless you're set on a specific apartment, the broker fee really isn't worth it.

I'm looking to move to a new apartment downtown. New construction isn't my thing so I'm mainly interested in townhouses.

I've had a hard time finding a place that I like that doesn't have a broker fee, my requirements are:

1) 10 minute walk to Path (Exchange, Grove, Newport)
2) 2,300 a month or less
3) Logical layout/good space (1 or 2 bedroom)
4) Lots of sunlight
5) Washer/Dryer , outdoor space a major plus.
6) I'm on a month to month lease so would like the new lease to start 20-30 days from now to avoid paying double rent
7) Pet friendly (2 cats)

Do you guys think that this is doable on my own ? Or should I cave and use a broker or settle for new construction?

I've tried craigslist with only some luck, no fee brokers and walked around to look for "For Rent" signs.

Thank you!