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Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

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Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#101

Post by Markoff »

hackathonguy wrote: post #93
_RPM wrote: post #29

Why ground floor?

OP here. We have twins, and many apartment buildings in Jerusalem lack elevators. Also, I’ve found quality of life to be markedly improved once we’ve moved to a garden apartment! :-)

that still doesn't explain why not go for 2nd or 3rd floor which is still very easy to handle even with small children (park pram somewhere in basement or ground floor), I am living on 5th floor without elevator with 2nd baby, so did I in previous apartment with previous child, now that's extreme, but 2nd (just bove ground floor) or 3rd floor would be just fine

higher floor you go less foot traffic (noise) around your door you have, less likely your apartment to get robbed, less street noise, less insects, less air pollution and I could go on and on, basically higher you go the better, benefits end on the top floor where possibility of thieves returns, also hot in summer and possibility of leaking roof, but at least no top neighbors noise

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#102

Post by baking »

salvar wrote: post #79
baking wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not questioning that Facebook sells ads, I am questioning their effectiveness and whether the OP is overselling it. Edit: For example, the only Facebook ads I've seen recently are for riding lawnmowers. I live in the city.

What could OP be overselling? Do you think they're lying about their experience? The whole post is just "Here's what I did".

This is the part I was questioning:

"(I believe we reached roughly every Facebook using inhabitant of the targeted neighborhood)"

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#103

Post by fcbrooklyn »

perl4ever wrote: post #89
fcbrooklyn wrote: post #82

I'm not sure if it would matter, if you were just doing this as an individual once or twice, but it's worth noting that in New York State, at least, this would be an illegal transaction, unless the tenant referring you to their landlord happened to be a licensed real estate agent. The definition of brokering a transaction according to state law, for which you must be licensed is that you're facilitating the transacti…

My landlord (in NY) offers a sizeable reward for referring new tenants. It's posted everywhere in the building. Are you claiming this is illegal?

Probably, yes, although as I said it would probably never be enforced. To be clear, your landlord is not the one breaking the law. Anyone taking them up on the offer would be though.

IANAL, but I was a licensed real estate agent in NYS about 15 years ago, and this was covered in the course materials.

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#104

Post by fcbrooklyn »

perl4ever wrote: post #89
fcbrooklyn wrote: post #82

I'm not sure if it would matter, if you were just doing this as an individual once or twice, but it's worth noting that in New York State, at least, this would be an illegal transaction, unless the tenant referring you to their landlord happened to be a licensed real estate agent. The definition of brokering a transaction according to state law, for which you must be licensed is that you're facilitating the transacti…

My landlord (in NY) offers a sizeable reward for referring new tenants. It's posted everywhere in the building. Are you claiming this is illegal?

Actually, it might be more subtle than that. Simply referring someone to your landlord might be ok, but if you discussed anything at all about the property with that person, I think you'd definitely be in violation the moment you cashed the check.

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#105

Post by fcbrooklyn »

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #88
fcbrooklyn wrote: post #82

I'm not sure if it would matter, if you were just doing this as an individual once or twice, but it's worth noting that in New York State, at least, this would be an illegal transaction, unless the tenant referring you to their landlord happened to be a licensed real estate agent. The definition of brokering a transaction according to state law, for which you must be licensed is that you're facilitating the transacti…

Who would complain, though, particularly in this scenario?

Typically (but not always) the complaints about this kind of thing come from people who believe they've been discriminated against, but in fact pretty much anyone can complain. In NYS, you can call the DOS and register a complaint for pretty much any reason you like, and they are pretty consistent about investigating all of them.

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#106

Post by fcbrooklyn »

hackathonguy wrote: post #97
fcbrooklyn wrote: post #82

I'm not sure if it would matter, if you were just doing this as an individual once or twice, but it's worth noting that in New York State, at least, this would be an illegal transaction, unless the tenant referring you to their landlord happened to be a licensed real estate agent. The definition of brokering a transaction according to state law, for which you must be licensed is that you're facilitating the transacti…

OP here. Where I live, it’s legal to broker one transaction per year without any special license. Not sure about the legal situation in New York, though.

Interesting, and a sensible exception. Like I say, the rules on this are sure to vary substantially from state to state.

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#107

Post by perl4ever »

fcbrooklyn wrote: post #104
perl4ever wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My landlord (in NY) offers a sizeable reward for referring new tenants. It's posted everywhere in the building. Are you claiming this is illegal?

Actually, it might be more subtle than that. Simply referring someone to your landlord might be ok, but if you discussed anything at all about the property with that person, I think you'd definitely be in violation the moment you cashed the check.

There seems to be a technical difference between a "referral fee" and a "finders fee". And there may be a difference between a real estate sales transaction and a rental, the latter being what I was talking about.

In any case, I do not find any support for the idea that you can't discuss the property with the person you send to your landlord. It wouldn't really be possible to say "this is a great place to live" and respond to "why?" with "can't tell ya!".

Now if you tried to sue because your landlord reneged on your monetary reward, then you might not win because you weren't licensed or something, but that's not at all the same as it being illegal for them to pay you.

NY may have a reputation for corruption, but things aren't that bad.

The legalities of referral fees come into play if you are a real estate agent, and you pay a fee to another agent who failed to renew their license, I believe.

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#108

Post by fcbrooklyn »

perl4ever wrote: post #107
fcbrooklyn wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, it might be more subtle than that. Simply referring someone to your landlord might be ok, but if you discussed anything at all about the property with that person, I think you'd definitely be in violation the moment you cashed the check.

There seems to be a technical difference between a "referral fee" and a "finders fee". And there may be a difference between a real estate sales transaction and a rental, the latter being what I was talking about. In any case, I do not find any support for the idea that you can't discuss the property with the person you send to your landlord. It wouldn't really be possible to say "this is a great place to live" and r…

I think you'll be fine, and I wouldn't worry too much about it, but technically, it's against the rules. (As a thought experiment, suppose I knew what apartment building you lived in, and I actively hustled up potential tenants, maybe I even posted ads. I'd send 'em over to you, and you and I could split the fee. At this point, I am acting exactly the way a licensed agent would act, and the whole reason for having the license would vanish.)

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#109

Post by perl4ever »

fcbrooklyn wrote: post #108
perl4ever wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There seems to be a technical difference between a "referral fee" and a "finders fee". And there may be a difference between a real estate sales transaction and a rental, the latter being what I was talking about. In any case, I do not find any support for the idea that you can't discuss the property with the person you send to your landlord. It wouldn't really be possible to say "this is a great place to live" and r…

I think you'll be fine, and I wouldn't worry too much about it, but technically, it's against the rules. (As a thought experiment, suppose I knew what apartment building you lived in, and I actively hustled up potential tenants, maybe I even posted ads. I'd send 'em over to you, and you and I could split the fee. At this point, I am acting exactly the way a licensed agent would act, and the whole reason for having th…

I imagine in your scenario, my landlord could refuse to pay the reward, and I would probably lose in court if I tried to force them. That's not the same as it being "against the rules" to send people to them in hopes of a reward.

You just don't use a real estate agent for renting an apartment, regardless. I don't see how you just brush the difference between buying and renting aside.

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#110

Post by ada1981 »

himom wrote: post #99
scarface74 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not that hard to discriminate and make it hard for someone to prove that’s what you’re doing.

I was at Oren’s Hummus Shop in Mountain View when an Israeli-American couple were plopped down next to me. They procesed to converse loudly, and the male smugly boasted about how “horribly old” one rental candidate was, how he’d just waste his time and say it was already rented. Ageism never gets old, but then when it does, it gets bitter as the younger ageism treats it like the elderly in Korea... eventually, it jum…

+1 for reminding me how much I used to love Oren’s while living in Palo Alto. :)
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