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A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

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Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#42
post #13

The UK has completely abolished fees (I think) for tenants - I am a reluctant landlord - and I completely agree with that, the power asymmetry in finding housing is already bad enough without allowing blank-cheque negotiations. In my section of Germany, housing is even worse with rent caps and tenant rights, plus a lack of housing. Tenants are hard to move on, so landlords are painfully cautious about getting the rig…

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Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#43
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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No they don't. The market determines rent. Lower demand or raise supply and watch prices drop, regardless of what the landlords want.

Market determines rent the same way market determines the cost of health insurance: people need a place to live the same way they need a doctor when they’re sick. If all the landlords are using collusion software to raise rent in tandem [0] what is your alternative, live in the streets until they give in?

[0] https://www.propublica.org/article/yieldstar-rent-increase-r...

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure it works for the residents of Stockholm, but not so much for all sorts of people who would move to Stockholm but can't wait in line 10 years for an apartment.

Yes that's right! 10 years is an understatement. It means simply that the city is "locked out" for everyone but locals who inherited rental contract from their grandfathers, or multimillionaire cash buyers.

Maybe this is the hack for managing city growth

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#45
post #13

The UK has completely abolished fees (I think) for tenants - I am a reluctant landlord - and I completely agree with that, the power asymmetry in finding housing is already bad enough without allowing blank-cheque negotiations. In my section of Germany, housing is even worse with rent caps and tenant rights, plus a lack of housing. Tenants are hard to move on, so landlords are painfully cautious about getting the rig…

That sounds terrible. What "section of Germany" are you in? Berlin?

Hamburg. The previous tenants left a mess, the landlord put in a new kitchen for us, new fences around the boundary, new back patio tiles. Ventilation is a problem as extractor fans need replacing and I’ve replaced a bunch of electric switches and sockets, but no fun.

Classmates with income only from the job centre are unable to find a place to live, although that’s hardly better anywhere. In London the rents are astronomical and competitive but the cycle of finding, viewing, renting and moving is still running fine. In Hamburg people can’t even find apartments for rent.

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#46
post #6

I thought this seemed fair till i read it was in flushing. Nyc is the worst, but, if you’re American where else can you get a city that international and walkable

Chicago, DC, Boston, SF, Philly (depending on "international"), Portland (walkable but not really international - it's just 90s-2000s white Americans doing 90s-2000s white American stuff, you'd think Kurt Cobain still roams the earth) Though if you want affordability, that leaves Chicago and Philly. NYC sucks in that sense though, as a lot of industries that are conglomerated in NYC haven't ensured salaries keep up w…

Miami? I was impressed with Miami when I visited. Lots of high rise residential housing, sane political governance, nice downtown, and pretty walkable.

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Supply and demand determines rent; if you have enough supply and also rent control, then you'll have have rent control that magically "works". But it's always supply and demand that gets the upper hand in the end. If there's a shortage of supply, and you put in more market rules & regulations, costs will shift elsewhere (like the broker in the article) or the black market will simply grow to clear the market.

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To the exact same extent that you determine your salary. Full stop.

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#48
post #6

I thought this seemed fair till i read it was in flushing. Nyc is the worst, but, if you’re American where else can you get a city that international and walkable

San Francisco. International and walkable, good transport. The homeless are a problem, but New York has them too.

New York's homeless have to contend with winter. That makes for a far less bleak street scene.

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#49

What does one have to do to secure a $1100 a month apartment in NYC? I'm sure everyone else wants it. Get drawn from a rental lottery at random? Offer your first born child? Supplement your rent with sexual favors to the landlord?

Lottery and pray that your God is real.

Re: A rent-stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for $1,100 In NYC? broker's fee is $15K

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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Just think logically about this for a second. If landlords determined rent, why isn't rent infinite? There is some force that pushes rent down from the infinite amount of dollars that landlords would love to have. That force is competition from other landlords. Supply and demand.

Think logically for one more second. Very similar logic applies for health insurance/cost of college/rent, because those are “unavoidable” in some ways if you want to live (with dignity, because homeless people are still alive I guess).

The only reason health insurance/college/rent costs near infinite dollars rather than actual infinite dollars is because price hikes work best when they are hiked slowly every year instead of all at once. Health insurers/bloated college admins/landlords would (rationally) love to have infinite dollars, as they have a stranglehold on a necessary resource, except that’s probably a quick path to the guillotines coming out.

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