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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

#52

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

#53

For an $1,100/month apartment in NYC, a $15k fee is worth it, even if you have to take out debt for it.

For real. That's almost free by NYC standards. Even if I wanted to move out I would keep renting so that I could let family use it or something. Plus, if historical trends on rent stabilized units are anything to go by, it will only get better.

Honestly, I don't mind brokers. I think many people feel wronged by them because of huge bills for little perceived work, but they're not exploiting any monopolies or regulations to exist, like say for example a lot of trade workers do. If you're concerned about NYC housing you should be advocating for ways to make more housing, not killing the market with rent stabilized units and regulations.

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

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Well, there's weather though.

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

#55

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?

I lived in NYC for 8 years in a rent-stablized APT in the lower east side, my rent was I was able to get the apartment by subleasing someone else in apartment in the building. I always paid my rent on time, and caused no issues for the landlord (parties, etc). When a new apartment opened up, I was giving first dibs.

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

#56
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sweden is often used as a case study in how rent controls lead to housing shortages. Rent control tries to make housing more affordable by reducing the cost, which immediately reduces the supply. At that point, rent control ends up increasing housing costs. Theory and real-world case studies mean that this is so obvious, that I just assume anyone that's passed economics 101 and is advocating for rent control is eithe…

Well, you can't have a working democracy, market economy, and affordable housing at same time. Something has to give.

Sweden had all three before rent control was "temporarily" instituted during WW2.

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

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Miami is walkable in some parts, I personally feel it’s as walkable as LA, walkable neighborhoods but big moats between them (not just the bridges)

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

#58
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

The problem is that the market determines the rent but the government determines that building houses is mostly illegal.

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

#59
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…

Land Value Tax: Make it financially unfeasible to speculate, to withhold units from the market, and to withhold unused land from the market. Let prices freely fluctuate with the market. Increases in rent derived from externalities (i.e. Amazon HQ2 setting up shop nearby or a new subway station) go back into public coffers, while increases in rent derived from landlord actions (i.e. renovations, building bigger, better units that command higher prices) go directly into their pockets.

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

#60

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?

I lived in NYC for 8 years in a rent-stablized APT in the lower east side, my rent was I was able to get the apartment by subleasing someone else in apartment in the building. I always paid my rent on time, and caused no issues for the landlord (parties, etc). When a new apartment opened up, I was giving first dibs.

This doesn't answer how you got the apartment, which is invariably either luck, knowing someone, or having rich parents (in which case you can buy one of those income-controlled units that make zero sense for anyone except a nepo-baby -- e.g. need to earn I also had a time in a rent-stabilized apartment in NYC (East Village, probably not far from yours) and the answer of how I got it: luck. It happened to be available when I was looking and I happened to beat everyone else to the seller's agent by physically sprinting with my deposit check in hand.
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