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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

#81

Post by flavius29663 »

bradlys wrote: post #65
formerly_proven wrote: post #3

Rent control fundamentally cannot work, which is why it never works. Malicious noncompliance is a red herring.

Rent control ideally wouldn’t need to exist. But since no one is fucking building anything - you need it to prevent landlords from just extracting more money from the pockets of laborers without having done any labor themselves. My landlord didn’t provide any more utility this year even though they jacked up my rent $1000/month this year. Nothing about my place got any better and I’m not getting anything out of it. T…

> no one is fucking building anything

Introducing rent control makes it even less likely to have new builds. Try to think like a millionaire that could potentially invest in real estate: would you buy a 2 million house not knowing that you can recoup that investment and also make a profit? Isn't it easier to just dump the money in an ETF and get 8% on the market?

> you need it to prevent landlords from just extracting more money

Why do you need to prevent people from making money? Would you like someone preventing bradlys from making that much money? How much is too much? If you work in tech like most people here, you're probably making more than 99% of the world.

Making money is not a problem, if there is money to be made in real estate, investors would flock to it, increasing supply and therefore decreasing prices and profits over time. The problem is when the economics are not allowed to float freely: because of rent control, limitations to building (like zoning laws), insufficient infrastructure (like being stuck on an island with bad connections) etc.

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

#82

Post by tipsydoo »

bradlys wrote: post #65
formerly_proven wrote: post #3

Rent control fundamentally cannot work, which is why it never works. Malicious noncompliance is a red herring.

Rent control ideally wouldn’t need to exist. But since no one is fucking building anything - you need it to prevent landlords from just extracting more money from the pockets of laborers without having done any labor themselves. My landlord didn’t provide any more utility this year even though they jacked up my rent $1000/month this year. Nothing about my place got any better and I’m not getting anything out of it. T…

Always good to mention the property management cartel that's in cahoots with rental management software companies to price-fix and jack up rates for everyone ("allegedly").

People keep trying to rationalize the status quo with complex explanations, when the dynamic is really "Army setting up a school" dead-simple (or, even more applicable, Soviets setting up apartment blocks): if you care about fulfilling the need, it gets done. The problem is that there are competing interests that profit from housing insecurity and homelessness, and the government routinely chooses them over us. Nothing will change until the choice is made to throw these entities - developers, management, investors, etc. - under the bus, instead of people who are simply looking for a safe place to live. Unfortunately, without a massive reorganization of the economy and even society, it's impossible to have both come out winners.

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

#83

Post by miki123211 »

vr46 wrote: 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…

Poland has a system where it's basically impossible to evict anybody if you rent under the standard rules. However, there exists a special type of contract which allows for quick and painless eviction, but where the tenant must provide proof that they have a place to stay at, either a deed to a property they own or a declaration from somebody who is willing to take them in. A lot of landlords insist on this type of contract, which makes it much harder to find housing for foreigners and those who decided to cut contact with their families.

Landlords basically have no other option, we don't really have a credit score system like the US does, so it's much harder to verify how trustworthy you are. There are agencies that can tell you if somebody's currently in debt or not, but as far as I'm aware, somebody with no credit history is basically indistinguishable from somebody with "good" history.

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

#84

Post by CPLX »

plagiarist wrote: post #72
werber wrote: 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

Oh. Yeah I would also probably pay $15k for $1k rent if I intended to stay in NYC long term. You'd have positive ROI on that before the end of year two. But Flushing is too far from Manhattan and too close to La Guardia. I'd gladly pay more not to listen to that shit all the time, the car noise in the city is bad enough.

Presumably you’re not Chinese. If you are then it’s the center of everything.

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

#85

Post by post- »

_fat_santa wrote: post #79
IAmGraydon wrote: post #68

A broker’s fee for an apartment? I’ve never seen that. I own a house now, but when I used to rent, the process was to visit the websites of local well known management companies, pick a few apartments you like, and have the manager show each to you. Then you pick one and apply. Why are people injecting the expense of a broker into such a simple transaction? And the renters are the ones paying?

I think broker fees are only a thing in NYC. So far I've rented in Atlanta and Denver and in both cases you can just contact the property, arrange a rental and sign the paperwork and boom you got the keys.

They're also a thing in Boston and a few other areas in the US. It's blatantly exploitative, to say nothing of the obvious corruption pointed out in other comments.

There was supposed to be a crackdown on the practice in NYC in 2020, but the brokers lobby was too powerful.[0]

One can only hope that such legislation eventually passes -- and has teeth.

[0]: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/27/nyregion/broker-fees-real...

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

#86

Post by bsdpufferfish »

polygamous_bat wrote: post #50
FredPret wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 in…

> those are “unavoidable”

This myth has been reviewed by economists over and over. You can always economize and it naturally occurs on both the demand and supply side. I'm not saying these outcomes are good, but people WILL do them.

Housing demand: live in a smaller place, live with more people, live further away than you want to, live in a van

Housing supply: rent out your extra room, try to build a rental (collect sweet premium)

College demand: community college + transfer, alternative education, maximize credits/minimize time

College supply: offer online degrees, price discriminate (financial aid) ,make cheaper offerings (undergrad only universities, etc).

Health Demand: don't go to the doctor, follow insurance incentives (urgent care vs ER), seek alternative treatment (chiropractors, neighbors, etc).

Health supply: maximize services can be performed by less trained workers (nurse practitioner vs MD, Offer lower end services (Telehealth, etc).

> "unavoidable"

When you see how many choices you have this starts to sound like "I have become accustomed to my quality of life, and I am unwilling to accept economic reality and consider alternatives." This is a natural response to declining standards of living.

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

#87

Post by bradly »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #4

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?

It sounds like you need to pay $15K.

I would assume you will start to see short-term/hard-money loans for the 15k as we've seen in the bay area for all cash offers on homes.

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

#88

Post by bradlys »

flavius29663 wrote: post #81
bradlys wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rent control ideally wouldn’t need to exist. But since no one is fucking building anything - you need it to prevent landlords from just extracting more money from the pockets of laborers without having done any labor themselves. My landlord didn’t provide any more utility this year even though they jacked up my rent $1000/month this year. Nothing about my place got any better and I’m not getting anything out of it. T…

> no one is fucking building anything Introducing rent control makes it even less likely to have new builds. Try to think like a millionaire that could potentially invest in real estate: would you buy a 2 million house not knowing that you can recoup that investment and also make a profit? Isn't it easier to just dump the money in an ETF and get 8% on the market? > you need it to prevent landlords from just extractin…

You cannot have housing be affordable and an investment. You need to decouple the two.

Fundamentally these are in disagreement. If you believe that landlords should control the world then keep believing this idea that housing should also be an investment.

I don’t think housing should be an investment. It is impossible for something to be a good investment and affordable. They go against one another.

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

#89

Post by thriftwy »

_cenw wrote: post #80
vr46 wrote: 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…

Social housing in Germany is asinine. The government heavily co-finances new construction for a subset of flats being offered as affordable housing, but with a 30 year limit to these restrictions. It's a subsidy for the rich. You break even, and you get some very cheap real estate in 30 years. The government should've just done the construction itself. A lot of social housing is currently reaching that 30 year mark,…

Why not have private companies build and sell apartments?

https://youtu.be/mav_Y0ZcVpw showing a random purchasable apartment in Russia.

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

#90

Post by alephnerd »

CPLX wrote: post #84
plagiarist wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh. Yeah I would also probably pay $15k for $1k rent if I intended to stay in NYC long term. You'd have positive ROI on that before the end of year two. But Flushing is too far from Manhattan and too close to La Guardia. I'd gladly pay more not to listen to that shit all the time, the car noise in the city is bad enough.

Presumably you’re not Chinese. If you are then it’s the center of everything.

Or any other immigrant community for that matter.

Most immigrant communities agglomerate in Queens - from Korean to Chinese to Azeri Jewish to Bangladeshi to Jamaican

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