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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

#111

Post by bombcar »

ikiris wrote: post #103
conductr wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in Texas, a state with pretty high property tax. We've also seen a ton of appreciation in recent years. Booming economy, transplants from other states, then the COVID factor. We also have a near free market on rent; I've been a landlord and not aware of any limitations. There are a couple limits on property taxes (namely a cap of 10% increase per year on "homesteads", and an Agriculture exemption for rural proper…

All of this sounds well and good until you see the natural conclusion of those policies to keep old people from having to pay for their dragon hoarde. It turns your city into the Bay area where no one can afford to live there except the landed gentry you've created.

You need to fix the problem, but fixing it by Prop 13 has numerous issues. If it had been deferred as a lien against future sale/inheritance, or didn't apply to commercial properties, or ...

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

#112

Post by no_wizard »

conductr wrote: post #97
ethanbond wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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, bette…

I'm in Texas, a state with pretty high property tax. We've also seen a ton of appreciation in recent years. Booming economy, transplants from other states, then the COVID factor. We also have a near free market on rent; I've been a landlord and not aware of any limitations. There are a couple limits on property taxes (namely a cap of 10% increase per year on "homesteads", and an Agriculture exemption for rural proper…

> I personally think it's awful to see elderly people getting priced out of a house they've owned for decades

Housing being seen as this generational I own it forever thing that Americans have doesn’t also square with the American narrative of housing as an investment.

It’s one or the other. If you want housing to be seen as something that more or less “always goes up” but you can’t be taxed in the increased value then you are by nature distorting market dynamics you don’t see elsewhere.

We need a land value tax instead it’s more fair and less volatile

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

#113

Post by scythe »

thriftwy wrote: post #89
_cenw wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Condos are politically caught between a rock and a hard place: leftists who think they turn cities into playgrounds for the rich, and reactionaries who think the government is trying to force everyone into multi-unit buildings.

Ownership is nice for the long term, but sometimes people just aren't ready for that. Some careers nowadays involve several training periods which happen in multiple different cities and stretch out for 8-12 years. Sometimes to get a good job in a less dynamic city you are better off working in SF/NY for a few years after school even if that's not where you want to end up. Maybe people learn faster that way. Retirees may be better off renting if they don't want to do maintenance and may only live there for a decade before moving into assisted living.

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

#114

Post by jurassic »

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?

It’s basically impossible to rent a place worth living in Boston without paying a broker fee. Even the listings you find yourself on craigslist won’t rent to you unless you pony up the fee.

When I rented a place in Cambridge in 2019, the rent was $3200/month. To get the lease signed I had to write a check for 4x that amount (first+last+security deposit+broker fee). $12,800 before even dealing with any moving costs.

The worst thing about it is that it increases the cost of moving very significantly. So people are coerced into accepting large rent increases as long as the increase is less than forking out another broker fee to move to a cheaper apartment.

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

#115

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#116

Post by gedy »

ikiris wrote: post #103
conductr wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in Texas, a state with pretty high property tax. We've also seen a ton of appreciation in recent years. Booming economy, transplants from other states, then the COVID factor. We also have a near free market on rent; I've been a landlord and not aware of any limitations. There are a couple limits on property taxes (namely a cap of 10% increase per year on "homesteads", and an Agriculture exemption for rural proper…

All of this sounds well and good until you see the natural conclusion of those policies to keep old people from having to pay for their dragon hoarde. It turns your city into the Bay area where no one can afford to live there except the landed gentry you've created.

> old people from having to pay for their dragon hoarde.

What, their retirement savings? How much is recommended to be saved by 65 now - 2 million dollars or something?

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

#117

Post by thriftwy »

scythe wrote: post #113
thriftwy wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not have private companies build and sell apartments? https://youtu.be/mav_Y0ZcVpw showing a random purchasable apartment in Russia.

Condos are politically caught between a rock and a hard place: leftists who think they turn cities into playgrounds for the rich, and reactionaries who think the government is trying to force everyone into multi-unit buildings. Ownership is nice for the long term, but sometimes people just aren't ready for that. Some careers nowadays involve several training periods which happen in multiple different cities and stret…

When you need to move in temporarily, you can always rent a flat from a person just like yourself who bought one and is renting it out individually. In the absense of rent control and abundance of constructions, offers are plentiful.

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

#118

Post by techbrovanguard »

bombcar wrote: post #98
miki123211 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 c…

These kinds of things are side-effects of "tenant's rights" laws. Some may consider it the end-goal, to be fair - as eventually you'd drive landlords completely out of business. The problem is that this is antithetical to higher density, because you need landlords of some form if you have anything denser than a duplex. You can have condos perhaps, but not everyone can afford to get into one, or even wants to. And if…

> Some may consider it the end-goal, to be fair - as eventually you'd drive landlords completely out of business.

Great! Housing should never have been allowed to become a commodity.

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

#119

Post by conductr »

hotpotamus wrote: post #108
conductr wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in Texas, a state with pretty high property tax. We've also seen a ton of appreciation in recent years. Booming economy, transplants from other states, then the COVID factor. We also have a near free market on rent; I've been a landlord and not aware of any limitations. There are a couple limits on property taxes (namely a cap of 10% increase per year on "homesteads", and an Agriculture exemption for rural proper…

Old people in Texas get their property taxes frozen I believe at 65. But honestly it might be better for them to downsize into something more appropriate and perhaps free up the larger houses for families. My mother has basically just turned my parents' house into an eBay warehouse full of junk that she intends to sell one day. I can't say that I have any big problem with that at the end of the day, but if you think…

> Old people in Texas get their property taxes frozen I believe at 65.

True but if you're turning 65 after you're tax bill has grown 10% for over a decade as your transitioning to your fixed income years; it's not a good thing just to freeze the tax bill. You might not have time to earn and save enough to cover the value it gets frozen at. It does help soften the blow for many though.

> But honestly it might be better for them to downsize into something more appropriate and perhaps free up the larger houses for families.

I wholeheartedly despise this line of thought, unless it's coming from their individual decision to downsize. You're basically treating the house like a commodity. It's a Home this person lived in, raised family in, hopes to continue hosting holidays in, where grandchildren can go to visit, etc. They should be able to use it until they decide to leave. On average, they only have another decade or so of life left anyway after their taxes get frozen at 65, let them enjoy their home.

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

#120

Post by euroderf »

Fripplebubby wrote: post #30
paxys wrote: post #18

The reason I live in a large managed building in NYC is that while such corporate housing may be bad, the broker cartel is infinitely worse. Every independent unit wanted at minimum $7-10K in broker fees, despite the fact that in most cases I didn’t even interact with the broker in any way. So what value are they adding to the system exactly?

The article explains that they are pre-vetting renters and handling showings and such. They add value for the landlord, not for you. But, they are also probably extracting the maximum amount of blood from you, because they can...

> they are pre-vetting renters

Equifax, check. Ten minutes and done.

Maybe also all those things you did in high school that went on your "permanent record" ?

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