This is the prime example of a phenomenal approach to aggregation of various data using various languages, in this case on about hunting for a decent apartment.
Absolutely stellar form of data science!
Keep up the great work!
I need to find an apartment
131–140 of 319 posts
Re: I need to find an apartment
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder how humans survived for the first, oh, 99% or so of the time we've been on earth?
Prior to the automobile era, we were all pedestrians. A small town was a town you could walk the length of. Europe is dotted with old villages denser than contemporary North American cities.
While true, I suspect most of the people who are looking for walkability want something more than a small town with a pub, a small market, and maybe a couple other stores/cafes/etc. I've stayed in many of those small towns and they can be very pleasant--but there's not a whole lot within easy walking distance.
Re: I need to find an apartment
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Is hunting for an apartment doomed to be this messy forever? It seems like an area that is ripe for disruption or a better option, but what would it take to actually solve this? I hesitate to say it, but there is already a solution to this, and it has been the one that New York has had for years: you hire an agent. A good agent will sort through all of that for you, and streamline the process to the point where you…
What kind of agent? Just a. real estate agent?
Essentially. In NYC, many real estate agents will represent the renter for a service fee, just like they represent the buyer in a purchase transaction. It supplements the income that comes from the higher-value (but much less regular) money that they get from sales.
There are agencies that make most of their business in this area, and generally have better rate structures (typically a month or two of rent, flat rate). Others want to charge you on a percentage basis, which you can negotiate, and obviously changes the incentive structure. All of these are "expensive" (relative to free), but worth it depending on how you value your time.
Other people are (rightly) noting that there is risk of getting a scammy real estate agent, but that's true of any service. You have to look at reviews and trust your gut. Good real estate agents are motivated to do the right thing for you, because they see it as a marketing channel into larger sales in the future. Bad real estate agents are in it only for the immediate cash. These people behave in such obviously different ways that they're pretty easy to discriminate, in practice.
Re: I need to find an apartment
#134I'm in the middle of an apartment search. I was reflecting the other day on how much searching for an apartment has changed over the last 10 years. Conclusion: it hasn't changed much at all. It's still necessary to search on a myriad of sites. Most of the time, by the time you inquire, a place is gone. Or the ad was misleading and that "$2000 2BR" is actually "$2000 for the cheapest Studio we have, but we also have 2…
> Is hunting for an apartment doomed to be this messy forever? It seems like an area that is ripe for disruption or a better option, but what would it take to actually solve this? I hesitate to say it, but there is already a solution to this, and it has been the one that New York has had for years: you hire an agent. A good agent will sort through all of that for you, and streamline the process to the point where you…
That solution is bad. You have no idea what you’re missing out on by using an agent. You might think you had a good agent, but unless you’re already really familiar with the market, you could have missed out on significantly better matches and you wouldn’t even know.
You know how we know this is a solvable problem? Listings for places to buy don’t have nearly as many problems.
Re: I need to find an apartment
#135I'm currently searching in Berlin and the market has become insane. Here's a response I got yesterday: "With more than 1200 prospective tenants, it was really difficult for the landlord to make a decision. Unfortunately, we have to inform you that the landlord has decided on other prospective tenants. Thank you for your understanding! "
Portland, OR solved that problem by making landlords accept the first offer which matches the stated requirements. Which leads to some… interesting incentives :p
Please do say, what interesting incentives appear? :)
Re: I need to find an apartment
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
The simple answer is rent control: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-03-02/berlin...
Would be so much better if you post a reference that's actually accessible without an account or even subscription.
Even better to post a reference on a basic economic issue that is not coming from basically the most biased perspective possible.
Re: I need to find an apartment
#137I'm in the middle of an apartment search. I was reflecting the other day on how much searching for an apartment has changed over the last 10 years. Conclusion: it hasn't changed much at all. It's still necessary to search on a myriad of sites. Most of the time, by the time you inquire, a place is gone. Or the ad was misleading and that "$2000 2BR" is actually "$2000 for the cheapest Studio we have, but we also have 2…
> Is hunting for an apartment doomed to be this messy forever? It seems like an area that is ripe for disruption or a better option, but what would it take to actually solve this? I hesitate to say it, but there is already a solution to this, and it has been the one that New York has had for years: you hire an agent. A good agent will sort through all of that for you, and streamline the process to the point where you…
In other countries, not in the USA, I've never once had a good experience with renting via an agent.
It seems it's in their job description to try to convince me to pay more for less. They listen carefully to my requirements and then take me to places that don't match at all.
I guess they figure since I've taken my entire afternoon with them, and since they've been friendly, I might give up on what I'm looking for and rent whatever it is they decided to shill that day.
Of all the countries I've rented in and had occasion to interact with agents, ones in Turkey behaved the most like cartoon caricatures: they use every sitcom used car salesman trick in the book. It would be funny to watch, except that they're perpetually wasting their time and mine.
Re: I need to find an apartment
#138Interesting details brought up here about location specifics.
At least in Zurich most ads contain an address. I fed it to google maps api to get the time by bike to my workplace which gave us some cheaper options we wouldn't have considered before. We also ended up taking/getting the one with the worst pictures.
Imagine someone would scrape all platforms for your city of choice and aggregate those with some value added and maybe automatically apply with your personal documents to make sure your application gets in first even when you're busy, what would it be worth to you? Despite local differences it might still scale.
Re: I need to find an apartment
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
You gotta get creative. Walking down the street I met this one guy who's like 70, eccentric, military vet, owns the house, and rents it out individual rooms for $550/month. He's paid off the mortgage, just needs to pay taxes, and he's clearly making a profit since he's retired and constantly has new projects working on the house. For context that's 1/3 asking price out here.
It's great that worked out for you. It'd be great if people didn't have to get creative to find basic housing.
> It'd be great if people didn't have to get creative to find basic housing where they want to live
FTFY.
There is plenty of basic housing. It just happens not to be where people are looking most of the time.
Re: I need to find an apartment
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
You gotta get creative. Walking down the street I met this one guy who's like 70, eccentric, military vet, owns the house, and rents it out individual rooms for $550/month. He's paid off the mortgage, just needs to pay taxes, and he's clearly making a profit since he's retired and constantly has new projects working on the house. For context that's 1/3 asking price out here.
How is getting lucky walking down the street "creative", exactly?
Just keep your eyes open is all I mean. Life is strange, you never know what you're going to find.