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I need to find an apartment

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Re: I need to find an apartment

#251

Post by ClumsyPilot »

alkonaut wrote: post #220
ClumsyPilot wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Population of Berlin has hardly changed in the past 30 years, it grows at an annual a rate of like 0.2%. How is this madness possible? Edit: There were 3.5 million residents in 1993. It is projected to reach 3.6 million residents in 2029 [1] It's got to be something to do with financial markets and foreign investment 1 - https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/204296/berlin/population

Even if the population doesn't change, if more purchase power moves in (e.g. struggling artists move out, software developers move in) the market will go up. Also, Berlin was an odd place compared to other cities in Europe, when it comes to housing. Looking from the outside it seems like it was due for an upwards correction after 3 decades of pretty low rents since the fall of The Wall.

'more purchase power moves in (e.g. struggling artists move out, software developers move in) the market will go up'

I don't understand what you mean or how it relates to supply and demand.

Re: I need to find an apartment

#252

Post by YouMeWeThem »

asiachick wrote: post #109

I wish all apartment listing included a floor plan. I could easily reject 90% of apartments without having to go personally look at it if they's show me a floor plan. It's a little surprising to me they aren't more common. In Japan they're often missing other things like lots of pictures but at least the number 1 requirement to list an apartment is a floor plan. https://suumo.jp/jj/chintai/ichiran/FR301FC001/?ar=030&…

In Japan they're also often missing the "willing to rent to foreigners" flag. Using aggregate sites like Suumo to find places you like ends up being a waste of time when so many places won't even consider you.

Re: I need to find an apartment

#253

Post by e3bc54b2 »

ncmncm wrote: post #212
jokethrowaway wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's a mostly unregulated market. A new competitor has minimal government regulations to satisfy in order to start and everyone and their dog can start doing this job (and believe me, I've met some interesting agents when looking for the best deals both looking for rent and renting out my property). The big centralised agencies don't really have a way to stop smaller agents offering cheaper services and servi…

This does not explain anything. The natural end condition of an unregulated market is a monopoly. That is why we need regulation. So, something is operating to provide implicit regulation. In this case it seems like chaos serves that role. Monopoly relies on a self-ordering property common to most market conditions.

The explanation GP provided is extremely low cost of entry. An agent doesn't even need an office. Here is my country many agents go free wheeling with a phone number and a bike. All they need is some connections with homeowners and they're off to business.

Re: I need to find an apartment

#254

Post by compiler-guy »

extesy wrote: post #62
ClumsyPilot wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Population of Berlin has hardly changed in the past 30 years, it grows at an annual a rate of like 0.2%. How is this madness possible? Edit: There were 3.5 million residents in 1993. It is projected to reach 3.6 million residents in 2029 [1] It's got to be something to do with financial markets and foreign investment 1 - https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/204296/berlin/population

The simple answer is rent control: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-03-02/berlin...

If there are 100 apartments but 101 people want one, no amount of rent control will house the last person.

Re: I need to find an apartment

#255

Post by sumedh »

8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #144
timr wrote: post #117

Earlier 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…

This doesn't work in all US markets unfortunately, as I discovered recently when considering that very option you suggest. In some slower towns a few agents are willing to do this on the side as a source of income, but then in places like SF the home buying market is so hot, that it's comparatively bad ROI for agents to spend any time on most rentals. I'm curious how NYC manages to pull that off.

> that it's comparatively bad ROI for agents to spend any time on most rentals.

In Melbourne Australia, what I have seen is that rental agents are different and the real estate agents are different although they work for the same company.

Re: I need to find an apartment

#256

Post by jareklupinski »

haswell wrote: post #4

I'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…

walk around the neighborhood you're thinking of renting in, and look around for signs advertising rentals with phone numbers on them.

call them with the bdrm count you're looking for, and if they know exactly what building you're talking about and units they have available, sometimes they'll give you the code to walk right in and check the place out.

you can use this convo to push the rate down a bit or ask for a rent concession, and since you're likely talking to the landlord/agency it'll be no-fee.

that's how i've found my last 3 rentals :) gl!

Re: I need to find an apartment

#257

Post by sumedh »

mdavis6890 wrote: post #247
jthrowsitaway wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 would also be nice if we would stop voting for politicians that promise policies that limit supply - either directly and explicitly such as zoning laws, or as a consequence like rent control.

That happens because most people are property owners so the politicians want to keep them happy first.

Re: I need to find an apartment

#258

Post by bogidon »

8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #144
timr wrote: post #117

Earlier 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…

This doesn't work in all US markets unfortunately, as I discovered recently when considering that very option you suggest. In some slower towns a few agents are willing to do this on the side as a source of income, but then in places like SF the home buying market is so hot, that it's comparatively bad ROI for agents to spend any time on most rentals. I'm curious how NYC manages to pull that off.

I just spent two months apartment searching in NYC. I talked to many brokers but not one was interested in actively searching on my behalf. The market is incredibly disadvantageous to renters right now. Maybe parent is sharing experience from a different time or has broker connections I did not.

As an aside I also tried to automate my apartment hunt. The main thing that matters in NYC is time to respond. Unfortunately Zillow, StreetEasy, etc are not very easy to automate on the messaging side due to bot countermeasures. It was an incredibly time consuming, manual process. Happily found a great place though.

Re: I need to find an apartment

#259

Post by zabzonk »

Veen wrote: post #211
zabzonk wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since the UN was founded, and human rights were stated.

To which court are you going to appeal for redress when those rights are not upheld? The UN declaration of human rights is nothing but an aspirational fiction.

Better an "an aspirational fiction" than nothing, or less than nothing under Putin.

Re: I need to find an apartment

#260

Post by micheloosterhof »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #2

At least OP had the full address of those apartment on that website, so he could plot them on the map. Here in Austria, most leeches, sorry, realtors, avoid putting the street in the ad to prevent you from trying to contact the property directly and bypassing their fees, so apartment hunting is even more of a headache. Still, amazing work from OP.

I've searched for houses in multiple places around the world and the unwillingness to provide the full addresses is often due to agent competition. More precise whether the seller has one or more selling agents.

In places like The Netherlands, a seller generally works with one seller's agent only, and there's no incentive to hide full addresses. Funda.nl has a huge amount of detail, from high quality photos, to floor plans.

On the contrary, in Singapore, a seller often has multiple agents. The agents compete with each other and would rather not share any information at all publicly to avoid other agents using their information/photos, or buyer's bypassing them. It leads to propertyguru.com.sg with no addresses, bad photos, all photos watermarked with the agent pictures. As little information as possible, just enough to draw you into an in-person visit.

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